What to Look For:

1. Choose a pumpkin that has no soft spots, bruises, or discoloration on the skin.

2. Any size pumpkin will do, but the bigger, the better! Carving patterns can be enlarged easily, but shrinking them makes the detail work harder, if not impossible.

3. Look for a pumpkin that has a firmly attached stem attached. This is the sign of a healthy pumpkin. NEVER lift the pumpkin by its stem! Not only could you lose the handle for your lid, but you can damage the pumpkin and make it age quicker.

4. Select a pumpkin with a flat bottom (or side, depending on your design), as this will make it easier to display your masterpiece without having it roll away.

5. Check the bottom of your pumpkin for damage or soft spots. This can be the thinnest part of the pumpkin. If you pick it up, and it feels particularly heavy and the weight shifts when you tilt it …put it back. You don’t want to know what can grow inside a rotting pumpkin.

Once you get your pumpkin home, you need to prepare it. These steps are important if you want to keep Jack smiling for a while:

1. Choose your opening. If you are cutting a “lid”, then your first cut will be an angled cut, so that you lift out a cone shaped wedge around the stem. Angling the lid cut will keep the lid from falling into the pumpkin. Make your cut big enough to give you room to do the scooping and scraping you will need to do in a few minutes. You may choose, instead, to remove the bottom of the pumpkin and set it down over the light source you choose. If using a candle, you will still need to cut a vent in the top, and the top will scorch.
***NOTE: this should be the ONLY angled cut you make on your carving. All other cuts should be made perpendicular to the surface.

2. Once the pumpkin is open, remove the “brains” or “guts” with a sturdy scoop. While scooping, remember that the front edge, or design side of the pumpkin needs to be thinned to 1/2 to 1 inch thick, to make the more intricate cuts easier.

3. DON’T SKIP THIS STEP!!! Before you begin carving your design, fill a tub with cold water. It should be deep enough to submerge your pumpkin. Let it float and fill with water, so that it settles gently toward the bottom of the tub. Let it soak overnight. The pumpkin will absorb the water and become very firm, making your carving much easier. If you add a little bleach to the water, it will retard mold that might form on your Jack O’Lantern.

4. Once carved, coat all cut edges with petroleum jelly to prevent shrivelling.

5. If you are serious about keeping your pumpkin fresh for a long time, bring it in from the porch every night, and moisten it, using a plant mister, put it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Remember that you must dry all surfaces before putting it out for display, to prevent mold from growing.

• Dry Erase markers, if you are free-handing your Jack O’Lantern design. They wipe off with no trace!
• An icepick or awl to mark your design into the skin of the pumpkin, if you are using a carving pattern.



• A sharp, long bladed knife, to cut the “lid” and make any long smooth cuts in your design.
• A scoop, to remove the pumpkin guts and seeds, and also to thin down the wall of the pumpkin on the side you will be carving. You will want the thin wall of the pumpkin no more than 1/2 inch thick.
• A small, sharp, thin-bladed knife, for more intricate cuts.

Is it time to try something more complicated, or more adventurous this year? Then consider the following list of additional tools that I recommend for more versatility in your carving experience.

• A jig saw. Used gently, and especially on really large pumpkins, this can be a huge time-saver!
• A drill saw. Pictured here, the drill saw, usually used for dry wall, allows you to cut in any direction without repositioning the blade.
• Linoleum cutters. If your carving pattern includes areas that will remove the skin, but leave some of the flesh for shadow effects, linoleum cutters are an excellent sculpting tool. The solid round handles make for a comfortable grip when working on large areas.



• Dremel tool. This small handheld drill is capable of the most precise and intricate cuts and saves hours of painstaking labor. It is such a popular method of carving pumpkins, that Dremel makes a model specifically for that purpose!
• Exacto Knife. A good set of Exacto knives are a must have for any craftsman, and they will prove very useful for the tiniest and most precise cuts. I have a set of blades that mount into a comfortable handle, and have been known to substitute a jig saw blade for some carving purposes.

Armed with the proper tools, there is no pumpkin carving design that should prove too difficult. Just add patience and about 4 hours of free time to your list of materials!

Let’s suppose, however, that you want a design that is unique and personal. Something like, your family’s faces on a row of pumpkins, or your house as a haunted mansion, or your business logo. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Of course, you can’t download and print such designs, but, with a little instruction, you can make your own! Just always remember that you are designing a “negative” image.

