Pumpkin Carving/Birthday party

[Hmmmmm]

I still think you should supply the pumpkins.  Maybe you could have individual small pumpkins for all the kids and then state if they would like to bring larger pumpkins to also carve, you'll have supplies available. 

[SiotehCat]

I have to agree with everyone else.

I also really like the idea that a previous poster had about buying the really small pumpkins and decorating them instead of carving them.

[Kestrels Nemesis]

I'll stand up on the other side of this one.  It sounds like you are providing a lot of extras, while it might not be completely approved per Emily Post, I think you are perfectly fine in having the guests bring their own pumpkins for carving.  If you want to be perfectly in the clear, get some decorating supplies and paint, and lay in a supply of the miniature tablescape style pumpkins, and that can be part of the goody bag for the kiddos. 

To the earlier poster who mentioned a gingerbread house decorating party.....Thank you!  My son's b-day is close to Christmas, and we were trying to come up with a fun party idea for him. 

[QueenofAllThings]

Threadjack -

Kestrels N - if your son is quite young, graham crackers make an excellent stand-in for gingerbread houses.

[Onyx_TKD]

I think it would be best to provide pumpkins for the invited children (they can be small pumpkins, as long as they're suitable for carving a small design). On the invitation, you can let people know that a small pumpkin will be provided for each child, but that they are welcome to bring any additional pumpkins that they would like to carve.

I have to agree with everyone else.

I also really like the idea that a previous poster had about buying the really small pumpkins and decorating them instead of carving them.

A few people have suggested this, and I would just like to make one point here. A pumpkin painting party could be a lovely thing, but if the OP has a tradition of a pumpkin carving party, I suspect a lot of the guests might be disappointed by the change. Pumpkin carving isn't just a way of putting a picture on a pumpkin, it's a particular art form. You have only two or three colors (peeling the skin gives the third color); you have to structure the design so that all the dark areas are connected and won't collapse (trivial for the traditional jack-o-lantern face, but very challenging for some other designs); if you scrape the pumpkin thin enough, the whole pumpkin glows and highlights the texture and ribs of the pumpkin. The technique (and the resulting aesthetic) is completely different from a painted pumpkin.

[jpcher]

A few people have suggested this, and I would just like to make one point here. A pumpkin painting party could be a lovely thing, but if the OP has a tradition of a pumpkin carving party, I suspect a lot of the guests might be disappointed by the change. Pumpkin carving isn't just a way of putting a picture on a pumpkin, it's a particular art form. You have only two or three colors (peeling the skin gives the third color); you have to structure the design so that all the dark areas are connected and won't collapse (trivial for the traditional jack-o-lantern face, but very challenging for some other designs); if you scrape the pumpkin thin enough, the whole pumpkin glows and highlights the texture and ribs of the pumpkin. The technique (and the resulting aesthetic) is completely different from a painted pumpkin.

Bold above -- that's the thing here. OP is combining the two parties.

OP is simply adding extras for a Bday party to an already established annual party.

The pumpkin carving part is a whole 'nother party (separate from the Bday part.) I think OP should be able to keep the tradition of everybody bringing their own pumpkins without incurring any etiquette blunder.

[StarFaerie]

Would all of the pumpkin carving people have normally been invited to the birthday party or are they now going to have to bring a gift to what they would normally see as a non-gift giving event (ie the pumpkin carving party)?

If they would not normally be invited to the birthday party, then I think you need to provide the pumpkins, because you have added an extra requirement or burden for them.

If, however, they would have been at both parties anyway and you are just combining the 2, I think it would be fine to ask them to bring the pumpkins as that would have been the status quo.

[hannahmollysmom]

Threadjack -

Kestrels N - if your son is quite young, graham crackers make an excellent stand-in for gingerbread houses.

Graham Crackers is what I used. I made meringe (sp) frosting and glued them together the day before so they would dry. Then put out little bowls of meringe frosting and bowls of different types of candy.

1/2 graham for each side, you can trim a whole graham for the ends and then two halves for the roof, and a half for the bottom.

[Roe]

I've hosted pumpkin carving parties (not combined with a birthday party) and I bought the pumpkins for everyone, plus equipment and stencils. I think if you are going to host something like this, you really do need to provide the pumpkins.