Get Ready for Halloween at Hearthstone
Halloween Kid’s Brunch at Hearthstone, Summerlin
Halloween is right around the corner, and here at Hearthstone Kitchen & Cellar, we have a special holiday activity that your whole family can participate in.
Join us on Sunday, October 28th from 10 am to 3 pm for a special Halloween Kids’ Brunch. For just $10, your kids can participate in a pumpkin decorating activity and a candy bar. There’s no better way to get your whole family in the Halloween spirit and get ready for the upcoming holiday than to come to this special event. Plus, you can enjoy some delicious selections from our Brunch Menu, such as our Ham, Egg & Cheese Croissant, or our Rotisserie Chicken Club while your kids are occupied with their pumpkins. It’s a great outing for the whole family.
Have pumpkins at home for your family to decorate? The below pumpkin decorating techniques may give you some ideas and inspiration.
Traditional Pumpkin Carving
Traditional pumpkin carving is a great family activity, even if it can get a little messy. It’s best to wait until just before Halloween to carve your pumpkins, since they’ll start to wilt a bit within a few days of being carved.
When you’re carving with kids, head outside if you can to help minimize the mess. Have your kids help scoop out the insides of the pumpkin, and if you’d like, set aside the seeds for toasting later on.
You can use a few different strategies for the actual carving process. With younger kids, you may want to freehand a basic face onto the pumpkin to keep things simple. Older children may enjoy using templates and creating more complex designs. You can often find templates to download online, or draw out a design on the pumpkin with a marker to serve as your guide.
Sharp knives are a must for safety, but use your judgement about whether your child is ready to do the cutting themselves.
Painting Pumpkins
If you have kids who aren’t so into the mess of carving pumpkins, or if you have younger kids who can’t actively participate in carving, then painting pumpkins might be the way to go. Plus, you can paint pumpkins well ahead of Halloween without worrying about them starting to rot before the holiday arrives. While you can’t light painted pumpkins from their interior, you can create a well-lit display on your porch so visitors can see your artwork.
Your typical acrylic paint will adhere nicely to pumpkins, while also making for easy cleanup. Be sure to have an assortment of brushes ready, with larger brushes for large areas and smaller brushes for detail work.
One of the great benefits of painting pumpkins is that just about anything is possible. You can create intricate works of art, or stay more basic and paint a jack-o-lantern face onto the pumpkin. Your kids also might enjoy using paint pens or markers for the accuracy that they offer.
Once the paint has dried, your kids can go all-out with additional decorating techniques. Buttons, sequins, and even pipe cleaners can all bring out your kids’ creativity. Just use a little craft glue to adhere the decorations to the pumpkins, and let your kids’ imaginations run wild.
Sculpting Pumpkins
Want to truly put your artistic skills to the test? Sculpted pumpkins are challenging pieces to take on, but when done well, they’re absolute works of art. To sculpt a pumpkin, you’re creating a 3-D illuminated scene by carving through only some of the pumpkin rind. By sculpting out various depths, you’ll let different degrees of light through.
This isn’t a technique for a beginner to take on, but if you have some artistic talents, you may want to give this pumpkin decorating technique a try. You’ll need a number of different tools, including knives of different sizes and a potato peeler. You’ll also need some serious patience, since sculpting is a time-consuming process. Done well, though, the rewards can definitely be worth the effort that you put into the project.
Happy Halloween
No matter which pumpkin decorating technique you decide to use, be sure to take lots of pictures during and after the process. And, of course, have a wonderful, safe, and fun-filled Halloween.
If you’re not feeling up to the challenge of decorating pumpkins at home, don’t forget that your kids will get to decorate their own pumpkins right here at Hearthstone during the Halloween Kids’ Brunch. Be sure to stop by and take part in this fun event – we’d love to see you.