The Art of Pumpkin Carving

As I've likely mentioned before, I grew up in a family that practiced non-traditional pumpkin carving. So, after all those years of haunted houses, college mascots, favorite characters, and more being on display in your front yard for all the neighbors to marvel at, it makes me realize I will never be satisfied with a regular old jack-o-lantern.

To illustrate my point, here are the past few years of pumpkin carving (in order starting at the top left and going clockwise - Arizona cactus, my church, Olaf (from Frozen), and Mickey Mouse):

This year, I probably should have carved the Cubs logo for Halloween. (Or, I could have "flown the W".) Then again, maybe that would have given rise to the "curse." 

Since I am just slightly obsessed (if you didn't already know) with the musical, "Hamilton," I decided to not throw away my shot to capture the iconic cover art.

So, I made my (rough) sketch...

And I searched all over Trader Joe's for the perfect canvas - I mean, pumpkin.

I tried to be as symmetrical as possible...

And I made some pretty ugly sketches on the pumpkin...

Until I finally got the ideas I wanted translated onto the pumpkin.

And then, as much as I wanted to carve it right away, I decided it was better to wait for it because otherwise it might rot before Halloween.

(Alexander Hamilton, we are waiting in the wings for you...)

Finally, at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine... there are 10 days till Halloween, I grabbed a few kitchen knives, newspaper (thank you, Chicago Tribune), and got to work. So messy, yet so wonderful!

My hands were covered in icky pumpkin slime, so I didn't get any pictures along the way - just before and after. As you can see, I was planning to cut out the individual Hamilton letters, but they were too small, so I made some minor tweaks.

And lights, camera, action!

The A.Ham pumpkin hasn't made it to the window yet, but I've been watching it burn while grading and while cheering on the Cubs, so it's served its entertaining purposes so far.

It's far from perfect, but it was really neat to be able to bring my idea to life. (Sometimes in the classroom, things look a lot better on paper and then completely flop...you know how it goes.)

Now it's time to sign off and get ready for some friends' wedding celebration.

I have the honor to be your obedient servant, KMF

This is Halloween...This is Halloween...

Most kids prefer trick-or-treating...and most adults prefer costume parties...but me, I prefer pumpkin carving!

Growing up, we never had traditional jack-o-lanterns at our house. Not only were our pumpkins non-traditional, but my dad usually carved two, one for both of his daughters. Bert and Ernie, Gators and Spartans... What a champ.

It comes as no surprise, then, that when faced with my blank canvas (aka newly chosen pumpkin), I am ready for anything but ordinary. In honor of today's holiday of Halloween, I have compiled my 4 most recent pumpkin carvings below. In reading clockwise (starting with the top left), they are as follows: 2011 - Halloween in AZ (cactus and sun), 2013 - St Clement (my parish in Chicago), 2014 - Olaf (from Frozen), and 2015 (Mickey Mouse - this one's for Aunt Marg!).

I hope your Halloween is full of all of the good things you like to do. Happy Halloween!

A "Frozen" Halloween

I don't know why but I've always loved the idea of Halloween...

Hope it's a good one!

Pumpkin Carving Fun

Happy (early) Halloween!

 

Happy Halloween!

The Religion teacher in me came out during my pumpkin carving tonight...

St. Clement Church, Chicago

Happy Halloween!

Thanks

...So it's okay to reach out to some of those people when you need a little bit of help...

(I know this quotation is more likely to be interpreted along the lines of keeping an open mind and trying to learn all you can from those around you, but I think it's fitting for my purposes today.)

especially when it comes to teaching religion...

especially when needing to gain a sense of perspective of the 2000 years of Catholic history post-Christ...

Because, let's face it, when you only have a general idea of some of the material you need to teach, it's probably pretty impossible to be effective in the classroom.

But when a friend helps you get to the big ideas and essential take-aways (while also explaining some additional key details), it all starts to come together...and you breathe a little easier...and, while you know it's still going to be challenging to come up with lessons to convey the concepts, you still feel confident that your teaching tool belt is better stocked than before and you won't be a complete failure.

And you sigh with relief.

Well, at least I did.

I am so grateful for the people in my life who, at any given time, have given and continue to give of their time to help explain something to me, pray for my intentions, listen to me talk things out - time they likely need to complete something of their own.

I am surrounded (both in local and distant proximity) by an amazing network of family and friends, and it's days like these when I remember that I need to thank them from the bottom of my heart.



On an unrelated note, Happy Halloween. My pumpkin remains uncarved (if that's even a word?) on the living room floor, but I have hopes for last-minute after-school inspiration. Be safe everyone, and have a great day!

Happy (almost) Halloween!

It's that time of year again...Happy (almost) Halloween!

I didn't have the time, nor did I have the energy, to make a new costume this year, so I reused my Katniss Everdeen costume from last year (Turns out the odds are still in my favor, as the costume was a hit...as long as I didn't hit people with my arrows.)

This year, I went to a party with Mickey Mouse (A.K.A. my sister)...

I thought about doing a Mockingjay carving for my pumpkin this year, but that may be a bit much.

(I'm not that obsessed...)

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Odds Are...

I decided to break from my traditional school posts to share a bit of fun I had yesterday. (I hope you don't mind...)

With the invitation for a costume ND gamewatch party lingering in the air, it was now or never to throw together a costume.

But what to do?

I had limited time...and limited resources. (The countdown was about 5 hours, and I had just gotten back from Target.)

I don't know why, but I thought that maybe - just maybe - I could make Katniss Everdeen (from the ever popular Hunger Games trilogy) work. I had the pants, shirt, and boots. I could borrow the jacket from my roommate. I could (probably) braid my hair. I could make my face and arms look grungy/dirty.

But what about her famous arrows? Hmm...

A quick Google search for "easy Katniss Everdeen costumes" yielded a brilliant idea - use a mailing tube from the post office. Ready, set, go! Only one problem - the tube available for purchase was white. (Otherwise, it was perfect, even though I didn't have a bow.)

Back to my apartment - I had a brown marker. I thought I could make it happen. And, after some quick coloring, the tube looked pretty good. I put clear packaging tape up and down the whole tube so the marker wouldn't run. It gave it a somewhat shiny quality, but I figured it was better to be safe than sorry. Then, it was time to figure out how to make a sling so I could carry/wear it. I wasn't about to let this challenge beat me either - I decided to use hair ties, knotting 5 together to create a sufficient length before attaching them to both ends of the tube. The arrows were relatively easy to make too - just wrap/twist some aluminum foil around itself and leave the butt of the arrow flat.

Check it out -->

I needed a mockingjay pin - I mean, Katniss has to wear one. Time to put my artistic skills to the test: I got some copy paper, ripped it small enough to tape around a button I had in my room, and then found a picture of the pin online. I sketched it first, then colored the pin part yellow and filled in the rest black so it would look like my jacket coming through.

This also surprised me by how well it came out (and how relatively easy it was too!) -->

Now, put it together and what do you got? -->

Katniss Everdeen! (And a satisfied Halloween gamewatch go-er)

Too bad we don't get to dress up for school. I feel like this would be a hit, especially with the middle school. Rats.

I must admit, it was pretty fun to think outside of the box to get this costume together. (And the gamewatch turned out to be a lot of fun too - especially since the ND Fighting Irish won!) I guess I can't ever have an excuse for not having a Halloween costume again because I can probably come up with something, right?

May the odds be ever in your favor for a Happy Halloween this week!