Even though we made four puffy painted pumpkins already (one for each family member), we knew we couldn’t let Clara’s first Halloween go by without some traditional pumpkin carving action as well. And last weekend’s trip to the pumpkin patch definitely got us in the mood. Here’s the queen of our world flinging her arms out as if to say “I’m the queen of the world!”
And we even gave our royal highnesss the option to choose her very own pumpkin for herself, and she quickly picked this one out:
Ok, so maybe “picking out” meant more like touching one of the pumpkins we sat her next to. But she truly couldn’t keep her hands off of that one in particular, so we brought it home for a mere $2 (she’s already thinking frugally!).
We knew we wanted to keep the carving simple, since we don’t always have time for complex around here anymore. And thinking about how Clara was getting all hands-y with the pumpkin back at the patch sparked an idea. All it took was Clara keeping her hand still long enough to get a good tracing.
Maybe “good” is a stretch, but we deemed the one of the left “workable enough.”
We traced it on cardstock, so cutting it out left me with nice template to trace onto Clara’s pumpkin.
The plan had always been to use two handprints as the pumpkin’s eyes, but the fact that the fingers made them look like feminine eyelashes was a happy accident. An accident we then ran with by adding some puckered lips for the mouth and a wavy hairline at the top. Guess our baby girl is getting a girly pumpkin!
Some careful cutting later, we ended up with this:
And with the addition of a flameless candle votive we’ve got our traditional jack-o-lantern with a first-year-of-parenthood twist. Simple, but we quite like it.
Oh, and speaking of Halloween, check out how we’re embarrassing dressing our kiddos this year for their first hurrah together.
Yup, Clara’s a hamburger (in honor of her bro) and Burger’s reprising his role as a hot dog to complete the theme. Both are store bought (Clara’s from Old Navy, Burger’s from Target). Somehow I feel like our little lady’s gonna give us a hard time about this when she’s 16…
Psst- We announced our big winner for this week’s contest at the end of Monday’s original contest post. And Ikea actually surprised us by tripling the number of $350 gift cards they’re giving away. Click here to see if you’re part of that lucky trio!
Haha – this is laugh out loud cute!! What adorable little costumes! They’re so cute I could eat em’ ;)
LOVE the costumes!
burger looks soooo pissed!!!! great pics and clara’s jack-o-lantern is super spiffy!!!! perfect for a little lady…
Meghan…We sprayed hairspray on our pumpkins and that seems to keep the squirrels away!
OMG – it’s all sooo cute! The pumpkin, the costumes…Love it!
Embarassing? Possibly (but not really. even though i pretend that i hate it, i am completely grateful that my parents loved me enough to dress me up in, erm, unique costumes and take photographs of me to share at embarassing moments like graduation parties. Actually embarassing would be if Clara WAS 16 and you attended her high school halloween party as some form of processed food).
Are there plans in the works to make Clara-Hand-Print jack-o-lanterns every year as she grows up?
The Artist,
It’s definitely a possibility! We’d just have to get bigger pumpkins as she grows to fit her hand prints!
xo,
s
Oh my gosh, I got that same costume for my 1 year old little boy, it is the cutest thing ever, and she looks sooo cute with Burger as the hot dog!
I think you and Sherry need to dress up as chefs for halloween (aprons, chef hats, spatulas) to go along with the kids’ costumes. :)
OMG, I love everything about this post. Clara takes amazing pics, love the one of her and John, and her and Burger are just too cute for words!! You are seriously tempting me to start thinking about having a baby, but I know mine won’t be nearly as cute as yours! And that pumpkin, what an awesome idea :) You guys rock!!
And Mrs Hermit Crab posted today about Almost Dr Dan’s wedding, in case you didn’t know http://www.weddingbee.com/2010/10/28/officiating-a-wedding-2/#more-170285
Thanks for the heads up Mandy! Off to check it out!
xo,
s
My baby boy is being a hamburger and my dog a hotdog. The same costumes.
CUTE costumes and pumpkin…
where’d ya get the flameless candle.? the one i have doesn’t seem to glow as bright :(
thanks!
happy first halloween clara!
Hey Jenny,
They were actually a gift from my mom but we think they might have come from Target.
xo,
s
Cute idea! I wonder how many people are going to go buy Fiber One bars now haha! I admit I’d be interested in what food lies in your casa!
I saw that hamburger costume on some vegetarian blog the other day. They modified it into a vegan-friendly cookie by cutting off the meat, cheese, lettuce and tomato and painting the sesame seeds brown. Wish I remembered the name of the blog, but thought it was a creative re-use.
Crazy cute! I’d like a hamburger and hotdog to go please. =D
A hotdog and hamburger (and Burgs!)….awesome!
And I’m a bit disappointed that you’re turning down $2.00 burritos! Then again, this is coming from someone who doesn’t have children – I’m sure the pros and cons of the situation don’t warrant the burrito (as good as they may be!).
Awesome work.
Good golly gracious! Those two are just about the cutest pair I have ever seen!
Many Blessings,
Melissa
Those costumes are *hilarious*.
Love the hand print carving! I may have to steal that idea!
