Our family pumpkin tradition is heading up into the North Georgia Mountains sometime in September or October each year to pick a pumpkin and visit the nearby apple houses for cider and fried apple fritters. (Yum-O!) Since our school Fall Break was in September this year, we thought it was the perfect time to pile the family, grandparents, and cousins into a caravan of cars and drive up for a day. My girls each picked a baby pumpkin because it seemed just too early to think about getting a big one for carving. But now, as another week has gone by and the weather is finally chill, my oldest is constantly asking me, “When will we do our pumpkins“?
So when it comes to decorating pumpkins, here’s the big question: To Carve or Not to Carve?
Painting Pumpkins
 | Painting is great for little ones who aren’t old enough to carve or a mom who want less mess! Grab some acrylic paints and a brush and let the kids paint funny faces, favorite teams or characters, or let them write their names in big colorful letters! The downside is that there is no “lantern” to your Jack-o-lantern. However, some Glow-in-the-Dark paint would stand out great in the dark! |
Carving Pumpkins
| Last year we carved our pumpkins. Carving was big deal! – picking out the design, cleaning it out, carving it, not to mention the gooey mess that ended up all over my kitchen! My oldest was 6 at the time and absolutely loved every minute of it! Daddy had to help, of course, but it was a fun family activity and it turned out great! The saddest part was having to throw all that hard work away even before Halloween because the pumpkin had rotted. |  |
Artificial Pumpkins
 | I’ve seen at craft stores a new kind of pumpkin, called a Funkin, that looks like the perfect middle ground. It’s carvable, like a real pumpkin, but without all the mess and best of all, it won’t rot! We’re adding these to our pumpkin options for the year and I’m interested to see how they turn out. A Funkin can also be painted – try a little chalkboard paint to create a character sillhouette – then let the kids decorate them year after year by coloring them in with chalk! |
We’d love to hear: Do you have a Pumpkin Tradition?
Sources: Funkin Image: The Pumpkin Lady
This is a guest post written by Emily Parman. To get more thoughts from Emily on kids, family, and bows, and crafts, please visit her website at http://www.doodlebugbows.wordpress.com
Great ideas! Love alternatives to cutting, scooping and handling nasty pumpkin guts!
…but then where would the fresh baked pumpkin seed come from? JK – I love the alternatives too…just sayin’.
Our only real tradition is to visit Burt’s Farm every year. It’s more than just letting the little one’s pick out the Pumpkin, it’s quality family time that we look forward to each Fall! http://www.burtsfarm.com/
We go to Burt’s Farm too. I like going earlier tho. Last year it was right before halloween and packed to the brim.
Great ideas! Love alternatives to cutting, scooping and handling nasty pumpkin guts!
…but then where would the fresh baked pumpkin seed come from? JK – I love the alternatives too…just sayin'.
Our only real tradition is to visit Burt's Farm every year. It's more than just letting the little one's pick out the Pumpkin, it's quality family time that we look forward to each Fall! http://www.burtsfarm.com/
We go to Burt's Farm too. I like going earlier tho. Last year it was right before halloween and packed to the brim.
Great ideas and fun reading!
Great ideas and fun reading!
I love the fiber-optic pumpkins they came out with a while back they make a great night light! And no mess!