| Can you believe it is now October and Halloween is just weeks away? I know we cannot, even though we have been getting our decorating groove on. I have included first pictures from the decorating process of our pumpkins and squash, an update from last week’s blog post of the Pumpkin patch. We also spent the weekend in Clinton, IL for a Pork & Apple festival. It was a beautiful sunny day out for the festival and we had a lot of fun eating pork, ham, and apples! We also enjoyed a live rockabilly band, the Swamp Tigers, which I highly recommend. We made rope, saw vintage farm equipment, and watched how different crafts are made. All in all it has been a great week and perfect start to Fall! Enjoy the photos.
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| Our pumpkins and Squash for Halloween (L to R: Mummy/Vampire, Jack, Ooogie Boogie, and Boo) |
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| The boys and I started by choosing our first ‘victim’ and taking their ‘Before’ shot. |
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| My son, Maddox, made a Mummy Vampire with felt facial pieces and white crepe streamers for the bandages. |
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| My son, Ronan, loves Nintendo and wanted to make Boo. More importantly King Boo. Not pictured is his crown, which he is now wearing. We started by priming him in white and then painting over with a pearly white paint so that his white teeth would stand out in the main white. Of course Boo is sporting his tongue hanging out of his mouth. |
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| We love Tim Burton at my house so it was only natural we do Ooogie Boogie with this great big Squash from the pumpkin patch. I started first by painting him in two coats of green. I used various shades of green to outline in his limbs and for contouring after using black for his facial features. I also gave him his seams, with one gapping seam that has bugs oozing out of him. The final touches were two dice, one in each hand. Now he really is a gambling man—er squash! |
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| Last year we didn’t do pumpkins because we live in England and Halloween is not as big of a holiday as it is in the USA. But the year before I made a Jack Pumpkin with a white pumpkin. He was great bug since we carved him, he did not last very long. This year I got an off white pumpkin and added white paint first, then painted on his face with a quote from The Nightmare Before Christmas on the back. |
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| This is my Jack, from 2010, that I carved out of a white pumpkin for Halloween. |
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| Here is a final look at our main pumpkins and squash for this year. Looking good! |
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| We have some smaller pumpkins and squashes left and here is one that I am working on now. I took a few pages of my September Vogue magazine and used it to collage over it using Hodge Podge. I do not feel it is finished yet, so I may update you with a final piece in an upcoming blog post for October. |
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| For our really small pumpkins and squashes I used this chrome spray paint to coat them. I really liked the final look. However I have also taken a few and used orange glitter to give them some varying accents. I used an ‘A’ on one of them for a monogram of our surname. |
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| We went to Clinton, IL for the 44th annual Pork & Apple Festival for food, fun, and music. Maddox is pictured here making his own rope. |
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| Close up of the tools and simple machine needed to make a rope. |
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| Ronan and Maddox showing off their ropes at the Pork & Apple Festival in Clinton, IL |
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| The Swamp Tigers |
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| The Swamp Tigers |
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| Vintage farm equipment and apples for sale. Of course we had to buy some to eat too. |
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| Showing how the corn is processed and vintage license plates on display inside the barn. |
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| How glass beads are made and a vintage washing machine. |
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| Watching different tradesman in how they make their crafts of both wood and metal. |
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| Last but not least the boys have some fun before bedtime with their ‘parachuting man’. See you next week! |
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