Chapter One
MAKING FACES The spirit of creativity abounds in this jack-o''-lantern collection. Choose your favorite(s), and then check out the specific instructions and helpful carving tips that follow.
I''m Melting!
Looks like this wicked one has met her demise. Created from a warty pumpkin for the head and a gourd for the nose, this witch "collapses" into a large flowerpot draped with black fabric. Her hat, shoes, and broom can be found at theatrical shops.
Outdoor Apparitions
Here''s an easy, inexpensive way to raise the spirit(s) of the season. These ethereal shapes are done with minimal carving, tall dowel rods, and sheets of breezy cheesecloth.
Dynamic Duo
Forget bad luck-this painted black cat with glowing carved eyes and lit-up moon will be a welcome sight along anyone''s path tonight. Pair the feline with a jolly pumpkin pal to greet your trick-or-treaters.
Avast, Mateys!
What gives this swashbuckler such character? Is it his eye patch or the scar on his cheek? Maybe it''s his mustache and ears crafted from mini gourds. All of these details-and many more-will delight anyone who rings your doorbell tonight.
Skull-fully Carved
Heads served on a silver platter-how fiendishly fun! Cut from white pumpkins about the size of human heads, this trio, above, "floats" in midair when you rest each carved head atop a clear shallow bowl. Crafts-foam bow ties, pinned at the necks, make it a formal affair.
Drats! Rats!
Painted rodents gather ''round the big CHEESE for this glow-in-the-dark assemblage, below. Cutouts carved into the tall pumpkin let out plenty of candlelight, but outlines gouged around each rat silhouette emit only an eerie flicker.
Bats in the Belfry
Take a fresh bite into your pumpkin carving this Halloween, right. Instead of cutting off the top for a lid, remove the bottom from the pumpkin and clean it out. Then use the two bat patterns on page 16 to create a fanged grin and a hair-raising hairline.
Tombstone Territory
Turn a corner of your patio or your front yard into a haunted graveyard, below. This one is filled with lighted headstones and body parts that rise from the ground.
Halloween Dudes
This pair goes dapper when you add top hats and a fringed ascot to the picture, opposite. To give the fellow on the right a piercing look, insert metal bottle caps into carved eye circles.
Pumpkin-Carving Basics
MATERIALS
Fresh or carvable artificial pumpkin Tracing paper Tape or straight pins Tools: apple corer, paring knife, grapefruit spoon, mixing spoon, crafts knife; pumpkin carving tools (including assorted saws, drills, poker, and scoop); clay tools (for engraving and cutting grooves); wood-carving set (including gouges) For fresh pumpkin only: petroleum jelly, flat-edge ice cream scoop or large serving spoon
PREPARE FRESH PUMPKIN
Allow your pumpkin to come to room temperature. Draw the outline of a round lid on top of the pumpkin. Then draw a notch at the back to use as a guide for replacing the lid. Make the lid large enough to let you easily clean out the pumpkin. Instead of cutting a lid, you may wish to draw a round opening on the bottom of the pumpkin. With the bottom removed, the pumpkin can sit over a candle or a light.
Cut out the lid or bottom opening with a saw or a knife. To cut out a lid, carve at an angle toward the pumpkin center. This creates a ledge to support the lid. To cut out a bottom opening, cut straight into the base (photo 1, below).
Clean out the seeds and pulp with a spoon (photo 2, below). Scrape the pulp from the area you plan to carve until the pumpkin wall is about 1 inch thick (photo 3, below).
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
Enlarge or decrease your pattern to fit your pumpkin. Attach the pattern to your pumpkin using tape or straight pins. If you use pins, place them on the design lines to avoid unwanted holes in the pumpkin.
For a fresh pumpkin, use a poker tool to make holes along the design lines about 1/8 inch apart (photo 4, below).
Don''t push the poker through the wall of the pumpkin. Remove the pattern when finished. For an artificial pumpkin, use a pencil to draw firmly over the pattern and engrave the design lines on the pumpkin skin.
Cradle the pumpkin in your lap, and use a crafts knife or a saw to begin cutting out the design (photo 5, opposite). For smaller, more intricate openings, be sure to use a fine-tooth saw. Grasp the saw as you would hold a pencil and cut with a continuous up-and-down motion, keeping the saw perpendicular to the pumpkin. Apply only gentle pressure to avoid breaking the knife or saw blade and to guard against stressing or breaking the pumpkin. To avoid putting pressure on areas already carved, work from the center of the design outward. Remove and reinsert the knife to make corners; don''t twist the blade. Use your finger to carefully push the pieces out of the pumpkin.
To create an interesting design with color and light, you can remove the skin of the pumpkin after cutting out all openings. Use a rounded gouge, assorted clay tools, grapefruit spoon, or crafts knife to remove the skin and pulp to the thickness desired (photo 6, opposite).
Use an electric or battery-powered light in an artificial pumpkin; do not use a candle. To use a candle inside a fresh pumpkin, place the candle inside and carefully light it after all carving is completed. After the candle smoke has blackened a spot on the lid or the top, use a saw to cut a 1-inch-diameter hole at that spot for a chimney.
To reduce shriveling, coat the cut edges of your carving with petroleum jelly. You can revive a shriveled pumpkin by soaking it in water for 1-8 hours. After removing it from the water, let it drain and air-dry.
I''m Melting! Witch Cutout
Note: See Pumpkin-Carving Basics, including a list of tools, tips, and techniques such as transferring your pattern, opposite.
Select a round pumpkin with plenty of warts. Transfer the eye and mouth patterns onto the pumpkin. Using a knife or carving tools, cut out the openings.