Let’s start with a simple one. I’ll use a family photo, and I’ll open it in any photo program. Usually one comes on your computer, or with your digital camera, but you can find plenty of free programs online to do this job for you.
First, I am going to rotate the whole picture, although you can leave it at any angle you find pleasing.
Next, change the picture to greyscale. This will usually be found in the “Color” tab of your photo program. It may also be called “Discard Color Information”.
Then, find the brightness/contrast controls in your program. Start with brightness, and slide it bright enough that you lose most of the detail of the picture. Then increase the contrast to bring out only the most dramatic shadows. Keep this up until you have a completely black and white flat pattern of the face.
Next, clean up your design, smoothing the edges of the shapes and keeping in mind that you will be cutting away anything that is black. Don’t leave floating islands of white, they must be attached to the edges somehow. Once you have cleaned up your image, you have your carving pattern.

If you have a subject in mind that needs more detail, then increase the brightness and contrast slightly less, so that it leaves some grey areas. Try the “posterize” option in your photo program to reduce the photo to flat and well defined areas. In this case, you will cut away the black areas completely, but you will only remove a partial layer of the areas of your pattern that are grey. The light will shine through areas that are not completely cut away, giving it a shadowed, 3 dimensional look.

Experiment with silhouettes first, that are strictly black and white. Once you have mastered those, you will be ready to try more complicated designs! Watch this space for some original carving patterns, as the season draws nearer!

The pumpkin is a squash, a fruit, of the same family as cucumbers. They probably originated in Central America. Seeds from pumpkin like plants have been found in Mexico dating back to 5500 B.C. They were a staple of the Native American diet. When European explorers and settlers learned of the plant, they sent seeds back home. Today, pumpkins are cultivated all over the world.

Pumpkin is a rich source of Vitamin A and potassium. It has a high fiber content. Depending on how it is prepared, pumpkin can be a very healthy food source. Historically, pumpkin has been used medicinally as a cure for freckles and a treatment for snakebite. Today, the consumption of pumpkin seeds is known to promote prostate health for men.

Pumpkins come in all shapes and sizes, from “Baby Boo” miniature pumpkins that fit in the palm of your hand, to the giant, prize-winning varieties that can weigh upwards of 1500 lbs. They come in a rainbow of colors, from the common orange, to green, white and blue varieties. They can be smooth skinned, or extremely rough. Each variety suggests new and unique designs!

The basic components of a pumpkin are as follows:

The Stem: Located on top of the pumpkin, the stem is usually brownish green. It was the umbilical cord that connected the fruit to the vine, and brought in nutrients from the main body of the plant. When choosing a pumpkin, it is best to find one with the stem still firmly attached. Never lift your pumpkin by the stem, or it will break off. This will become the handle for the “lid” of your Jack O’Lantern.

The Shell: This includes both the skin, also called the rind, the shiny orange outer covering, and the pulp, also called the meat or the flesh, the part that is cooked and used in many wonderful recipes.

The Blossom End: When the pumpkin vine produces blossoms, each is a potential pumpkin. the scar where the blossom used to be attached is what we consider the bottom of he pumpkin.

The Guts, Brains, Goop: Actually, they are called the fibrous strands that fill the cavity in the middle of the pumpkin. These gooey strands contain the pumpkin seeds.

The Seeds: Pumpkin seeds can be planted to produce the next season’s crop of pumpkins. They are made up of the seed shell and the nut inside. There are many excellent recipes for snacks and foods made from pumpkin seeds. (See our recipe section!)

Watch for upcoming posts for choosing the design for your Jack O’Lantern and the proper pumpkin and tools to use for it.

Materials:
6 white flat sheets (queen size were used in this project)
3 boards, 1″x2″, 8 feet long (or 6 pieces of PVC pipe 4 feet long can be used)
Plastic grocery sacks, newspapers, black markers, heavy tape
Heavy black thread or non-reflective fishing line

Directions:
Cut the boards or PVC pipe into 4 foot sections. Cut one end of each at an angle, to make it easier to insert it into the ground. Pound these gently into the ground with a hammer. You don’t want to set them in too firmly at first, until you get a feel for how big your circle will need to be. This will depend on the size of your finished ghosts.
Next, make the heads, by stuffing a white plastic grocery bag with crumpled newspaper. Alternatively, you could use large styrofoam balls. Secure a head to each stake with tape (duct tape works well for this).

