Our Pumpkin Carving Party

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      Some of our grandchildren were going to be in town two weekends before Halloween, so we thought we would gather the family together and have an early celebration.  Since we also have 2 birthdays in the family that are close to Halloween, it seemed like the perfect time to have a party!  Because we had our party early, maybe some of our ideas will help you with any event you are now planning at the last minute! 
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The Menu:  

     I wanted to keep it simple, yet satisfy a lot of different tastes and make it feel like Halloween! Maddy and I planned the menu together and we came up with:

• 2 kinds of chili-regular beef and bean chili and Lindsey's famous Pumpkin Chili! 
• Baked potatoes  to top with chili if you wanted to.  Some people love baked potatoes in our family and some don't, so they could just eat chili if they wanted.
• Toppings such as sour cream and cheese.
• Corn bread, (which didn't end up happening at our party, even though it was in the plan.)
• Homemade Root Beer!
  
• Cake
  
• Pumpkin Pie 

     Maddy loves strawberry cake, so I used a cake mix to make one.  But, to make it special I decided to decorate it with my Disney Skeleton Apple mug that Maddy bought me from Disneyland one year. I made strawberry sauce to use as blood! Click the gallery below to see how my granddaughter and I did it. 

Click on the recipe to get a printable copy.

     The root beer was a big part of the fun! I found root beer extract at our local grocery store.  That brand was much less expensive at the store than on Amazon.  But, if you can't find any, there are a lot of brand choices on Amazon that are less expensive.   We made 3 gallons, which was way more than enough.  The best part was putting in the dry ice.  The kids loved that! The root beer was delicious! 

The Fun!

     Two days before the party, I went to the store and purchased a variety of different pumpkins.  Maddy came over the morning of the party and she and my son set up a pumpkin patch in my strawberry garden box (without smashing my strawberry plants) and decorated with fall leaves and flowers. 

Luckily, I had just trimmed back my strawberry plants, so there was room for the pumpkins!

We carved pumpkins before eating! The kids went out and picked their pumpkins!

     We had been having some cooler weather in Phoenix, but of course on the day of the party , the temperature shot up again, so some of our plans didn't happen as I had hoped.  We set the carving tables up at the side of the house in the shade! We had hoped to have everything outside, including a fire in the firepit, and then lighting the jack-o-lanterns around the yard after they were carved.  But, we had to move everything inside because of the heat of the day.  The kids loved carving though! We had plenty of those carving kits that make the carving so much easier! 

     After the carving was over, we sat all of the pumpkins on the table.  The kids were able to sit and eat their dinner all around them.  Then, we all visited and talked awhile until the sun set.  I had purchased small battery powered candles to put inside the jack-o-lanterns.  We lit them and turned off all of the lights so everyone could oooo and aaah!  Then we sang happy birthday and ate dessert! 
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     The party was a success overall, in spite of a few glitches to our plans.  Of course, today the Fall temperatures are back! I guess we can have our firepit going on the real Halloween, but it won't be as much fun without the grandkids! 

Other Halloween Ideas You May Enjoy:

• Spider Candy Dish
• 3 Last Minute Costumes
• Halloween Party Appetizers
• Labels for Your Halloween Treats
• Quick Way to Decorate Halloween Cookies

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