Halloween pumpkin carving ideas
Decorating pumpkins is a craft movement in its own right, even outside America. We pick some of our very favourite pumpkin carving ideas - see what you think!
Pumpkin pic from oursouthernnest.blogspot.com
Pumpkin carving tip: It's good to stack pumpkins on top of each other like a snowman. Also, pumpkins love spider accessories. They feel somewhat underdressed without them. Who wants a pumpkin to feel naked?
Pumpkin pic from blog.hgtv.com
Pumpkins are beautiful in an autumnal orange way. But if you're a binary monochromatic soul, or a badger/zebra hybrid, you can forgo carving pumpkins to shine light through and paint them instead. It's your pumpkin. It's your call. It'll be interesting to see what happens when a painted Halloween pumpkin gets floppy and mouldy, anyway...
Pumpkin pic from skulladay.com
Pumpkin carving tip: Create a wide enough opening in your larger pumpkin that you can place the front of a smaller pumpkin behind. Skulladay realised you can work different pumpkin colours to spooky effect, and did it really well.
Pumpkin pic from twigandthistle.com
Pumpkin carving tip: Stencil designs onto your pumpkin instead of cutting bits out. You can get far more delicate effects. This lovely stencil job looks like a Mehndi henna tattoo.
Pumpkin pic from marthastewart.com
Pumpkin carving tip: This is lateral-minded genius. If you're a bit fist-handed when it comes to arts and crafts, you can still hack into a pumpkin, fill it with ice and use it as a drinks holder at your Halloween party. That's right, we've just given props to a pumpkin carving tip from Martha Stewart. No, we can't quite believe it either.
Pumpkin pic from flickr.com/photos/cropwithanna/
Pumpkin carving tip: Normally, you carve a pumpkin by cutting its hat off then spooning out its innards, then carving into the side. But this beautiful nature-themed pumpkin (they don't always have to look like they came from a horror film) has, it seems, had its innards lovingly removed from a small gap in the tree carving. This must have taken a huge amount of time and patience, and is in keeping with the roots of Halloween - the pagan festival of Samhain.
Pumpkin pic from chopcow.com
Pumpkin carving tip: Click the Chopcow link and you'll find out how to achieve this pumpkin face nightmare tableau in their cannibal pumpkin carving tutorial. We shyly extend an invitation for you to return to us after you've read it. xxx
Pumpkin pic from cfabbridesigns.com
Pumpkin carving tip: Focus on creating a Halloween scene rather than showing off the skill of your pumpkin carving. Make sure your candle is placed right at the back of the pumpkin so nothing catches fire. Use fake spiders and cobwebs to create a misty cavern. If we'd made this, we'd have added small figures of Frodo and Sam to recreate the fateful Shelob scene in Lord of the Rings.
Pumpkin pic from bhg.com
Pumpkin carving tip: Vajazzling... Pumpkin vajazzling... where will it end? Another nice example of painting pumpkins and artful use of accessories. This would also look lovely with a stencil.
Pumpkin pic from soaringphotography.com
You know what? We just really like these. They're not difficult. They're not pumpkin carvings. They're not even pumpkins. But literally anyone in the work can take a mason jar, paint a ghost face or scary eyes on it and pop a tea light in. They can even give the jar a spooky white or orange wash paint if they're up to it. It may be simple, as Halloween decorations go, but it's terribly effective.
