Cool Pumkin Carvings

Cool Pumkin Carvings

If you want to wow your family, friends and neighbors with the most amazing pumpkin carvings next Halloween, I can help you make some very cool pumpkin carvings using templates.

But what is a template? Well, a template is a negative or a reversed image of a drawing or an illustration or a design that will help you with your pumpkin carving. And you can get a template off the Internet, from any arts and crafts store in your neighborhood or you can even, with a little bit of creativity and imagination, make your own original template by drawing it on a sheet of paper.

A basic pumpkin template creates two colors: the yellow/orange of the pumpkin where the light shines through and the black where the pumpkin hides the light. In the basic pumpkin template you cut out shapes in the pumpkin that create a picture either where the light shines through or the black space where the light does not shine through.

First you need to prepare a few items:

- The pumpkin (preferably medium to large for easier carving)
- The template that you will be using for your carving
- A candle or a flash light or a light bulb
- A large sturdy spoon or an ice cream scoop
- A serrated knife or a carving saw
- A poker or a nail
- A roll of masking tape
- A marking pen

To get started, trim off the template that you downloaded, purchased or drew to approximately one inch from the drawing’s edge. Tape the trimmed template to the surface of the pumpkin that you have already gutted. Since the paper of the template is flat while the pumpkin is rounded, the template will need to be folded at its corners to fit perfectly onto the pumpkin. Make an effort to fold in such a way as not to corrupt the template’s drawing.

Using a nail or a poker, outline the drawing of your template by punching small holes through the template’s paper and the skin of your pumpkin at approximately one-eighth inch intervals. For better control of the nail or the poker and the pumpkin, I suggest that you hold the pumpkin in your lap while punching those little holes. The closer you punch the holes the more accurate your carving will be.

Once you are certain that you have not missed any spots, you may remove the template off your pumpkin. Connect your dots with the marking pen. Are you satisfied that the result is the same as you intended? If so, you may begin carefully carving along the marker lines. If, however, you see an error this is the time to correct it with your marking pen.

Now, place the candle the flash light or the light bulb and light them. Turn off the lights in your room and be amazed. You have just created a very cool pumpkin carving! Good job!

That was very cool but there are other cool things you can do with your pumpkin this coming Halloween. You can create pumpkin sculptures that differ from pumpkin carvings in that pumpkin sculpting produces a three-dimensional image much like sculptures in clay, bronze, wood, marble or any other sculpting material.

Or you can create pumpkin portraits. Imagine creating a pumpkin portrait for every member of your family. How cool is that?

Posted in Pumpkin Stencils