I don’t know about you but everyone in our house just loves Halloween.
The air is crisp and clean. The trees are winding up their annual display of colors. And, bright orange is the color of the day. And, pumpkins are the edible decoration of choice.
Gone are the simple triangular cuts we all made as children. Today, pumpkins make the three-dimensional canvas for artists to play with and many great websites are offering free printable pumpkin carving stencils.
Of course, not everyone has to be an artist to have fun with their pumpkin.
Popular both for its simplicity and its gross-out factor, the puking pumpkin has become an annual favorite.
If you have a number of resident birds, squirrels and chipmunks, you might not want to put this fun jack-o-lantern too early or your decoration might be eaten.
Teacher Aaron Woehler posted this great photo on Stock Exchange (sxc.hu).
It seems a math teacher in his school enjoyed a bit of pi humor with this non-traditional take on that fall favorite of pumpkin pie.
Not a carver? No worries, with a bit of black marker, feathers and a hat and you could make your own Witchy Pum…made from mini pumpkins. This cute pair of witches would be darling on a party table.
Some grocery and department stores sell a variety of pre-decorated mini-pumpkins.
I won’t tell, if you don’t. Just put them on your table and tell everyone how hard you worked. 😉
There’s still the traditional pumpkin with a big grin and a pair of eyes.
This one is a bit of an update on the old fashioned triangle approach but it’s still fairly straightforward for those of us who are a little less artistic, shouldn’t be left alone with sharp objects or just don’t have the time this year.
If, you think you’re up for the challenge…there’s pumpkin carving techniques which involve the thinning of some areas and removing of other areas completely to create a wonderful opportunity to use light and shadow to create just about any design in your pumpkin. We’ve found a number of great pumpkin carving ideas, carving instruction and pattern and stencil sites.