Hi guys !
I wondered do you need any special tools to carve these pumpkins ? have 2 sitting on my table. know what to carve on them but not sure how. what is the flameless candle votive ? sounds practical
Fun posts by the way!
We just got a two dollar pumpkin carving kit from the grocery store a few years back and we’ve been using them to carve our pumpkins ever since. They’re these long skinny handles with small cutting blades on the end that are easier to control than big knives. Hope it helps! As for the candle, it’s just a battery operated faux votive that flickers when it’s turned on so it’s not a fire hazard. I think my mom get them from Target (they were a gift from her).
xo,
s
What an adorable way to get the little one involved when she can’t really be “that” involved. You guys are so smart. BTW…I am sure you probably know already but it was interesting going through the BHG website today and seeing a paired down pic of your master bedroom (before the curtain wall)
http://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/remodeling/gallery/weekend-home-projects/?page=12
So funny! Off to check it out!
xo,
s
I can’t get over how adorable Clara is. Your handprint jack-o-lantern idea is awesome! And I’m sure she will be grateful that her parents have tons of documentation of her early life (hamburger halloween costumes included!)
I adore the pumpkin and their costumes together are just too cute!!! Too too adorable!!!
omgosh….soooooooo cute! Happy First Halloween Baby Clara!!
Love your creative pumpkin carving and the costumes are PERFECT!!
Adorable!! Is Clara eating her burger?
I wish I could get my cat in a hotdog costume, but I can’t even get him to wear a collar. He prefers being naked I suppose…
The costumes cracked me up! My pup’s name is Taylor, and we often call her Tator. This year she’s going as a Tator Tot :) She would fit right in with your crew!
omg!!!! This is so cute, I want to squeal! Love it. Happy Halloween!!!
Cutest costumes ever!
Too Cute!!! I wondered when we would see the costumes! I don’t think you could have picked better ones out! Love them!
I like the outfit she wore to the pumpkin patch. It coordinates so nicely.
And I would have never thought to use handprints as eyes, but it totally works as a girly jack-o-lantern!
You two are very creative. Loved the pumpkin idea. Kudos on teh costumes too!
What a great idea for carving a pumpkin! I may have to copy you on that one :)
And I LOVE the Halloween costumes!
How long do your carved pumpkins last? We carved one early in the week and already had to throw it out due to all the mold – and that happened last year, too. Anything I can do to make them last longer?
We usually carve ours at the last minute (like the weekend before) but we don’t have any secret tricks beyond that. Anyone else know how to make pumpkins last longer? Can you rub or spray something on the cut parts to keep them from decaying as fast?
xo,
s
The pumpkin is adorable!!! :) (so are the costumes)
Beth- I heard that you can spray Lysol inside your pumpkins to keep them from molding quickly.
Just wanted to say that this post made me especially happy today :)
(Maybe it’s because it’s my birthday today and I’m in an already gleeful mood) But I especially adored the photos of Clara.
What a small (+ friendly) world! My son is going to be the same hamburger and I just got a hot dog costume for my mom’s pug! I’ll be posting lots of pictures after the main event.
Best post so far! LOVE it!
Love the pumpkin! And the picture of Clara while John’s tracing her hand is too adorable!!!
Hehe “store brought” is that similar to the 5 finger discount?
Clara is getting cuter every day! And what fun would it be if it didn’t potentially embarrass her in 15 years??
Oops we meant store bought! Fixed!
xo,
s
Sherry….we need more pics of you and Clara! Don’t get me wrong, John is cute, but as a mom, I cherish the few pictures I have with my boys!! ;-)
Hey Erin,
Just click that cute button on the sidebar with Clara’s mug on it to see our full album of pics since Clara’s birth. There are definitely some with me and my bean- I’m just the resident photographer so John ends up in more of them than me.
xo,
s
hahaha omg at the hamburger costume…i hope she makes you pay for that later :P
totally cute though :)
Those costumes are hilarious!
Hey! Our pup Macie is also a hot dogger for Halloween! No burger babes yet. :) Such a cute Jack O Lantern!
Clara’s hamburger costume had me laughing out loud! It looks like it’s swallowing her up!
Mmm, I LOVE Fiber One Bars! I eat one everyday! hehe
Your Clara is a DOLL! I LOVE that picture of her with John. Sooo cute!
OMG you are Greek! Makes me love your blog just that much more.
Love the pumpkin!
Clara is adorable! Is that a Phi Sigma Pi shirt?
Yup. I love it because it says “talk nerdy to me” on the back. It’s how I snagged my cute wife.
-John
Omigaaaaaah! Those costumes are too much for my SOUL! Love it. Clara is such a cutie…so much personality in her sweet face.
~Laura
Both the costumes and the pumpkin rock. I’ve been wanting to carve a couple with my kids and I think they would love this idea. I love that it’s a face, but cute not scary and unique. Plus, if I walk around town Saturday and see a bunch of similar jack-o-lanterns, I’ll know who else reads your blog.
I absolutely love that pumpkin. What an awesome idea. And all lite up is even nicer. Way cute for Clara’s first pumpkin. And those costumes are just too cute.