Pumpkin Carving Party

We hosted a pumpkin carving party for our supper club on Saturday night.  I am happy to say that it was a huge success.  Everyone brought a dish to share and a pumpkin to carve.  I made Richella’s bacon wrapped pork tenderloin and both my grandmother’s refrigerator rolls and her sugar cookies.

I enjoy preparing for a party as much as the party itself.  I had all kinds of grand ideas for things that I wanted to make for this party but time got away from me.  (Work really gets in the way of my fun.)  I started by getting a portion of our basement set up as the carving room.

I covered the workbenches with dollar store table clothes for easy clean-up.  We put plastic muck buckets by the workbenches for pumpkin innards.

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I hung two spooky portraits over one of the benches.  I don’t know the lady on the left, my grandmother purchased her portrait for the frame.  The gentleman on the right is my grandfather in high school.  (My grandmother would kill me if she were alive and she knew that I used granddaddy’s picture as a spooky decoration!)

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I put some of my childhood Halloween books and my brother’s costumes out as decorations.

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Pumpkins and Bittersweet jazz up this station.

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Cookies were baked and decorated.

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The table was prepared.

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Flowers were arranged.

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This one is definitely not my best work but I love the gourd container that my grandfather made for my grandmother to use for church and for garden club.

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Mr. SP prepared outside while I prepared inside.  He even photographed his handiwork so that I would have blogging pictures.  (Gotta love that!) 

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I was almost too tired to party after all of the prep work.  I’ll show you the cute pumpkins that we carved in post later in the week.

In other weekend news, I’m happy to report that Mr. SP and I were victorious on the tennis court this morning.  We lost our first mixed doubles match, so a 6-1, 6-0 victory this morning was extra sweet for us. 

This afternoon we  were able to spend some time in the yard.  We finally got the Hydrangea that I won planted and a deer fence constructed around it.  (It would be sticks in days without protection around here.)

How was your weekend???  I hope that everyone had some fun!

13 Comments

  1. Looks like a great party. Congrats on your tennis match. Don’t you just love playing in this great fall weather? Have a great week!

    DD

  2. Paula, your party prep looks fantastic. I’m sure all your friends had the best time. Can’t wait to see the pictures of their handy work on the pumpkins.

    Your table looks great, sure wish I could sit ten at my table. I of course love your dishes too, I plan to do a tablescape with the Autumn in a couple of weeks. Thanks for sharing.

  3. Paula, What an amazing party! Your friends are blessed!!

    We have something in common. I have both sets of dishes you have…The Autumn Lenox, and the other Autumn dishes!! Superb taste! ;0
    Have you ever tried putting mums in a fresh carved out sm pumpkin?Put the mums in a sm glass & voila..
    Have fun Trick or treating or giving out candy!Jen

  4. Looks like you hade a wonderful weekend.
    Alll of a sudden I am seeing alot of “carving parties”..I love your carving stations..very festive!

  5. What a great party this must have been! I loved all the photos. I’m especially impressed with your basement work area. If I had a work area like that, I’m quite sure it would take much more than cute decorations to make it fit for a party.

    I’m so glad you like the bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin. Thank you very much for the shout-out! 🙂

    Now I’m really hungry for sugar cookies. . . .

  6. Everything looked wonderful!!!! I’m so in love with the retro awesome costumes! That takes me back to my childhood. Your table looks gorgeous and my mouth is watering looking at those cookies! YUM! I need to look up Richella’s tenderloin recipe too. It sounds yummy!

    So glad y’all did well on the tennis court! Sounds like a great weekend!

  7. Wow, Paula! Everything looks great. You really went all out with your party. I am sure that all of your guests had a blast. So glad that you are enjoying the season. Carla

  8. Paula, everything looks fabulous! I love the display of the vintage halloween costumes. How well I remember those boxes. Love your cookies too, especially the fall leaves. I know everyone had a great time!

  9. Everything looks great! I think I might have told you before, but I had that Casper costume when I was maybe two? Every time I see it on your blog it makes me want to go to my mothers and look for the photos of me wearing it!

  10. Congrats on your tennis win, Paula! The party looked like so much fun!!! The cookies alone would have kept me busy for days. 😉

  11. Love it! Love it!
    Your pictures are just wonderful!
    Thank you for sharing!
    I am signing up to be your newest follower!
    Leticia

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