Drape a sheet over each head, so that you have an equal amount of fabric hanging on each side. At this point you can secure the sheet to the head in any of several ways: You can tie the head at the “neck” with string or fishing line, or, for the “neckless” version we have pictured, try gluing the very top of the sheet to the plastic bag head, or, stitching it there with fishing line and a darning needle.

With the permanent black marker, you may draw faces on your ghosts, or leave them blank, for an eerie effect. Tie the sheets together at the sides, as pictured, for the ghosts’ joined hands. If desired, attach fishing line to each knot and tie them to a tree branch to raise the hands to different heights and keep them off the ground. For the free standing ghosts, you can make your stakes longer, or your placement a little further apart to keep the ghost “hands” from dragging on the ground. If you choose to make the free standing ghost circle, try placing an artificial campfire in the center. Light your “campfire” with the flickering electronic pumpkin lights available at many party stores and Halloween shops.

Finish the project by pounding the stakes securely into the ground with a hammer. The ghosts can be stored and reused year after year. Watch this site for other ghostly yard decoration projects!

This Halloween craft project is similar to a Christmas snow globe, although the liquid used in the jar is clear corn syrup. It’s a great project for preschoolers, with the help of an adult. Watch for more “…in a jar” projects to come!

Materials:

Clean empty jar (tall baby food or small jam jar size) with leakproof screwtop lid

Marbles, glass stones or small pebbles.

One plastic spider, ghost, witch or other Halloween figure (the largest you can find that will fit in the jar without touching the sides. An excellent source for these figures would be cake decorating picks, as we have pictured here.)

Halloween confetti with bat, spider and pumpkin shapes.

Silicone caulking

Instructions:

1. Add a layer of marbles or aquarium gravel to the bottom of the jar.

2. Add a selection of Halloween confetti pieces.

3. Coat the inside of the lid with silicone caulk, almost to the edges. Press pebbles or gravel into the silicone to create the “ground”. Glue your Halloween figure to the center. If using a decorating pick, break all but about 1/4 inch of the “stem” off with a pliers and insert the remaining stub into the silicone, to secure it.

4. Pour in clear corn syrup to fill the jar. If you are adding a figure glued to the lid, remember to allow space for this so the syrup doesn’t overflow.

5. Screw on the lid and invert the jar. For safety’s sake, you can run a bead of silicone caulking around the lid to secure it permanently. Activate your Halloween scene by shaking or inverting the jar so you can see the confetti and marbles floating slowly around.

]]> http://www.halloweenexperts.com/2010/07/12/halloween-in-a-jar/feed/ 0 http://www.halloweenexperts.com/2010/07/01/halloween-luminaries/ http://www.halloweenexperts.com/2010/07/01/halloween-luminaries/#comments Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:08:46 +0000 Annie http://www.halloweenexperts.com/?p=535 Our project for this week will help you provide atmosphere and charm to your Halloween decorating! Luminaries are most traditionally made from small paper bags, and contain a small votive candle or tea light to add the soft glow with which to line walkways and stairs. Our luminaries will be sturdier, reusable, and nearly free! They can be used for any occasion, but lend themselves particularly well to the Halloween season.

Here is what you will need:

Empty soup cans, washed and dried with the labels removed.

A permanent marker

A towel

A hammer

A couple of nails of different sizes

Orange and/or Black spray paint (try metallic colors too!)

Wire coat hangers

Here is what you do:

Choose a simple Halloween graphic to use as a pattern. Clip art, which can be found for free online, is an excellent resource for patterns. Using the permanent marker, draw your pattern on the clean, dry soup can. Any marks will eventually be covered by paint. Fill the soup cans with water, and freeze them overnight.

Lay the towel on a flat surface to soak up any water from the ice melting and keep the cans from slipping around while you work. Using the hammer and nails, punch holes in the can, about every ¼ to ½ inch along the lines of your pattern. The ice will keep the can from collapsing while you work on it. If you want to hang your luminaries, make sure you punch 2 extra holes at the top on either side of the can for the handle.

Once your pattern has been “punched”, put the cans in warm water to melt the ice inside, and then dry the cans thoroughly. Spray paint the sides and bottom of the cans. If you are making hanging luminaries, cut a length of coat hanger wire about 12-14 inches long, and thread it through the top holes on either side of your lantern, like a bail handle.
When your luminaries are completely dry, add a votive candle or tea light.

