In Our Town of Halloween

As you well know, I'm nuts for tradition boys and girls.

And Halloween is no exception.  When I was a kid, I would get Halloween nightmares in the same way that people get exam nightmares - it was the day of and I didn't have a costume yet.  I've calmed down somewhat since then, but there are still a few traditions that I hold close to my heart.

The main one is pumpkin carving with my dad.  I would pick out and design the pumpkin, and he would do the actual work of pulling out the guts and carving in the face.  Even when I went away to university, I would design something in MSPaint and email it to my parents.  That tradition fell a little to the wayside when I went away to England and after, but now it's back with full force boys and girls!

This year we left it pretty late (my dad said he had to fight off other ladies to get the final pumpkin at the grocery store - and it had started to rot on one side).  I had been browsing blogs and Martha Stewart and sites like that to get inspiration and/or stencils, and even though there were a few that looked super awesome (think spooky cameos etched rather than cut in or a double-sided pumpkin that projected up onto the wall), we went with something relatively simple for time's sake.  I found a simple picture of an evilly grinning Jack Skellington, simplified it even more, and then let the spoons and knives fly! Simple!  And spooky. . . . 

Stencil on, guts out

Love it already!

Delicious reward for all that hard work

Gentlemen, prepare to operate

Taking shape

'Cause I JACK, The Pumpkin King

Everyone hail to the pumpkin song

I worked the night of Halloween unfortunately, so I didn't get to see any of the munchkins in my neighbourhood, nor did I get to cut a rug of my own.  Too bad!  But that's the joy of a yearly tradition. . . just a few more months and we get to do it all again!

Happy Belated Halloween,

Your friend Lina