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Pumpkin Carving Ideas
Pumpkin Carving Basics
Tools and Materials
PumpkinBosch Cordless Drill (9.5-volt)
Boo Template (optional)
Pumpkin Carving How-To
Step 1
Cut out the bottom of your pumpkins with a craft saw, and scrape out the insides with an ice cream scoop. Craft saws are the most efficient tool for cutting neatly through the pumpkin's tough skin.
Step 2
To make holes in the pumpkin for eyes, use a drill equipped with 1/2-inch or 3/4-inch spade bit. You can also bore holes into the pumpkin using a selection of short lengths of pipe with ends sawed at a 45-degree angle. Press the sharp end into the pumpkin and twist; remove the pipe.
Step 3
If you want to carve a design or word, such as "Boo," download and print this Template,
affix it to the pumpkin, and trace the design with a needle or large pin. Remove the template and carve along the pattern with a linoleum carving tool or similar woodworker's tool.
Step 4
You can prevent exposed areas of the pumpkin's flesh from turning brown by applying a film of Vaseline.
Step 5
In addition to placing candles inside your pumpkin, consider using battery-operated light sources or small flashlights.
Resource
The 9.5-volt Bosch cordless drill is available at
bosch.com
Translucent Pumpkins
Introduction
Halloween doesn't just have to have playful jack o'anterns with cute smiles. Want more of an adult take on jack o'lanterns this year? Consider the more subtle glow of an elegant monogram, playful spirals, or a whimsical harlequin pattern. By paring away the skin and only part of the flesh rather than carving all the way through, the lantern becomes translucent when lit from within. The harlequin pattern combines both techniques, resulting in a multicolored effect.
Step 1
Cut a hole in the pumpkin's base, and hollow the pumpkin out. If you're using a candle, cut a lid out of the top using a keyhole saw; for low-wattage lightbulbs, cutting a hole in the top is optional, but you must also cut a hole in the back of the pumpkin for the cord. Apply petroleum jelly to any exposed flesh to keep it from drying out.
Step 2
If you're carving a monogram, find an example of typeface to use and enlarge it on a photocopier to the desired size. Tape the monogram to the pumpkin with masking tape. Using a needle tool or pushpins, poke holes through the monogram and into the pumpkin around the outline of the letters at close intervals. Remove photocopy, and connect the "dots" by pen. Pare the flesh down with a gouge in open spaces and a linoleum cutter in tight spaces, leaving about half the thickness of the translucent flesh intact to allow sufficient light to show through. (You don't need a template to create spirals or a harlequin pattern, spirals can be carved freehand, and the harlequin diamonds can be drawn, prior to carving, using a felt-tipped pen.)
Step 3
Wrap Christmas lights around a glass for a radiant light source. To even out the light, affix a piece of wax paper with tacks to the inside of the monogram.
Farmers Field
Introduction
Carved pumpkins usually go solo -- the jaunty jack-o'-lantern perched on a stoop, greeting Halloween callers with a toothy smile. But presented in a cluster, these late-October luminaries really shine. This year, why not assemble dramatic vignettes to set the stage for a season of spine-chilling fun? Beckon treat-seekers with glowing orbs that radiate a spider theme on the steps of a dimly lit doorway. Or set a harvest table with pumpkins from which an ominous scarecrow and a black cat loom. These are just two of the scenes you can create using the techniques that follow. Before you visit the pumpkin patch or the farm stand, draw a sketch of your composition to determine how many pumpkins you'll need. Then, with an eye for sizes and shapes, choose ones with slightly flat faces, which will make it easier to transfer the designs. When carving time comes, invite friends over to partake of the craft of transforming pumpkins, large and small, into scenes full of watchful ravens, screeching cats, and fluttering moths. Your gang of pumpkins will bewitch the night so effectively, you'll want to enjoy them long into November.
Download Template
Blackened Pumpkins
Introduction
These puckish pumpkins with their paint-blackened rinds and orange-gold interiors, thumb their carved noses at traditional jack-o'-lanterns.
Tools & Materials
Miniature carving saw &Plaster scraperMasking tape
Black floral spray
Battery-powered light
Needle tool or awl
Waxed paper
Straight pins
Step 1
Make a 4-inch round hole in the bottom of your pumpkin with a carving saw; scrape out flesh.
Step 2
Place pumpkin on newspaper in a well-ventilated area. Wrap masking tape around stem, and coat pumpkin with black floral spray. Let dry for 30 minutes; remove tape.
Step 3
Print this template, affix it to the pumpkin, and trace the design with a needle or large pin. Remove the template and carve along the pattern with a linoleum carving tool or similar woodworker's tool.
Step 4
Use needle tool to outline the shape with close-set holes. Cut out design with saw. (If necessary, touch up pumpkin with floral spray.)