Friday, October 21, 2016

Paint It


 Halloween is coming. I love this time of year. The fall colors. The changing of the season making the air crisp with the promise of cold coming. I find it exhilarating.

Some of the symbols of Halloween are representative of the harvest. Gourds, squashes, pumpkins, corn stalks, Indian corn, and bales of hay are frequently used to give a festive autumn look to a house or business. Often scarecrows serve as sentries ever watching for evil spirits.

Pumpkin carving is a tradition. You take a pumpkin and carve the top off. After emptying it of the seeds scary faces are carved into the body of the pumpkin. Often a candle of LED light is placed inside to give it that eerie glow.

It can be displayed on the porch or steps outside. On the inside of the house it can be placed on a table and surrounded by candles. Even placed by a mailbox the Jack-o-lanterns are fun to see.

One drawback to carved pumpkins is that they often begin to spoil before Halloween is over. Depending on the weather they might shrivel and fall into themselves.

I discovered another way to decorate. Instead of carving which is messy and can be dangerous because of the sharp knives you can paint the pumpkins.

If you want to be truly artistic you can sketch your pattern onto the pumpkin with a pencil but freestyle is perfectly acceptable. Any type of paint can be used. If children are participating water paints are the best idea.

Simply paint the face on the pumpkin and it is ready to place in a prominent spot. That is all there is to it.

You can paint small squash and gourds too. They can be used with the pumpkins or without depending on how much space you have.

There is little mess. Whole pumpkins are easier to deal with after Halloween than a squishy carved pumpkin.

So whether you carve or paint enjoy your Halloween decorations.

14 comments:

  1. Part of our tradition this time of year is roasting the pumpkin seeds. We have our girls for a day next week and we will have a great time with pumpkins. Painting them can be so creative but I can't see past the carving.

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    1. Carving is fun too. All I know is children and those of us who are children at heart like a good Jack-o'-lantern.

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  2. I have my pumpkins, but often toss them out to the hogs at end of season. I like you are near Broken Kettle, I had a few friends do doctoral studies and one an internship she never finished. There is a bench there dedicated to her.

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    1. This is a gorgeous part of the country. Some hills you top and can see for miles.

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  3. I'm off to the pumpkin patch!

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  4. Great post, Emma!!!
    We do both...we paint and cut our pumpkins and my grandfather used to always save the seeds and make pumpkin seeds...yummm!!! We have also grown new pumpkins from the seeds of the old one.

    Have a lovely evening, Emma~

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    1. I think you are on to something here. I like the painting because it is less messy and the pumpkins stay firm. They can be cut up after Halloween. You on the other hand have compromised and do both. Way to go.

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  5. We have 10 of our great nieces and nephews coming over tomorrow and we bought 10 small pumpkins. Jilda plans to help the kids paint them on the screen porch. They love these projects.
    R

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    1. I hope you post pictures before they take them home. Jilda is so patient and talented. No wonder the kids love her so.

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  6. I find the weather just starting to get colder invigorating.

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    1. It is invigorating. You feel like football games, Halloween, and getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

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  7. I like the season too, but if I ever carved a pumpkin, I don't recall it.

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    1. No Jack-O'-Lanterns? I am sorry. It is fun to try to carve a scary face in the pumpkin. Some countries do not have pumpkins so they use squash or gourds. As a matter of fact the very first one was supposedly a squash.

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