Can you smell it? Can you smell that tangy, gourd-geous smell? It’s pumpkin carving time!
Every year, I get ramped up for pumpkin carving. I start planning in September, scouring the internet for inspiration and templates. This year was no exception but the brainstorming started with my dog Jax’s costume and then the pumpkin. Officially a fur-mom. Oh, but he’s going to look so cute! Nope… I’m not telling you what it is… yet.
In the meantime, you’ll just have to enjoy these Pumpkins of Halloweens Past. These are my 7 favorite pumpkin carvings.
- Lock Shock and Barrel from The Nightmare Before Christmas – This carving was my gateway drug into serious pumpkin carving. If I remember correctly, this pumpkin took me three hours due to small holes but the result was so worth it. If only I had a better camera to capture the awesome design.
- Rising Ghosts – This pumpkin got such a fun response from trick-or-treaters! The template is from one of those carving books available in the grocery store. The only thing I did differently is carve each ghost as a single piece. Then I used toothpicks to mount the ghosts on the pumpkin as if they were rising.
- Bowser from Mario Brothers – I carved this pumpkin for a work event. We did a Super Mario Brothers department theme and I decided the set-up needed a pumpkin to match!
- Slimmer from Ghostbusters – Slimmer was a stressful pumpkin to carve! To achieve his rolls, I had to carve long thin pieces that kept making the pumpkin weaker and weaker. I was super stressed but the finished product was beautiful.
- Scary, Scary Bird of Death (as my best friend calls it) – This raven piece was perfectly creepy. I left bits of pumpkin guts on the inside to add to the effect.
- Eye of Newt – Gosh, this witch was so fun to carve! This pumpkin took the longest of any pumpkin I’ve ever done (I even had to take breaks). But isn’t she just creeeepy?! I’ve often wanted to recreate this pumpkin just for fun.
- The Corpse Bride from Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride – In honor of our upcoming nuptials, I carved my favorite Halloween bride last year. And watched “The Corpse Bride” about 50 times. Haha.
Tricks of the Trade:
I get many of my pumpkin carving templates from Zombie Pumpkins.
My Pumpkin Carving Tool Box makes all the difference. Don’t bother buying a new grocery store kit every year. Create a safe place to keep all your supplies and they will last you years! Find out what you need for your tool box here.