I just wrote this little article on ehow. If you’ve never painted pumpkins before, it’ll give you a great overview of how to do it.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2091486_paint-pumpkins.html
Well, by now, you obviously know that Pumpkin Painting is my absolutely favorite Halloween Craft. But I’m not so one-sided that I don’t recognize the hundreds of other Halloween craft ideas that are out there. Here are a couple of my favorite simple ideas.
The only bad Halloween craft project is the Halloween craft project that takes too long. You know the ones. The craft projects that have so many steps that you’ve lost the attention of your kids before step 2. Give these easy Halloween craft ideas a try. They’re short. They’re sweet. They’re fun and the end results are spooktacular!
Pumpkin Painting
In less than one hour, you and your child can create the most adorable pumpkin craft ready to proudly display in your home. Pumpkin Painting is the perfect activity for little goblins who aren’t old enough to handle the jack-o-lantern carving duties.
With simple supplies like acrylic paints, markers, newspaper and sealer, kids can paint whimsical, silly faces on their pumpkins. Or they can paint their favorite cartoon character, Halloween motif or harvest design. Painted pumpkins do not rot near as quickly as carved pumpkins so it is much more economical to paint pumpkins rather than carving them and it’s also much safer and more hands-on for toddlers since there is no knife involved.
Antenna Characters
These adorable characters look great at the top of your automobile antenna. Hey, if your house is dressed up for Halloween, why not your car? With various Halloween-themed colors of flat fun foam (orange, black, white, green), draw a light outline of a pumpkin, ghost, spider or Frankenstein head, approximately 4-inches tall and 3-inches wide. Cut out the shapes and with a single hole punch, punch two holes in each shape, one approximately one inch from the top of the shape and another hole approximately one inch from the bottom of the shape.
With glitter glue or permanent markers, decorate the shape with facial features, an outline or anything you’d like. Allow to dry thoroughly. Once dried, you can attach to your automobile antenna by placing the antenna through the bottom hole from the back of the shape to the front. Then place the antenna through the top hole, front to back. The Antenna Character should be secure and should withstand normal driving conditions.
Halloween Mosaics
Mosaic art using tiles is very popular nowadays. Kids can duplicate this popular craft using construction paper instead of tiles or glass.
Prior to gathering the children around the table, cut small squares of various colors of paper, orange, red, blue, yellow, white, black, green, etc. and separate the colors into paper plates.
On a piece of heavy stock, white paper, draw the outline of a pumpkin, Frankenstein or other Halloween character.
With a small dab of all-purpose glue on the back of each square, kids can mosaic their way to a uniquely creative masterpiece that can be framed and hung on the wall for many Halloween seasons to come.
I received an email today from a great lady who began Pumpkin Painting last Halloween. This is a photo of one of her first painted pumpkins. I think she did a great job!
Her name is Camie and here’s what she had to say:
“I had such fun painting pumpkins last Halloween and was pleasantly surprised at the end results. I do not consider myself creative but with your help I was even able to pull it off! Of course, I didn’t even think to take pictures of my masterpieces but I did some digging and found pictures of my son* with one of the pumpkins.
“Am planning on doing it again this Halloween so I’ll be sure to remember my camera this time and send you more. I’m hoping to get the entire family involved now that I’m not so intimidated.”
* I went ahead and edited her son out of the photo so you could see Camie’s Pumpkin Painting up close.
Pumpkin Painting might seem intimidating but I believe it’s one of the most forgiving arts you can do. Give it a try. You might surprise yourself like Camie!
I just ran across these very cool books that I’d never seen before. They’re kids books, but they’re all about building imagination, creativity and building bridges among all people. There is one in particular that is full of fun holiday stories, including Halloween stories. I hope to get you all a review of it in the next couple of days.
Homemade Halloween Costumes – Get Creative!
Back in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, it seems like kids were satisfied with whatever Halloween costume their mother came up with the night before. In my home, that meant you were going to be one of three things on Halloween night: a hobo, ghost, or a gypsy.
