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Halloween
Tradition #12 - Pumpkin Carving Party
 Late
in October, we always host a pumpkin carving party on the night before
Halloween for our friends and family.
You can do one for your kids
and their friends or have a before Halloween carving party
with adults. People don't take the time that they should to enjoy
the age old tradition of carving pumpkins.
Below you'll find a list of things
you'll need to do to get your party together. Pumpkins vary
in price depending on where you live. It might be less
costly to have your guests bring their own pumpkins. If
there is a pumpkin farm close to you, you might be able to
get a deal on your purchase if you get them yourself. Just
make sure that you have enough pumpkins for your family to
carve. Three of four is a nice amount for a front porch on
Halloween night!
Make sure you have room for everyone
to carve their pumpkins. If weather is nice, do it outdoors.
There will be less mess to clean up and you won't have to
worry about getting pumpkin guts all over your nice dinning
room table.
Keep a camera handy to take pictures of the carving as it
goes along. Make sure to photograph the finished
Jack-O-Lanterns. You might consider making simple scrap
books after the party to give to guests so they can remember
what a great time they had at your pumpkin carving party! Be
sure and visit
Halloween Online's Pumpkin section for all the info you
need on pumpkin carving!
What you'll
need to do to get the party going:
Make and send out the invitations
Supply pumpkins for carving or "Bring Your Own Pumpkin"
(BYOP)
Supply carving tools or bring your own
Plenty of table space and chairs
Lots of newspaper - trash bags and cans
Decorations and party favors
Refreshments and snacks
Background entertainment - music, horror movies, etc.
Camera to photograph the completed Jack O' Lanterns
 You'll need to decide
before you make out the invites whether you want them to
bring their own pumpkins and carving tools so you can add
that to the invitation. If you have enough carving tools to
supply everyone, that's one less thing for them to worry
about. What we do is every year when we buy new pumpkin
carving pattern books that come with tools is put them all
away for later. We have our own personal carving tool box
that we put together ourselves so we don't need the little
kits that come with the pattern books. We save them for
parties in case someone needs carving tools.
If you plan on letting
them use carving patterns, make sure to make copies of the
ones that you really like instead of using the real pattern.
That way you'll have them year after year. You can also make
them bigger or smaller , depending on what you need, if you
copy them at a photocopy store.
Keep a little first aid
kit handy in case you get any cut fingers. No one ever means
to hurt themselves but someone may get a nasty paper cut or
a finger cut using some of those carving tools. Band-Aids,
some antibiotic cream and a wet wash cloth are all you
should need. |
