So it's that time of year again, where parents begin to dread the prospect of having to knock on their neighbours doors simply for their children to demand sweets (which have been deposited there earlier by said parent!) from them.
Mr C hates Hallowe'en and has done ever since A and S were little and Ol is not quite at that age where he even realises that you can demand sweets off the neighbours, so for another year Mr C is spared!
I've got some funsize chocolates in for the local kids that call early with their parents and then we'll close the curtains and keep the lights low. Don't get me wrong, we're not kill joys, but I think it's easy to feel threatened and I don't like dealing with strangers at the door at the best of times.
In the spirit of Hallowe'en Mr C bought a couple of dodgy looking pumpkins on Saturday and Ol and I spent Saturday and Sunday afternoon playing around with a handy little carving tool kit that the lovely Mr Ocado brought on Saturday morning. I've had a few unsuccessful attempts over the years at hacking what I thought to be a relatively simple face only to find that the results looked like I'd carved it with a blunt butter knife. So the joy of finding a little kit with some suggested designs was a relief!
Here is what we did.....
1. take one less than average pumpkin (you can't see the mouldy side thankfully!) and cut out a lid and remove the insides.
2. choose your design from the handy little book and carefully tape it to the side of the pumpkin. Score the design through the paper onto the skin of the pumpkin.
3. carve out the pumpkin in sections. We started with the eyes and mouths and small sections first.
4. then remove the larger sections
5. tidy up the edges with the little hacksaw blade carving tool
6. and best of all - pop in a nightlight or two, wait until it gets dark and.....
BOO!!!
You can find some free stencils like the one we used at the Pumpkin Masters website.
Pumpkin carving will never be the same again (at least in our house, anyway!).
Enjoy!