Nowadays, children are more demanding than ever when it comes to their Halloween costume. In fact, there are so many activities surrounding the Halloween holiday that some kids might wear one, two or three costumes over the four-week long Halloween season.
For trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, they may wear one costume and at the school, church or community center “Trunk or Treat” event, they may want to wear something else.
In fact, last year, my daughter made a big deal about being Hannah Montana. We went crazy trying to find a long, blonde wig. She wore that costume at her school’s Trunk or Treat, but when Halloween night came around, she decided she wanted to be a cat! Fortunately, I had a black leotard, a black ballet skirt and a little cat ear headband. Since I know how to face paint, I painted her face and voila, she was a cat. Now, I know I should have just made her wear the original costume, but I reallly wasn’t in the mood to deal with a crabby kid and since I had everything I needed, it was easy to put together. And since I made my costumes at home, it was economical, too.
To purchase pre-made Halloween costumes is an expensive proposition regardless of how much money you have. Purchasing a costume at $20, $30 or even more when the ‘wear date’ is virtually one 24-hour period is just too pricy for most modern families. Convenience comes with a price; however, creativity goes right out the window when pre-made Halloween costumes are worn.
Families have been turning to Homemade Halloween Costumes for the past several years. Homemade Halloween Costumes have many benefits:
- They generally cost less to make than purchasing a pre-made, pre-packaged Halloween costume.
- Making a homemade costume requires ingenuity, creativity and resourcefulness.
- Homemade Halloween costume creation is an activity where all family members can contribute.
- Homemade Halloween costumes are simply more attractive and generate a bigger “wow” factor.
- The kids are generally much more proud of wearing a homemade Halloween costume when it’s created with love and togetherness. It makes Halloween night that much more special.
Homemade Halloween costume ideas are everywhere. The first place to look is in your own home.
Do you have a white sweatshirt and white sweatpants? Make a Dalmatian, an angel or a ghost.
Do you have a brown sweatshirt and brown sweatpants? Make a white-spotted puppy dog.
Do you have green pants and a green shirt or sweatshirt? Cut some ‘petals’ from fun foam, hot glue them to an old headband and you’ve got a flower.
Do you have an old robe and old some old slippers? Add some hair rollers and a coffee mug and you’ve got a tired mom costume (okay, so that’s how I look in the morning sans the hair rollers! 
)
There are dozens and dozens of costumes that can be easily made at home.
And don’t forget about making your child a hobo or a gypsy. It could be the most original costume you’ll see this year. If you need some inspiration and direction, the folks at I Love Halloween Costumes have put together a collection of over 90 costumes that you can make at home. And they’ll tell you how to do it. Check them out at I Love Halloween Costumes.
Yes, You CAN Make Money By Painting Pumpkins.
I just returned from the grocery store and amidst the small selection of pumpkins that is in the produce department, there was a basket of painted pumpkins. They were nice with cute faces, but they weren’t handpainted originals. It looked like the designs were some kind of transfers. I saw them last Halloween and they scratch off easily, which is not good.
The price of each small painted pumpkin (the size of a sugar pumpkin or “pie pumpkin”) was $5.00. That’s more than double the price of a regular, unpainted pumpkin in the same size.
Pumpkin Painting is a great way to make money during September and October, perfect timing when you need the extra cash during the holiday season.
You could set up at flea markets, craft shows, even gift shops that may allow you a consignment arrangement.
The key to doing Pumpkin Painting For Profit is to secure an inventory of pumpkins from a local farm or distributor (ask around at pumpkin stands) and get really good at painting pumpkins quickly.
Look for shows and flea markets where the booth investment is minimal. And keep track of your expenses (paints, sealer, pumpkins, etc.). At least double your expenses to come up with a price.
Start small and grow. Before you know it, you could have an annual business with repeat customers who come back to buy your Pumpkin Painting masterpieces year after year.