In the late 1990s cinematic masterpiece, “Halloweentown,” main character Marnie discovers that her grandmother is a witch and lives in an alternative universe where every day is Halloween. They probably should have renamed the movie “Paradise” because I struggle to think of anything better than 365 days of Halloween.
I was the kid who had her costume picked out in August and created detailed maps to optimize my candy collecting. Upon relocating to Evanston, however, I was faced with a good deal of inner turmoil: Do I continue to let my Halloween obsession run rampant, or should I tone it down in favor of a more socially acceptable level of excitement? I chose the former, because as wise Grandma Aggie notes in “Halloweentown,” “Being normal is vastly overrated.”
Last year, my mom sent me the greatest Halloween care package of all time, complete with decorative lights, ghoulish signs and a sweet ugly sweater. Thus far, however, that same package has not reared its head, so I turned to Pinterest to fill my Halloween needs.
I found a pin that describes how to make your own pumpkin patch, and not only does the finished product look absolutely adorable, but it is also described as “easy and fast!” on the website. I figured this was a safe undertaking.
The only supplies needed for this project are orange balloons, candy and a Sharpie marker. In theory, you could actually follow the pin’s directions and find some green fringe to tie at the top, but it didn’t look that cute, so I decided against it.
Essentially, the project is a balloon with a face on it filled with candy. That may sound somewhat bleak, but fear not, this project is adorable. I began blowing up balloons and quickly realized that stuffing candy inside them was easier said than done. The balloon was like a suction cup that would only let in half of my fun-sized candy bar, and how much fun is half of a fun-sized candy bar? It’s not any fun.
Eventually, however, I developed a technique that proved successful. I would blow up the balloons and then, prior to allowing them to deflate, stretch them from the inside to create a cavernous opening for candy. I found that three pieces of candy fit nicely inside each balloon.
Then came the fun part. I decorated each balloon with a little face to make it look like a jack-o-lantern. On a scale of one to newborn puppies, these balloons were as cute as baby Mary-Kate and Ashley as Michelle on “Full House.”
If you are looking for a cheap, easy way to get some Halloween spirit into your dorm room, I would highly recommend giving these jack o’ lanterns a shot. Plus, you can eat all the leftover candy and pretend you’ve gone trick-or-treating, and that’s really what you want to do.
Email: [email protected]
