Halloween 2012 and the Hunger Games Pumpkin Carving 3.0

Every year I tell myself "Julia, you really don't need to carve a pumpkin this year" and every year I end up carving one anyway. This year I was bound and determined not to carve one because I kept telling myself I didn't have time and I needed to study, but then my community college posted on their Facebook page that they were doing a pumpkin carving contest and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to enter. Plus, if I carved a Hunger Games design (like I seem to do every year) I could also enter it in Mockingjay.net's annual pumpkin carving contest. DOUBLE WHAMMY!!!!

So one trip to Michaels, the discount grocery store (complete with an interaction with a creepy giggling old man), and many, MANY episodes of Jane by Design and Supernatural later, I had one super epic Hunger Games pumpkin. YAY!!!!

This is definitely my favorite Hunger Games carving I've done so far. I keep thinking I'm gonna run out of ideas, but inspiration always hits me. Because I was using this pumpkin to enter Mockingjay.net's contest as well as my college contest I decided to make sure to give it's Hunger Games theme some depth. Basically I wanted it to be a sort of decoration for when Katniss and Peeta go on the Victory Tour. That was supposed to be in the fall right? So what better decoration than a pumpkin carved with the images of the victors! Peeta turned out WAY better than Katniss, but I Katniss isn't so bad looking right? She could look worse. :P I don't know why Katniss is so hard to carve when Peeta is so easy. My mother insists it's because Peeta is Josh Hutcherson but of course she would say that. You know how she is about Josh Hutcherson. ;)

If you want to help me win my community college pumpkin carving contest just like my pumpkin on Facebook here. You don't have to of course, but I'd love it if you did! :D


In other news I'm actually dressing up for Halloween this year! If you follow me on Twitter you might have seen me tweeting about it. I've been prepared with my costume for over a month now. Unbelievable right? Especially since I'm notorious for coming up with a costume idea only to procrastinate until it's too late. I wasn't gonna let that happen this year so I went costume shopping extra early. What am I dressing up as you say? Well, this year I'm going as Velma from Scooby-Doo! YAY FOR SMART BOOKISH CHICKS!!!!

I used to always get told that I looked like Velma when I was little (because I actually had glasses back in the day) and then ironically they ended up casting a half Japanese gal to play Velma in the new Scooby-Doo movies and she kind of looks like me so now I look even more like Velma. CRAZINESS.

What are you guys dressing up as for Halloween? Any bookish characters like Katniss or Hermione? Are you doing anything exciting like going to a Halloween party? I'm volunteering at my church as a face painter with my sister. We are gonna be the dynamic duo. WHOOP WHOOP! :D

Have a happy, safe, candy-filled Halloween guys!!!

Julia :)