Cut the end off a gourd to be used as a nose. Insert a wood skewer into the nose and then push it into the pumpkin to hold the nose in place.
Drape a piece of black fabric over a large upright flowerpot. (The flowerpot should be large enough to support the pumpkin.) Set the pumpkin on the fabric-covered flowerpot. Place a black witch''s hat on the pumpkin. Pin the hat to the pumpkin if necessary. Tuck an old broom and witch''s shoes so they''re poking out from under the fabric.
Halloween-Dudes Cutouts
Note: For Pumpkin-Carving Basics, including a list of tools, tips, and techniques such as transferring your pattern, turn to page 12.
Transfer the patterns onto the pumpkins. Using a knife or carving tools, cut out the openings. Add top hats. (Ours came from a theatrical shop.) Tie a fringed scarf around the base of one pumpkin for a cravat. Insert two metal bottle caps into the circle eyes for the other pumpkin.
Drats! Rats! Cutouts
Note: For Pumpkin-Carving Basics, including a list of tools, tips, and techniques such as transferring your pattern, turn to page 12.
Transfer the letters and Swiss-cheese holes onto one large pumpkin. Using a knife or carving tools, cut out the openings.
Spray the pumpkin with varnish so paint will adhere to the pumpkin. Transfer the rat patterns onto smaller pumpkins. Use a gouge to cut a thin outline around the rats, cutting just deep enough to let the glow of a candle escape through the pumpkin''s walls. Paint the rat silhouettes with black acrylic paint. Spray with varnish to seal the paint.
Bats-in-the-Belfry Vampire Cutout
Note: For Pumpkin-Carving Basics, including a list of tools, tips, and techniques such as transferring your pattern, turn to page 12.
Transfer the eyes and bat patterns onto the pumpkin, referring to the photo, page 10, for placement. Using a knife or carving tools, cut out the openings.
Avast, Mateys! Pirate Cutout
Note: For Pumpkin-Carving Basics, including a list of tools, tips, and techniques such as transferring your pattern, turn to page 12.
Cut a longneck gourd (for the mustache) and a mini pumpkin (for the ears) in half lengthwise with a hacksaw. Drill a hole into one ear to hold a curtain-rod ring for the earring.
Referring to the photo, page 8, decide on the placement for the mustache and temporarily mark its position. Transfer the eye, nostrils, scar, and scowl patterns onto the pumpkin. Using a knife or carving tools, cut out the openings.
Attach the mustache and ears to the pumpkin with toothpicks. (Note: Color any toothpick ends that show with marking pens.)
Freehand-draw the eye, nose, and whisker details using a black permanent marking pen.
Transfer the eye-patch pattern onto tracing paper and use it to cut the shape from black crafts foam. Use toothpicks to secure the ends of the eye patch to the pumpkin.
Create a bandanna with scraps of fabric, and add the earring.
Tombstone Territory Cutouts
Note: For Pumpkin-Carving Basics, including a list of tools, tips, and techniques such as transferring your pattern, turn to page 12.
Transfer the patterns onto the pumpkins. Using a knife or carving tools, cut out the openings.
Outdoor Apparitions Cutout
Note: For Pumpkin-Carving Basics, including a list of tools, tips, and techniques such as transferring your pattern, turn to page 12.
Transfer the mouth and eye patterns onto the pumpkin, referring to the photo, page 7, for placement. Using a knife or carving tools, cut out the mouth opening and then clean out the pumpkin through the mouth. Cut out the eyes.
Hammer a 1-inch-diameter, 4-foot length of dowel rod into the ground until it is deep enough to securely hold a pumpkin. Using a 7/8-inch drill bit, drill a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin. Push the pumpkin onto the top of the rod. Mark the rod 1 inch below the head. Remove the pumpkin.
For arms, remove and discard the hook from a clothes hanger. Straighten the remaining hanger wire. On your mark, drill a small hole (to accommodate the wire) crosswise through the dowel rod. Thread the wire through the hole and wrap it around once for stability. Bend the ends into circles so they won''t snag the cheesecloth. Drape a length of cheesecloth from the front to the back and another (shorter) length from side to side.
Skull-fully Carved Pumpkin Cutout
Note: For Pumpkin-Carving Basics, including a list of tools, tips, and techniques such as transferring your pattern, turn to page 12.
Transfer the skull pattern onto the pumpkin. Using a knife or carving tools, cut out the openings.
Trace a bow-tie shape onto tracing paper, and use it to cut out a shape from black crafts foam (available at crafts stores). Cut a short, narrow strip of black crafts foam for the bow-tie center. Wrap and glue the band around the center of the bow tie. Push one or two toothpicks through the center of the bow tie to attach it to the pumpkin.
Bonus
Jolly Pumpkin
Note: For Pumpkin-Carving Basics, including a list of tools, tips, and techniques such as transferring your pattern, turn to page 12.
Transfer patterns onto pumpkins and cut out the openings with a knife or carving tools. Tip: Download pumpkin features from bhg.com/pumpkinstencil. Visit the site to design your own creations!
Black Cat Pumpkin
Note: For Pumpkin-Carving Basics, including a list of tools, tips, and techniques such as transferring your pattern, turn to page 12.
Spray the pumpkin with spray varnish so paint will adhere to the pumpkin. Transfer the pattern onto the pumpkin and cut out the eyes and the moon with a knife or carving tools. Paint the cat with black acrylic paint and an artist''s brush that best fits the area. Dip the handle end of the brush into white acrylic paint and apply dip-dots to the pumpkin for the necklace. Let the paint dry thoroughly. Spray with varnish to seal the paint.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Halloween Tricks and Treats Copyright © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Excerpted by permission.
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