Pies are for every day, as far as we're concerned. But, there are two times of the year that pies get their moment in the spotlight: Thanksgiving (apple pie! pumpkin!) and summer, when there are berries and stone fruit, like peaches and cherries with pits in the middle, perfect for baking up into a sweet, juicy pie.
Pie dough—whether you make it yourself or even buy it at the store—is a lot like clay or other molding dough. You can roll it out flat with a rolling pin and then use cookie cutters, stencils, or even just a butter knife to make any design you like. You can even mold it into shapes, like flowers or swirls.
For some pies, we like to put a crust on top of the fruit filling, because, well, everyone loves the crust! You can weave strips of unbaked crust to make a traditional lattice, but you can also buy or make a stencil using paper. 
Cut a piece of paper just like if you were making a snowflake decoration, then unfold it and lay it on top of the rolled-out dough. Carefully use a knife (ask for help with this part!) to cut inside the lines of the stencil. Once you lift up the paper, you’ll have a design that you can put on top of your pie!
Sometimes, we don’t use a top crust, like for pumpkin pie or pecan pie. These pies can look a little simple, so you can take small cookie cutters and cut out designs with extra pie dough to make them special. Brush the back of your pieces with some water or egg wash (that’s egg and a splash of water mixed together) and stick them to the outside of your pie crust. You can cut out leaves, acorns, pumpkins, or even just little circles.
Whatever you try, remember that it doesn’t have to be perfect! Cold dough is easier to pick up and move than warm dough, so it can be helpful to work on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet that you can put back in the refrigerator if starts to get too warm. That will help them keep their shape once they’re baked, too!
Good tips!