painting pumpkins

 At the ripe old age of almost 18 months...Max is nowhere near ready to start wielding a knife for pumpkin carving. But, as it is one of my favorite holiday traditions - Papa Rob and I spent some time thinking about how we could get him involved.  We landed on painting the pumpkin! 

 

 Before the painting commenced, we stripped Max down to his diaper and then put on one of Papa Rob's old shirts (with the sleeves cut off and everything #stayingclassy).  Then, we used one of the many rolls of painters tape from the garage and made a little "M" design on the front of the pumpkin. After that our little Picasso picked out some colors and we poured them on a plate. 

 

 

He started out painting very delicately...using several colors at a time.

 

 

Then, with a little encouragement, he began to get both hands involved. 

His little orange canvas really began to take shape! 

 

 

Admittedly, he seemed a little confused by all the mess making he was allowed to be doing.

And holy moly was it messy.  In a matter of minutes he went from cautious artist to wild man! 

Mixing colors....swirling them around...slapping the paint all over.

Whatever it takes to keep the ol' artist inspired!

 

 

Aerial view of the mess!

 

 

The verdict?  Max seemed to love it! He painted almost the whole pumpkin - including the stem.

What started out as five separate colors eventually just all blended into one color - a muddy brownish teal...but no matter - it was his creation!

 

 

Let's just say he's much more aware of the camera now :) 

The above is his "cheese" face.  Whenever he says "cheese" - his tongue always goes

toward the corner of his mouth. 

 

 

Look mom, it's all over my hands! ha! :)

Mama was pretty proud of herself for cutting loose and not worrying

about the mess (aka - literally paint over every surface of his body, high chair, and floor).

 

 

Honestly, once I forgot about the mess - it was so much fun watching him

go to town!  This little project has given me a little more confidence to try more

art projects at home.  In fact for Christmas...I'm thinking it would be fun to get him

some toddler art supplies!

 

Eventually we got the all done signal ...and Papa Rob whisked him off to a bath but not

before capturing this little family photo.

 

 

With Max tucked away in bed...and the pumpkin dry...I could finally see the masterpiece in all it's glory.  That's right - it was time to peel the tape up for the official reveal!

 

 

Behold - Max's masterpiece!

Sure...it's not super sophisticated, but it was super fun. 

And, I think it will be the perfect addition to our porch on Halloween!

xoXO