Pumpkins, Pumpkins, PUMPKINS!!!

So it is finally pumpkin carving day!

To start, here are my kids' creations. They were very proud and I need to show it off for them.

I haven't carved my own for two or three years because We always went over to my parents' home with the kids and so hanging out at their house for hours carving my pumpkins while my kids run wild.

Instead, I have just assisted with their creations. So I thought that since I am home this year and can spend my own time on it, I was gonna do it UP! :)

The first thing is that I always want to do a pumpkin that is really detailed.

The thing is, when I carve a pumpkin all the way through and "punch out" the pieces, then the integrity of the walls of the pumpkin get more and more fragile until it falls in on itself OR just can't glow through the image well enough.

SO.... this is what I do:

Other than a big spoon to take all the "guts" out, I only need a pen, a sharp small knife and a pumpkin cutter. 

I look for coloring pages to start out. These are easiest because they will have a black and white outline that is easy to use. I found this one, but wasn't so thrilled with her. I knew I could alter her though to look like i wanted. 

Here she is with the outline of the changes I wanted to make on her in pen.

I then place the paper on the pumpkin and start punching tiny holes in the perimeter of the outlined drawing. The more I keep the holes close together, the easier it will be to put together the image to carve out. 

Then I outline the image I made in pen so I can see it on the pumpkin and then edit or add any details I want. in this case, I made it so she was sitting on a tree in the moonlight.

Then VERY carefully, as to save all my fingers, I start to peel away the top most layer of the pumpkin shell. In this way, I can keep a lot of tiny details in the image without having to risk the strength of the pumpkin wall as much as if I were to cut all the way through. I also, then, don't have to think about the pieces "floating" in mid-air if I were to cut away the wrong negative spaces. 

Here she is getting closer to looking complete. This is about 2 hours into the carving of the image.

I am fairly happy at this point with the image, but if you put a candle or pumpkin light into the pumpkin, the walls are too thick to see the light shine through. 

This is when I carefully, and checking often, score out the inside "meat" of the pumpkin until the wall is thin enough to glow through. 

 This year, I really wanted her to shine... literally! So I cut a small slit in the back of the pumpkin and put Christmas lights inside.  HERE IS THE FINISHED PRODUCT!

Now for clean up... UGH...

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN ALL!