This is a great family project, and your finished luminaries will add a touch of Halloween charm to your sidewalk or patio! As stated earlier, luminaries can be used for any occasion: weddings, Christmas, 4th of July, birthdays… Don’t wait for Halloween to let your imagination light up your decorating!

]]> http://www.halloweenexperts.com/2010/07/01/halloween-luminaries/feed/ 0 http://www.halloweenexperts.com/2010/03/29/terror-in-the-cornfield/ http://www.halloweenexperts.com/2010/03/29/terror-in-the-cornfield/#comments Mon, 29 Mar 2010 21:03:22 +0000 Annie http://www.halloweenexperts.com/?p=116 I’m sure you will recall a cartoon from your childhood, wherein an anthropomorphized farm animal, most likely a stuttering pig, was planting seeds in his garden. Quite unknown to him, a large, wisecracking crow was walking behind him, eating the seeds as he dropped them. Hilarity ensued as the farmer tried to devise more and more elaborate plans to shoo the thieving bird, who was obviously smarter than the pig. As you would expect, one of the first solutions he devised was a scarecrow. Scarecrows have been around for thousands of years. Since they are usually homemade, every scarecrow is as unique as it’s creator. They are common to so many cultures around the world, that scarecrows have come to be a universal symbol of the fall harvest time. Because they can be frightening to more than just crows, they have also become a familiar Halloween symbol.

The earliest scarecrows, that we know of, were placed in fields along the Nile River to discourage flocks of quail from dining on ancient Egyptian crops. These were not the traditional mannequins that we recognize today, but wooden frames with nets stretched across them. Farmers hid in the field and then scared the birds into the nets, providing a main course for their dinner.

The ancient Greek farmers carved wooden statues of the god, Priapus, the god of fertility, to place in their fields. Although he was the son of Aphrodite and Dionysus, Priapus was supposed to be very ugly. The farmers noticed that fields, with Priapus statues in them, were less bothered by birds and produced a greater harvest, so more and more farmers carved the statues. Some painted him purple and equipped him with weapons to make him look even more frightening. Roman farmers adopted this practice from the Greeks, and then carried it with them into northern Europe and Great Britain.

At about the same time, the Japanese were also building scarecrows to protect their rice fields. They erected bamboo poles, to which they attached old rags, fish bones, rotten food, and noisemakers. They called them “kakashi”, which means “smelly thing”. Eventually, they made scarecrows that looked like people in woven reed raincoats and round pointed hats. These too, were called kakashi, even though they didn’t smell bad.

During the middle ages, when men attributed supernatural powers to so many things, they built scarecrows that they believed had special powers. Italian farmers put skulls on top of poles to scare birds and protect the crops from disease. In Germany, they built wooden witches to draw the evil spirit of winter from the earth, and ensure the coming of spring.

In Medieval Britain and Europe, children were used as bird scarers, throwing stones or clacking blocks of wood together to frighten away the pests, until the time of the great plague. Since there was a shortage of children for the job, farmers stuffed old clothes and carved a gourd for a head and mounted their straw man on a wooden cross erected in the field.

German immigrants to the United States brought the tradition of stuffing clothes with straw, using a mop head or broom for the top, tying a red bandana or handkerchief around their necks. They called him a “bootzamon” or bogeyman. Frequently he occupied one end of the field, while his wife, called the “bootzafrau”, dressed in ladies garments and a bonnet, guarded the other end.

Why are scarecrows associated with Halloween? It was just before the fall harvest when crows would come to devastate the crops. During this magical time of year, it was believed that the veil between the land of the living and the spirit world was at its thinnest. Spirits from beyond were desperate to possess a physical body. If there was no hapless human nearby, then surely a scarecrow was near enough. Considering that scarecrows were intended to frighten unwanted guests and pests, it isn’t surprising that myths and legends have grown up around them. Tales of whispering scarecrows, stories of those that come down from their posts and terrorize the living, haunted and possessed scarecrows are some of the stories that make them seem dark and sinister, and very appropriate as a Halloween symbol.

Scarecrows are still a common sight all over the world. Making your own, for your Halloween décor, is as simple as stuffing old clothes and an old pillowcase, for the head, with straw. Tie the ends of arms and legs with twine. Tie on the head. Accessorize your scarecrow with patches, hats, boots, etc. Prop him on a bale of hay, or a attach him to a stake to be posted in your yard and he will scare birds, greet your guests, and otherwise herald the harvest season.

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