Beetlejuice, Cheshire Cat and a Sassy Little Witch

October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween! I forgot that Halloween was this week until the last minute. It snuck up on me! I didn’t even buy candy! No one really trick-or-treats around our block anyway. The Halloween spirit seems to be lost to paranoia and fear. Remember when the biggest Halloween issue was rumors about razorblades in apples (like mom would ever let you eat apples from a stranger–but candy was fine)? Now you have to fear the person who lurks behind the closed door you dare to knock on! Damn crazies. At least communities hold trick-or-treating events so kids can safely go out and trick-or-treat. I told my husband that I wish we were still a suitable age to go trick-or-treating. I miss pillowcases full of free candy! How much fun was it to lug your haul home, dump it on the table, have mom go through it and pick at sweets while it was all put in a collective bowl?! I guess I’ll go trick-or-treating in my snack drawer tonight for something sweet and watch Halloween movies.

In the spirit of Halloween, I’m showing off the pumpkins we decorated. Yesterday I went pumpkin picking with my husband. Better late than never, right? We drove down to Cheesequake Farms where I’ve gone pumpkin picking many years before with my sisters. When you wait until the last minute to go pumpkin picking, you get to view the pumpkin patch from afar but have to buy pumpkins from the farm’s market. Not as much fun, but it was okay with me. We were supporting local/small business and took home two perfectly fine pumpkins. I was too busy taking pictures of farm animals and other pumpkins so my husband actually pointed out the perfect pumpkin for the stencil I was using.

I found a Beetlejuice stencil on Orange and Black‘s free pumpkin pattern website. My husband wanted something simple to paint and chose a Cheshire Cat type of stencil. I’ve been with my husband almost six years now and I think this is the first time we actually sat down and decorated pumpkins together. It was fun! While he painted his pumpkin, I started carving mine. It didn’t take as long as I thought it was going to and I’m pleased with the outcome. It doesn’t look as impressive during the day, but when it’s all lit up at night it’s pretty bad ass! My husband did an awesome job painting his pumpkin. It looks like it could be a decal (see my witch decal pumpkin below for comparison)! I tried squirrel-proofing our pumpkins a few ways. We’ll see if it works! I sealed the large pumpkins with Mod Podge (the shiny coat is supposed to prevent squirrels from making a meal out of your pumpkin). White vinegar supposedly deters pests and it’s also good for mold issues so I wiped down the exposed flesh of my Beetlejuice pumpkin with a white vinegar soaked cotton ball. I also read that hot sauce helps so I wiped down my little witch pumpkin with hot sauce. For added measure, I sprinkled red pepper flakes inside my pumpkin. I’m not messing around this year!