There may very well be less of you reading this post today than normally would. Hurricane Sandy has ripped through a lot of North America taking some of it with it.
As I type this on Monday night my power is out and I'm on my last reserves of battery, so if there are typos or errors or weirdnesses with this post at all I trust you'll forgive me.
~ karen
Hate carving pumpkins? Me too.
I know you're probably scoffing right now, but I really do hate carving pumpkins.
I do it. And I'm good at it. But it doesn't mean I like it.
I have a friend. We'll call her Wesley, because it rhymes with her real name ... Leslie. Well, Wesley is really good at making pies. Homemade crust, fresh fruit ... delicious pies. She's really good at making pies. So wherever Wesley goes, people ask her to bring a pie.
She does it. She's good at it. But she doesn't necessarily like it.
But she's a good person, so she always brings a pie.
Thankfully pumpkin carving happens less often than pie cravings. I only have to devote one day a year to it.
Last year I didn't even do that. I don't know what happened but I just ran out of time. Cough. Sputter, sputter, H a cK! O.K. I do know what happened. I didn't want to carve any pumpkins so I didn't. So sue me.
I felt bad about it because sometimes people come specifically to see my pumpkins. I made up for it by answering the door topless.
If you TOO can't stand the thought of carving your pumpkins do what I did.
Just stick something out of your pumpkin. You still have to hollow it out but you don't have to carve a face. Just meander around your house and look for things you can stick out of your pumpkin.
A skull for instance ...
This is a ceramic skull I own. I just cut a hole in the pumpkin, approximately the size of the skull and shoved it in. Since there are gaps between the hole and the skull, light could shine through giving it that eerie look.
And yes those are white pumpkins I had. You could do the same thing with orange ones. I know it seems stupid to say that, but someone will ask. Not you. Someone stupid. This skull is actually a candle I got at a garage sale years ago. BAM. Shove it in the pumpkin.
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
I drilled out the eyes a bit so the light inside could shine through them.
Yet another ceramic skull ... this one is a candle holder.
And a prosthetic hand. Actually I think it's a mold for a doll's hand. You can see about how I acquired it here.
It looked especially magnificent when lit up.
It took no time at all to do this collection. And I think it still has the effect one wants from a carved pumpkin. Interesting to look at, makes you feel all Hallowe'eny and fools people into thinking you actually spent time on it. Speaking of Halloweeny ... for those grown up parties there are a variety of things you could stick out of your pumpkin.
In case you don't have skulls and baby hands at the ready this would also look completely FANTASTIC with a whole mess of spiders spilling out of the hole. Little ones. Like they were just born and are escaping their sac. Makes my stomach do a flip just thinking about it.
But be warned. Don't get too good at this. Don't make it too impressive unless you want to be making impressive pumpkins for the rest of your life. EVERYONE will know that you can do it and you're good at it and they'll want you to do it all the time even if you don't like it.
Like with sex.
Happy Hallowe'en everyone!
Annie Kip
Awesome alternative!!! I hate carving pumpkins too! I didn't even buy pumpkins yet this year (and tomorrow is the Big Day) because I didn't want to have to carve them! I will do this next year, for sure!!!
Randy
Love, love, love your blog. Very inspirational! Martha who? ;0)
Elaine
I hate carving pumpkins too so this was great to run into! I pinned it!
Karen
Thank you ma'am! ~ karen
Aisha
I thought you should know that whenever I am reading your blog I catch my man behind my back reading it and laughing as well, we love how funny you are.
And when you can make a man turn away from Monday night football to read a do it yourself blog you deserve a damn metal.
Kristina
Oh, help me! I don't know which got me laughing harder. Your posting or the whole North America/Canada thing!!! Good grief! LOL
Katherine
Hope you're safe. Look after yourself. Great post as usual... Thinking of you! x
Jan
Actually, one at the head and one at the foot of the table. Sorry. Not clear in earlier message.
Jan
Brilliant idea for that pumpkin! Easy and scary. I pinned it. Is the worst over for you with the storm? If my guy yelled "Tree down" and it wasn't and he knew it ...well, he would have to do something very nice to make up for it. Like buying that chair. Or a matching set. Wouldn't it be comfortable to have a couple at the head and foot of a table? If the table was large enough.
Patti
Haha. He thought the tree actually fell, so he was also quite frightened!
Tricia Rose
No camping stove for coffee?
Karen
No. Fireplace! Anyhow, I found my french press and some ground Illy so I was fine. (did it on the gas stove) ~ karen!
Kat
Excellent IDEA Karen I have been so busy with other Halloween stuff I didn't get a chance to try doing your toothy pumpkins, this will fit the bill. Sat. night I won 1'st prize for my costume. If you get a chance you can see a picture of it on the floraltrims.com website under "what customers are doing with our products". Look for a big monarch butterfly! Thanks again for all your Halloween ideas the kids love everything I copied from you at the store where I work!
Janet
Truly one of the funniest posts and following comments ever. (It was extrememly difficult holding back from adding comments to...just about every comment) Today's post, just might get me through until you are recharged again. Thanks for you dedication.Stay SAFE!
Brie
"Like Sex"..... he he he.
Nancy Blue Moon
Awesome pumpkins Karen..We were very lucky as we did not lose power although over 1 million did in PA..You all stay safe and warm up there..So glad that you have a fireplace..I hope we hear from you tomorrow..
Bonnie
What is scary is the thought that you may not have enough power to send us messages tomorrow!
Be safe- your readers and you!
And, so you do not have to waste reading this without the intended kudoes-- LOVE the pumpkins--WAY better than the traditional carved ones!
Do you ever have a day where you don't think of something exciting (read:COOL) to do? Don't answer, save your strength, Er, I mean power.
Dawna Jones
OMG Karen you kill me! And the topless part bet that was scaaarrryyy!!!
http://www.dawnajonesdesign.com/
Spokangela
I love the skulls! brilliant :) I found a pumpkin this year already shaped like a skull so carving it into one was really easy.
I wish I could bring you coffee!! I admire your dedication :) Stay safe!
ev
Appreciate you toughed it out, even using up batteries! Be safe and well, Karen. Here in northeastern Ohio it is very windy and wet and I have to drive 60 miles today. In a Jeep Wrangler no less--kind of like driving a "up high on extra big tires square box"! High wind is always an adventure. Happy Halloween, and more POWER to you!
Patti
We had power outages here, too, Karen, but were reassured at work not to worry - they have a generator so there is no risk of us not having to work.
The storm wasn`t too bad here - just very windy. At 12:30am last night, I woke up suddenly to a very loud crash and then the sound of shattering glass. TheGuy JUMPED out of bed and hollered "Tree's down!" And ran to the window.
I almost had a heart attack. I ran around in circles, and then finally realized that the neighbour's recycling bin had blown over, causing a glass jar inside to shatter.
The adrenaline kept me up for 2 hours!
Patti
I just talked about myself WAY too much there. LOVE the pumpkins, ESPECIALLY the doll hand one - and also, the fact that you hate carving pumpkins! Awesome! Me, too!