Pumpkin "Carving"

Pumpkin carving has never been my strong suit. Even though I'm a "crafty" person, I don't enjoy the pumpkins so much--at least the real carving of said creatures. Flat out, there is just too much work involved--and messy work at that!

The first year we were married, Chris and I got sucked into going to my brother's house for a pumpkin carving "party." We had a good time, good fellowship, etc. Then we got down to cutting into the pumpkin, getting all the guts out of it and only then start chiseling into the outside shell. The end product turned out pretty good, just getting there wasn't a lot of fun for me (especially not for Chris as I pretty much dragged him there anyway).

The second year we were married, I still wanted to decorate for Halloween and do something with a pumpkin....just something not so messy. I was at Michaels one day and saw fabulous plastic-like pumpkins that I could carve. I grabbed a couple and thought we would take a stab at that. I once again got my loving husband to play along with me. We got out our trusty knives and started butchering the pumpkins. We didn't have any fancy designs traced on them or anything...just freehand. I think that is where we messed up this experiment. We aren't very good freehand, just the typical triangle eyes, nose and crazy mouth.

This year, still determined not to dig into a pumpkin with all the mess, not wanting to have a repeat of the last pitiful pumpkin, I came up with a new plan. As you have seen below, we went to a farm and I was one of the suckers who bought a real pumpkin. As a result, I felt compelled to do something with it. While at my favorite store the other day (Target), I saw the perfect solution to my pumpkin dilemma.....no scooping out guts, no sharp objects with risk of cutting off our fingers or at the very least slicing something wide open, no newspapers spread out all over the table, no major mess to clean up--and something that Chris could finally get into as well. I found a Mr. Potato Head kit made especially for pumpkins and people like me!

Our finished pumpkin. Personally, I think the best one of the 3!

Sam loves these huge orange things. They are "just right" for banging on.

Sam is trying to tell daddy where the hat goes.

Chris getting into the fun and assembling Mr. Pumpkin Head's face.

Mommy takes a stab at putting the arms in.

Sam is so proud of HIS accomplishment!