No Fuss Pumpkin-fest Party!

We love Halloween in our house. In fact, it's my favorite holiday. Plain and simple - pumpkins make me happy. They're fun to look at, fun to decorate with and - yes - fun to carve.

I had the amazing opportunity to work with Mr. Clean this October to host a Pumpkin Palooza party for our friends - and to have a little pumpkin fun ourselves while we were at it.

I decided before it was party time that my daughter and I would take a stab (pun intended!) at a few pumpkins on our own to see how they turned out - and to see how well Mr. Clean's Concentrated Multi-Surface Cleaner worked.

I spent some time using Mr. Clean around the house - but the real test would be how well the product worked post pumpkin mess and massacre.

My daughter was really excited to try out the paints that were sent to us. She tore into them and I knew it was going to be a lot of fun. Have a look at what she created. It was our own Pumpkin Palooza!

As fun as the pumpkin painting was our efforts at making a bit of an extra mess were a blast. Paint and seeds and pumpkin goo wound up everywhere. There were no worries about clean-up, though. I was armed and ready.

These first two pumpkins were a test-run before the big party. We had a bunch of people ready to get carving, but I did some initial clean-up with Mr. Clean's Concentrated Multi-Surface Cleaner before we got underway. Having these jumbo sponges and a few bottles of Mr. Clean at the ready helped prep and clean-up go super smoothly. 

It didn't take long for everyone to warm up and dive into the carving. We had several sets of carving tools and creative minds went to work.

The counter-top was covered in seeds, guts, goo and more. It wasn't going to be pretty by the time our dozen or so pumpkins were completed. The pumpkins were pretty - the counters? Not so much.

I made sure to have several storage bags on-hand so people could save their pumpkin seeds for roasting later. And we wound up using a large bag to save some of the discarded pumpkin guts for composting. It was a win-win all around.

Some of the creations our friends made for this pumpkin-fest gathering. Aren't they awesome? This was serious business. 

See that one on the left? A little extra scrubbing from Mr. Clean and some of the ink faded away. This product worked on the actual pumpkins, too.

And the happiest face you'll find? Right here! With the pumpkin she carved completely on her own.

Cleaning up was a snap with Mr. Clean on-hand. And I had several helpful hands working with me to be sure that everything was wiped down with no sticky residue left behind. The product's lemon scent was not intense or overpowering and left everything smelling freshly cleaned.

Cleaning up was so easy - I even had little hands help me take care of it. That's a first, I can promise you that. See how spotless the counters are?

I want to thank Mr. Clean for this opportunity - to host our friends and have a great time - to try out this fantastic product AND give several bottles away. We even had a gift-pack for one of our friends so his kids could carve and paint and have fun with the pumpkin (untouched!) we sent home with him.

Lastly, thanks to Mr. Clean for this delicious recipe for pumpkin seeds. I never would have thought to use honey on them - and I'm glad I gave it a try. I can tell you first-hand that it's delicious.

Ingredients:
about 2 c. pumpkin seeds, cleaned
2 tsp. pumpkin seed oil or olive oil
2 tbsp. runny honey (I just used regular honey and heated it up some)
flaky sea salt

Heat your oven to 325 degrees. In a skillet sauté the pumpkin seeds in oil until lightly golden. Add the honey and stir. Move the skillet to the oven and stir occasionally to ensure they do not burn. Roast for approx. 20-30 minutes. Transfer seeds to a lined cookie sheet (use parchment paper or foil) and sprinkle salt on them. Let cool. Store in an airtight container - if you have any left by then - and enjoy.

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* This post was sponsored by Mr. Clean. All expressed opinions are completely my own. As are the messes we created with this opportunity. *

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