TradingCradles.com Blog

When my husband and I got married, he had a yearly tradition of hosting a neighborhood pumpkin carving party.  I had never heard of this, never considered it but was initiated into the annual family event nevertheless.

 

So often in the busyness of our days and with the daylight hours waning we tend to hibernate in our homes and not see our neighbors until the weather turns warmer.  Finding reasons to invite your friends and neighbors over is a great way to stay connected throughout the year, plus you will have fun creating memories.

 

Here are some tips and tricks to hosting your own Pumpkin Carving Party:

 

• Pick a date and time that works for your family. Make sure it is not more than 4 days before Halloween because carved pumpkins begin to rot after about 5 days.  We typically allow about 2 hours for the carving.

• Give out some basic instructions with your invitation, such as BYOP (Bring your own pumpkin) younger invites need to be accompanied by an adult and invite everyone to bring their own supplies to use and share with others.

• Have several carving areas set up in advance.  Use plastic table cloths to cover tables or place on the floor, or use newspaper for quick cleanup.

• Store all sharp knives and cutting utensils in drinking glasses so it will be less likely someone will accidentally cut themselves.  Have other craving supplies handy, like stencils, markers, and large spoons/scoops to empty the inside contents of the pumpkins.  Have a container ready to accommodate the pumpkin innards.

• Have some simple snacks available for your guests – cookies, candy corn and warm apple cider are always a hit at our house.

• Have one person fish out all the seeds from the inside of the pumpkins and start roasting pumpkin seeds.  You can continue roasting long after everyone has gone and then distribute them to those who attended the party later on.

• Have tea lights or votive candles for all those attending so that you can send them home completely ready to light their jack-o-lantern.  Also, have a long handled candle lighter so that you don’t get burned from having to use small matches!

• Get a photo of everyone after the carving has finished.  It is even better if you can wait until evening to get the full effect of those lit jack-o-lanterns!  Line up everyone with their pumpkins and also just line up the pumpkins in a group to take some fun photos.

 

Don’t forget to enter our 2011 Halloween Photo Giveaway for a chance to win an iPad2 & gift cards.

 

Post written by Susan Heid…

Susan Heid is the mom behind The Confident Mom where she loves inspiring  moms to make small changes managing their home and family life giving them more time, less stress and stronger family relationships! She enthusiastically wears the hat of mom, step-mom and foster mom to 4 awesome kids – ages 18, 14, 10 and 17 months; is married to her very own prince charming, loves coffee, cloudy days, and does think the bluest skies you’ve ever seen are in Seattle.  Her FREE 5 part mini series: “The Opening Act” is helping moms worldwide become the calm mom they want to be!  Join the community of moms on Facebook or find her @ConfidentMom on Twitter.

 

 

It’s that time of year again to get the kids dressed up, carve some pumpkins, do some trick or treating, eat lots of sweets and then take the kiddos to the dentist for a deep cleaning. In honor of this years spooky holiday we are hosting a fun Halloween photo contest with a huge grand prize.

 

Up for grab are five $10.00 Target, Amazon or Best Buy gift cards and the Grand prize is for a 64gb wifi+3G iPad 2

 

And the winners are…

if you won a prize please email info@tradingcradles.com to confirm. Let us know what type of gift card you want target, amazon or best buy?

 

We had a blast with this giveaway and thank you for all the cute costume photos. Stay tuned for our Holiday Giveaway which will be announced shortly.

 

 

How to enter our 2011 Halloween photo contest:

MAIN ENTRY:
Post your cutest Halloween costume photo to our Facebook wall http://facebook.com/tradingcradles

 

BONUS ENTRIES:
For every person you invite to LIKE our Facebook page you get an additional entry. (be sure to tell your friends to post that you sent them)

 

For every legitimate item you post for sale on Trading Cradles that is approved gets you an additional entry.

 

For every LIKE your photo receives on our FB wall you get an additional entry. (liking your own photo doesn’t count)

 

For every COMMENT your photo receives on our FB wall you get an additional entry. (commenting on your own photo doesn’t count)

 

Post a comment below telling us your honest opinions about Trading Cradles gets you an additional entry.

 

Tweet this message on Twitter: @TradingCradles Halloween Photo Contest Enter to Win an #iPad2 http://awe.tc/ouDdKb

 

Sign up for our newsletter and get an additional entry.

 

 

We will pick the winners of the prizes on November 14, 2011 using Random.org or other creative ways. All entries must be received before 11/06/2011 11:59pm PST see the official rules here.

If you have questions about the contest feel free to email us at info@tradingcradles.com

 

Happy Halloween from Trading Cradles