pumpkin carving

it’s come a long way. having grown up using soup spoons and dull paring knives (my mother doesn’t believe in the boy scouts conspiracy that says the most dangerous knife is a dull one), i have neglected to invest in any pumpkins for the past 10 years of my life. but this year, i discovered the electric pumpkin knife at a halloween store! oh, the possibilities! i promptly discovered those things don’t work well. BUT! the $4 sets of pumpkin tools being sold everywhere DO! oh, the joy! The scooper is pure genius: the 2 cent piece of made-in-China plastic works like an ice scraper to rid your pumpkin of every strand of gooey-ness that causes premature rot. With some patience the saws even do a pretty good job, and I have all the time in the world at 3 in the morning! A couple of my preteen cousins did some quick work of them though–they don’t last forever.

And the stencils! I am not too into the ones that come with the sets, but being underemployed has left me lots of time to look for stencils online. Some good sources are the Disney Family website (free), the Better Homes and Garden website (free, many different themes), and Pumpkin Lady website (most with fee, some free, many different themes). The Pumpkin Lady website also has a ton of hints for carving pumpkins. In fact, had i bothered to watch the Pumpkin Lady’s videos before i started, i could have prevented the tragedy that befell my first pumpkin of the season when i forgot the importance of cutting the lid on a slant.

If you know of any other free or cheap sources for pumpkin stencils, let me know with a comment!
Here are some of my carvings so far (prepare to be astounded):

Minnie Mouse pumpkin, stencil from Disney Family website

wheat pumpkin, stencil from the Better Homes and Gardens website

wheat pumpkin illuminated

face pumpkin, scooped out and designed by my two-year-old niece