This week was just a bag full of excuses! Starting with Yom Kippur, and ending with jury duty, I just didn't find the time or the focus to get this newsletter out on time.
My jury duty experience was just a day of waiting (and the chairs were AWFUL!), but I was glad I didn't get called because I have so many exciting things I want to be doing at work.
One of them is to start working with a new programmer to give a much needed facelift to Surfnetkids.com. You won't be seeing our efforts for quite a few weeks, but I am very excited
to finally get this project off the ground. Meanwhile, outside, the weather is starting to turn a little colder. Here in San Diego we measure our seasons in swings of just five or ten degrees, so every
little bit is noticed!
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My childhood pumpkin memories look nothing like these fancy pumpkins. When did pumpkin carving get so elaborate? I can't say, but these pumpkin patterns do look fun. Whether your interest is just in browsing the photo galleries, or you're out to learn how to create your own pumpkin masterpiece, these sites are sure to please.
DLTK: Pumpkin Carving Patterns
"While you can muddle through some of the simpler designs with serrated knives, tablespoons and a small nail, you'll be well served investing in some pumpkin carving tools if you plan on attempting some of the more detailed designs." I love the patterns here because they come with really simple instructions for beginners. Designs include Sponge Bob, scary cats, Thomas the Tank Engine, spiders, spider webs, skulls, haunted houses, and a number of traditional jack-o'-lantern faces.
Extreme Pumpkins
"Pumpkin carving has been reborn. This time it is a little bit deformed." These whacked-out pumpkins from the mind of Tom Nardone are not for the toddler set. At Extreme Pumpkins you'll find "shocking, funny, and gross" pumpkin designs such as a puking pumpkin, a flaming head pumpkin, and a worm infested pumpkin. In addition to the free pumpkin patterns, the site has info on preserving pumpkins with Clorox bleach, making fake blood, and carving a person's likeness onto a pumpkin from a digital photograph.
Family Fun: Pumpkin Carving Ideas
For ten simple tips for carving success, start with Family Fun's Jack-O'-Lanterns 101 (the link is near the bottom of the page, listed under Carving Tips & Tricks.) The projects themselves are divided between free carving patterns (such as Marshmallow Man and Jeepers Creepers) and pumpkin craft projects that don't involve intricate carving. These include ideas such as Painted Pumpkins, Decoupage Pumpkins, and Mr. Pumpkin Head, who has a face composed of cardboard features attached with adhesive felt.
Surfnetkids Printables Club Members also get the following printables to use in the classroom, the computer lab, the school library, or to send home with students:
Pumpkin Carving Printable
Printable Halloween Word Search
Halloween Costume Ideas Printable
Halloween Recipes Printable
*** Are you curious? Get your own ten-day trial membership: http://www.surfnetkids.com/printables-club.htm
"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion." ~~ Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 - May 6, 1862) American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, and philosopher. Click here for more happiness quotes.
Dear Reader,
