Costumes
- We usually recommend against guests wearing costumes
for a pumpkin carving party. Its just too messy and can
be a hazard with guests in bulky or draped
costumes. Recommend that they wear clothes that can get
dirty in case the pumpkin guts start to fly. If you
plan on having a Halloween party the same day, guests
should bring their costumes and change after the carving
is done.
Decorations
- Use lots pumpkin and Jack O' Lantern printed
decorations. A lighted Jack O' Lantern is the perfect
Halloween party centerpiece. Use orange and black helium
filled balloons. If you hold it outside, you can hang
black and orange crepe paper streamers from the trees.
If you have raked leaves, use those giant lawn bags that
look like Jack-O-Lanterns to hold them and place them
around the carving area.
Refreshments
- Carving pumpkins is a lot of work, so be sure to serve
lots of sweet treats like a Jack O' Lantern shaped cake
and cookies, candy corn and orange flavored Halloween punch.
Use Jack-O-Lantern themed tableware. Check out
the
Halloween Online Recipe section for teat ideas.
Music
- We like to play inspiring and energetic music while
carving our pumpkins. For kids, you can find Child
friendly Halloween CDs at most mass retailers. Use a
portable stereo system if outside, use your computer or
stereo system if indoors. See our
Entertainment section
for more suggestions.
Entertainment
- Let your guests take a break after a while to relax and
maybe play a Halloween party game such as "Pass the
Pumpkin" or "Hanged Man". If you are outdoors, you
could do a pumpkin hunt, like and Easter Egg hunt. For these and other Halloween party games visit
the
Halloween Games 101
website.
Pumpkin carving parties are great on the night
before or the afternoon of Halloween and are a lot of fun for everyone. You can do one for your kids and
their friends only or invite the parents over to carve their own while
the kids have fun! People don't take the time they should to enjoy the age old tradition
of carving pumpkins.
If weather is nice, do it outdoors. There will be less mess to clean
up and you won't have to worry about getting pumpkin guts all over
your nice dinning room table. You will need to decide whether you
will provide pumpkins for your guests or if you want them to bring
their own. Also, if you want to provide all the carving tools,
paints and markers to be used or if they should bring some as well.
Check with your local grocer or pumpkin farm to see if you can get a
discount if you purchase a large amount of pumpkins.