Making Memories at Halloween
The months of October, November, and December are a busy time for most of us. In October, we are searching for the perfect costumes for our children, and sometimes for the entire family. In November, the decorations shift from ghosts, black cats, and jack o’ lanterns to cornucopias, turkeys, and various colors of pumpkins and leaves. As the Thanksgiving weekend comes to a conclusion, we set our sights on Christmas trees, ornaments, and colorful lights.
We have chosen this season, a time when we are all looking for ways to make the upcoming holidays special, to offer our first Chicky Chicky Bling Bling blog. We are a small, home based company, with dreams and visions for the future, and beautiful, well made products for the present. We love children, and we strive to provide products that allow them to dream. The imagination of a child knows no boundaries, a couple of pots and pans can become a drum set, a set of wings can turn a dreary day into a magical fairyland, and a costume allows them to become anyone or anything they want to be.
Our blog is designed to spark ideas for parties and celebrations, provide links we have found with great ideas, inspire you to bake or cook something you have never tried, warm your heart with family-based stories, and encourage you see the world through rose-closed glasses. You can make almost any situation better, if you allow yourself to dream. We hope that you will allow your imagination to unlock new possibilities, as you journey along with us, and we hope you will be filled with curiosity about where our next blog will take you.
Our upcoming, child-oriented videos will feature gift making projects, recipes and holiday decorations children can enjoy preparing, hairstyle demonstrations, and other surprises. The blog will share ideas about, and pictures of, parties we have planned, in hopes of inspiring you to create the party your child has only dreamed of. You see, this company, with three generations of input, is all about finding the light in a child’s eyes, putting a huge smile on a small face, and touching a heart with magic.
Most blogs will contain links to interesting sites, that pertain to what has been written. We will offer these when possible. We will also feature items from Chicky Chicky Bling Bling and we hope you will enjoy visiting our site at www.chickychickyblingbling.com
This month, as you gather your costumes and Halloween ideas, we would like to share one of our family traditions and memories with you. Our October celebrations, for many years, have included turning pumpkins into jack o’ lanterns. In the beginning, when the children were young, they went outside with Daddy to experience cleaning out a pumpkin. It was quite messy, and though they had fun, they tired of the project quickly. The first year, cleaning out was all that took place. The next year, Mommy drew a face on the cleaned-out pumpkin with a black Sharpie marker. As the pumpkin decorating process progressed, other ideas and tools were used. For a couple of years, the children did the decorating by using Halloween push pins, placing them in various positions, removing some and reinserting them, until they were happy with how the creation looked. These push pins made for an easy, yet exciting, decorating experience, while encouraging creativity. Finally, the time arrived when carving was added to the repertoire. That was also the year that the competitions began. Father and son challenged mother and daughter to a carving contest. In reality, Dad and Mom did most of the carving, but this trial run was only a precursor for what was to come.
Each year, the process became more intense, and the competition became more of a rivalry than a game. In a search for the perfect masterpiece, they tried several methods to achieve the winning design. At first, they tried drawing a free hand face and then cutting it out, later they tried using a pumpkin carving stencil. Over the years, the girls beat the boys several times. The year of the stencil, however, was an unquestionable win for the boys.
In truth, the actual win came, as memories were made. We sometimes become so involved in holiday preparation that we forget what is truly important to our children. It doesn’t matter who has the best costume or the best pumpkin, what our kids remember is the time we spend developing family traditions with them, sharing our lives with them, and showing them how important they are to us.
Wishing you a blessed day from my family,
Chicky Chicky Bling Bling
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