HSB's 1st Pumpkin Party

    I love fall, and when I was trying to come up with an activity for us to do with our kids, I thought a pumpkin decorating party would be perfect!  I figured since we would be doing this with kids, I would leave the pumpkin carving knives for another time.  So we all came up with different decorating ideas (with a little help from pinterest) and we got to planning.  Stonf and I decided to go to Michaels to buy all of our supplies that we would need...and of course, we didn't let this shopping opportunity go by without first stopping for lunch at one of our favorite eateries: Panera Bread!  After we filled up on Panera deliciousness, we headed over to Michaels to get our loot and Stonf started gathering fun items to make treat bags for all of the kids.  Next, we needed PUMPKINS!  So, I gathered up my reusable bags (and my kids), and headed off to the farmer's market. We loaded up our bags with several large pumpkins, a few medium (pie) pumpkins, and lots of mini pumpkins, perfect for the kids to decorate.  Last on my list of things to do: the MENU.  I knew right off the bat that I would be making my Mom's Halloween cupcakes that she made for us as kids.  Then, I found this cute idea http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/jack-o-lantern-pizza/   To make it even easier, I just used frozen cheese pizzas and added the peppers and black olives.

  And, what's a party without buffalo chicken dip??  Hooch offered to make these adorable monster pudding cups she found on pinterest. And with a few extra snackies and drinks, our menu was complete.
     Party time!!  I had the house all set up with our pumpkins and gourds on display and Max & Ruby Halloween DVD on the tv. Everyone arrived, Hooch and Stonf brought their treats and a few last minute pickups like Halloween plates, napkins, tableclothes, and such.  I finished making (and taste-testing) the buffalo chicken dip and we were ready.  The kids all sat around the table as we served them their pizza....the peppers and olives turned out to be just for show and a nice try at trying to get the kids to eat their veggies...haha! 

Although, I have to admit, we had one little veggie eater at our party...all the kids' peppers ended up on Bug's plate...she's a good eater! 

 

The kids had their choice of grape juice or orange carrot juice...some kids unknowingly got their veggies that way.  

Once the kids had eaten, they were back to playing while us Moms continued to uncontrollably snack on the buffalo chicken dip...I'm telling you, whoever came up with that delicious combination of flavors is a genius.  Finally, we asked the kids what should we do next: dessert or pumpkins??  We got a mix of answers, so us Moms decided...and DESSERT won! 

The kids loved the "monster" pudding cups, especially the silly/scary faces that were drawn on by Hooch's husband, George.  But after only a few bites, the kids were back to playing...and not wanting to be wasteful, us Moms finished eating the kids' pudding cups.  We (Moms) also tried the cupcakes, but since the kids were so full, I decided to just send the cupcakes home with them.  And finally, it was time to start decorating pumpkins!!  We cleaned off the table, got out the tray of paint and craft supplies, and got to work. 

The kids were loving it!!  The littler ones just loved to be playing with paint...the older ones were getting a little more creative with ribbons, stickers, and jewels.  The kids really enjoyed decorating their pumpkins.  And no big messes or spills happened!  That's a win for me!

 Once the kids were all decorated out, they went back to playing and HSB got to work!  We tried out a few ideas we found on pinterest and other ideas we thought of on our own. 

    I made a lacy pumpkin using a spider web lace that I found at Michael's.  I cut a hole in the fabric and put the stem through, then gathered the fabric around the bottom and held it in place with sewing pins.

 Hooch made our signature pumpkin with paint and jewels.  She did a great job with her free hand lettering.

  Stonf tried out a spider web pumpkin using glue and glitter.  It turned out nice.  And she added a fake spider for special effect. 
And then we have our bedazzled pumpkin made by just simply gluing on some jewels.
Our one failure: spray on glitter pumpkin.  It may have been the damp conditions, but the spray glitter came out splocthy and drippy.  We decided to scratch this idea.

<Enter our "Keepin it Real" moment>
At this point, some of the kids were playing in the living room and some in Jacob's room.  Now, to get to Jacob's room, the kids had to pass by the stairs and unfortunately, Bug took a tumble down them. While Stonf comforted her and made sure she was ok, we heard crying from Jacob's room.  Felicity had fallen off the stool and into the drumset.  Hooch made sure she was ok.  And before any more injury could happen, we decided to shut down the party!  Thankfully, there were no major injuries, and Stonf later reported that Bug didn't even have a bump!!
    We gave the kids their treat buckets from Stonf which included stickers, a Halloween wristband, the jack-o-lantern drinking cups, a ghost (made of marshmallows in a sandwich bag with eyes and mouth drawn on), and some pumpkin poop(cheeseballs).

  And with the extra pumpkins, I tried out a few other ideas the next day: our last name and house number to place at the end of our driveway, an owl using white cupcake liners for the eyes and paint, and a glitter pumpkin using painted on glue and glitter.

 Overall, I think our 1st pumpkin party was a success and definitely alot of fun!  I can't wait for our next party! 

So tell us, what's your favorite fall activity??