Why are there Teal Pumpkins in all of Boise's Craft Stores?

A few weeks ago, I bounced back and forth from JoAnn Fabric's and Michael's looking for poster frames. When I walked into each of those stores, I was so excited to see that both of these retailers has a huge selection of artificial teal pumpkins of all shapes and sizes!

The pumpkins aren't a new flash in the pan trend for 2019. They are actually part of an initiative started by the Food Allergy Research & Education non-profit. Your child may be lucky enough not to have any allergies to the ingredients in some of the most popular Halloween candies, but chances they have a classmate that may be allergic to milk, chocolate, peanut and other allergens hidden on the wrapper. For those kiddos, trick or treating can be a real bummer where they feel like they've been left out because they can't accept those treats.

That's where the "Teal Pumpkin Project" comes in! FARE encourages homeowners to select a more inclusive non-food trick or treat item to pass out. Homeowners choosing to do that can mark their home as a safe place for kids with food allergies by placing a teal colored pumpkin or jack-o-lantern on their doorstep.

Want to participate, but not sure what a non-food trick or treat items kids would love? FARE suggests these to make your house a hit!

Halloween Erasers or Pencil Toppers
Glow sticks, bracelets or necklaces
Pencils, pens, crayons or markers
Bubbles
Whistles, Kazoos or Noisemakers
Bookmarks
Bouncy Balls
Mini Notepads
Playing Cards
Stickers
Coins (my neighbor that handed out quarters ever year was my favorite house in the neighborhood!)
Stencils
Silly Straws
Finger Puppets
Vampire Fangs
Spider Rings

Teal Pumpkin Inspiration

If you'd love to participate but don't have a ton of spare time to paint and create your teal pumpkin masterpiece, here's some fun teal pumpkin products I found on Amazon, Michael's and JoAnn's website. The two craft stores have a much bigger selection in stores!