I know it makes me a little bit basic, but I friggin’ love pumpkins. I’m not afraid to say it – I love them in all sizes, shapes, and colors. The only thing I like more than the pumpkins themselves is the visit to the pumpkin patch to pick them out. I have literally been waiting most of my adult life to have kids to take to a pumpkin patch in search of the perfect pumpkin so it’s not just me looking like some weirdo wandering through a field of seasonal vegetables. This year was finally the year and the kids and I went with their preschool class to Clinton Sease Farm in Lexington, SC. The kids lost their minds with excitement on the farm, mostly to see the goats, cows, and Charlie and Jethro the donkeys, but also to pick their very own pumpkin. Proving that genetic inclinations are a real thing, they picked the biggest pumpkin they could find; in proving that I am becoming my mother, I told them that I couldn’t manage them and two huge pumpkins, so they settled on some more reasonable ones that they could carry themselves.
I used to be really into carving my Halloween pumpkin – whether it was an intricate design or just a silly face, but with two kids and a husband that frequently travels, I thought that this might be just the year to delve into the Pinterest world of alternative pumpkin decorating ideas. The girls are really into painting right now, and they have pretty much always been into googly eyes, so I saw an opportunity to combine two of their favorite things to create some ridiculously awesome Halloween decor. If you too are looking for some fun ways to let your kids have at their pumpkins this Halloween – below is an overview of what we did.
PAINTING
The girls are only 2, so the concept of washing a brush or not mixing all the paints together doesn’t really make sense to them, so I gave them each one seasonal color choice – Indiana went with black and Scout opted for white. Parental side note – I would recommend using those craft fluid acrylic paints that you can buy at a craft store (like Michaels or JoAnne’s). Indiana’s black paint was Liquitex Basics Acrylic (left over from a painting class) and while it definitely covered the pumpkin well, it took a long time to dry… except for on her and the table where it instantly bonded and was a real pain in the $*! to get off.
After the kids felt that their pumpkins were sufficiently drenched in paint…I mean painted…we let them dry for an hour or so.
After that, I dumped a pile of googly eyes on the table in front of each kid and let her pick each eye and where it should be placed on the pumpkin while I tried to keep up with the hot glue gun.
Final products were pretty flippin’ sweet if I do say so myself. They are certainly unique and unmatched in our neighborhood anyway 
