a month of Halloween

In America we celebrate Halloween on October 31st. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. As a child, I loved thinking of costumes to wear and how I would make them. My mother is really creative and good and making things so she was always able to help me as well. 

Over the years I have dressed in many different costumes. Some of them were: 

• Little Bo'peep
• Little Red Riding Hood
• The Sugar Plum Fairy
• A Gypsy
• A Book Worm
• The Season of Autumn
• A Mailbox 
• A Princess

I also really enjoy carving pumpkins to make Jack o'lanterns. Each year we would go to the pumpkin patch to choose a pumpkin. There are hundreds to choose from but you look and look to find one with a shape that is right for you. Then you take it home and start to think about what you're going to carve. Will it be a scary face? A funny one? Will you do a picture instead of a face? 

Our pumpkins are usually pretty big so we use a big knife and huge spoon to carve the pumpkin. First you cut open the top (around the stem) and scoop out all the seeds inside. (Usually we save these and will eat them later.)  Next you start cutting the eyes, nose, face and other details. (It's a good idea to draw these in pencil first, just in case you make a mistake.) When you're finished, you put a candle inside, put the pumpkin outside your house and you have a jack o'lantern!

Why do we dress in costumes and carve pumpkins on Halloween? To answer that I have to explain a little more about Halloween. I'll do that in my next post.