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Jack-o'-Lantern Village

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Children will have a blast assisting in the creation of this fun jack-o'-lantern village.
Bored with the basic jack-o'-lantern? Need a fun hands-on idea for Halloween? Make your home a Halloween haven with a jack-o'-lantern village. Here's how:

Materials:

foam core
green paint
tissue-covered candy suckers
yarn
black marker
lettuce
carving knife
pumpkin (in size of choice)
2 miniature pumpkins
sugar cookies
bone-shaped cookie cutter
carrots
broccoli heads
small tomatoes
empty paper-towel roll
pineapple head
potatoes
gumdrops
toothpicks
can of dry ice

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Figure A (below)
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Figure B (below)
Steps:

  1. Paint a thick piece of foam core green to make the base.

  2. Make ghosts out of tissue-covered suckers with a piece of yarn tied around them. Use a black marker to create the eyes and nose (figure A). Use lettuce for backyard greenery.

  3. Carve a door and windows out of the pumpkin (figure B).

  4. Make a doghouse out of a miniature pumpkin.
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Figure C
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Figure D
  • Bake some sugar cookies that have been shaped to look like bones (figure C).

  • Use sliced carrots as the walkway (figure D).
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    Figure E
    Photo

    Figure F
  • Use huge heads of broccoli and small tomatoes for front-yard shrubbery (figure E).

  • To make the perfect palm tree, use an empty paper-towel roll and the top of a pineapple (figure F).

  • Use another mini pumpkin for the garage.
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    Figure G
  • Potatoes make great cars, with carrots placed as the wheels and gumdrops as the headlights. Use toothpicks to place the carrots and gumdrops (figure G).

  • Place a ghost made out of a sucker and tissue (see step 2) on each potato car.
    • PHOTO

    Dry ice is the secret to the billowing smoke. The hotter the water, the more steam that will be created.
  • The grand finale is a smoking pumpkin house. To accomplish this effect, just place a can of dry ice inside the pumpkin and pour hot water into the can.

    * Note: Take care when handling dry ice. Always use gloves, and never let children play with it.

    • Resources
    Holiday Fun Year-Round With Dian Thomas
    by Dian Thomas
    Betterway Books, 1999
    Order this title from Amazon.com.

    Guests
    Dian Thomas
    Craft Creator / Author, The Dian Thomas Company
    PO Box 171107
    Holladay, UT 84117
    Toll-free: 800-846-6355
    Fax: 801-278-0202
    E-mail: dian@dianthomas.com
    Website: www.dianthomas.com
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