Halloween Ideas: Personalized Halloween Pumpkin
Make a patch of pumpkin heads that resemble the whole fam!
Submitted by
Kayla Chong
Kayla Chong
Want to make some seriously personal jack-o'-lanterns? Here's a Halloween idea—how about a Mom-o'-lantern, Dad-o'-lantern and Bro- or Sis-o'-lantern? A Fireman-o-lantern? Glue enlarged copies of your finest portraits onto pumpkins to create a whole family of pumpkin heads!
- Pumpkins:One for each family member.
- Pictures:Time to search the hard drive!
- A photocopier:Hola, Staples!
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks:Only grownups or big kids should use the hot glue gun!
- Scissors
- White glue or tacky glue
- Yarn, pasta, cotton balls, a wig:For hair, of course.
- Brown or black tempera paint:Match your family members' hair color.
- Camera:Especially if it's been a while since Mom was actually in front of the camera!
- Personal items:Glasses, earrings or a hat belonging to each member of the family.
Hit the pumpkin patch to pick out your pumpkins. Or go to the grocery store or the stand on the side of the road. (We don't recommend stealing them from your neighbor's lawn!)
Select one pumpkin for each family member. Try to find a pumpkin that resembles each person's face shape. Does Dad have a long face and bro a chubby round one? Pick your pumpkins accordingly.
Bring the pumpkins home and have your kids rinse and dry them off.
Dig through your photo albums or on the hard drive for a great mug shot of each member of the family. Don't have one? Go ahead and take a few! (Say "cheeeeese!")
Have your child help you cut just the heads out of each photo. This will make them easier to resize.
Take your photo heads to your local copy center to make enlarged copies of each image. You'll want the facial features to be big enough to fit proportionally on eat pumpkin. If he's not hiding in the back sipping a latte, ask an associate to help you set the zoom so you don't waste paper on several failed photocopying attempts. Al Gore will thank you!
When you get home, carefully help your kids cut out the eyes, nose and mouth from each photocopied picture. Don't forget the eyebrows ... you don't want everyone to come out looking like Dr. Evil!
Next, have your kids use the white glue to stick the features onto the pumpkins to create your family of pumpkin heads.
Add hair; hot glue on some spaghetti for long blonde hair, cotton balls dipped in brown or black paint for bushy brunettes, red yarn for ginger heads. If you really want to hit the mark, invest in a cheap wig in the cut and color of each person's hair!
Personalize the pumpkins even more by hot gluing on glasses, a favorite hat, bow tie or pair of earrings.- Display your pumpkin family on your stoop for Halloween! No one in town will have a jack-o'-lantern display like it!
- This Halloween idea isn't the biggest, but here's something that is: the largest pumpkin on record weighed 1,061 pounds (yes, that's more than Mommy weighed when she was 9 months pregnant) and was grown by New York state natives Nathan and Paula Zehr.
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