Pumpkins

Pumpkins are the greatest prop that you can have. You can make them look funny, scary, gory, or with actual little scenes, like a picture window. You can never have too many of these gourds. They are wonderful house decorations or decorations for spooking your yard haunt.

Supplies Needed

Traditional

You can get your pumpkins around mid to late September all the way up to the last day of October, Halloween!

The pumpkins can purchased from your local farmer's market, grocery stores, and sometimes neighborhood organizations or churches.

Don't want to wait too long because the pumpkins can be pretty picked over and you're cutting yourself short on the time that you have to carve the pumpkins.

There are many ways to design your pumpkin carvings. You can do the tried and true little triangles for the eyes and nose with the every other tooth look. Or your pumpkin carvings can be very detailed. Some of the best designs available are

For quite a few years now, I make one or two of my pumpkins like a picture window scene. To make a picture window scene, you need some (preferably but you don't have to) Halloween figurines. I have wooden ones that I bought from an arts and craft store over a dozen years ago.

Try to find a pumpkin that is not tall but on the short, round, squatty side. Instead of cutting the top off your pumpkin, cut a large rectangle in the front of your pumpkin with the longest part of the rectangle being the top and bottom of your window (short and wide rectangle).

After you cut out the rectangle piece (no need to keep), remove the seeds only. Be careful not to remove all the pulpy strings that hang down. You want the pulp to look like curtains inside your pumpkin.

Alternative Pumpkins

Now there is this really great way of having your Halloween pumpkins last year after year.

These pumpkins are made of They are carved just like the traditional pumpkins.

The advantages of these pumpkins are that you don't have to deal with the messy pulp and seeds or whether or not they will spoil before Halloween rolls around.

The carving masterpiece can be saved and used for many years to come.

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