Geek Pumpkins

These are our geek pumpkins. I carved them last night. I started with the easiest (on the right) and ended with the hardest (on the left). I certainly learned a lot, including xacto knives are the tool of choice for intricate carving, scraping the skin is really tough, and toothpicks are a good tool for reaffixing broken pieces. And green pumpkins are awesome.

Enjoy! (And do you recognize the 4 images?)

I am lost :)

Hi all

I am sorry but I am little bit lost about this. I have seen in movies and I was in the states once when all the houses put these pumpkin in their door... but I do not have idea about what is for.

Another question. Is this for kinds or adults do it too? are there competitions or something like that?

Have fun

Fran

PS: Couple of years ago Janell explained me what was my other big american mystery: thanks Giving :)

Here is my masterpiece. I had originally planned for the pumpkin to have two teeth, however I had a minor mishap during the carving process :) .

More Extreme Pumpkins

Ray Villafane does some really amazing pumpkin carving, yes he does. I'm planning on carving my pumpkins in the next week. I hope this helps inspire everyone!

Wattup!!

So here's my interpretation of an "urban" pumpkin. Just don't get too close to this short tempered So-Cal lovin' boy from da hood. Or he will spit pumpkin seeds at ya. Watch Out Now!!

Pumpkin Farm

Until Chris pulls photos off the iPhone, a description will have to do:

We took Wil and Sam, and my parents, to Freeman Family Farms to get pumpkins. It's a nice little pumpkin farm just south of Bloomington. 

Wil loved the hay ride and didn't want to get off... until he saw the pumpkins. The pumpkins were already picked but laying in a field of flattened grass, so we still got to search for the perfect one (or four.) Then we took the hay wagon back to the barn, where there was a petting zoo of farm animals. Wil was intimidated by all the animals except the bunnies, which he enjoyed petting. Grandma finally got him to pet the donkey (it was a small donkey, but still lots bigger than an almost 2 year old.) Amazingly, even the dogs were a little scary, maybe because they were between the donkey and some horses. 

All in all, a tradition we will have to continue next year.

Extreme Pumpkins

Until we start carving our own pumpkinistic creations, Extreme Pumpkins.com has a fantastic set of photos and pumpkin carving ideas. Happy Monday, everyone!

I like "cute scary," but this could be downright morbid.

First Casualty of Pumpking Smackdown!

That happened fast. Janell and I bought a couple of pumpkins last Saturday night, and I brought them home and put them in my living room. Unfortunately, it looks like one of them was already starting to rot when it got here. I woke up Saturday morning to find that it had slumped over to one side and gone badly moldy underneath. Sounded like velcro when I pulled it off the carpet.

The other pumpkin is just fine, so we'll be getting another pumpkin or two in the next couple of weeks and carving in time for Halloween. From what I remember (Why do I always have trouble remembering this?), pumpkins only last about 10 days after they've been carved, so next weekend is the perfect time to have some fun with the pumpkin carving tools that Janell bought!

Happy Halloween, everybody! Since we're all in different parts of the world, Janell and I thought it would be fun to get together for an impromptu pumpkin carving competition! You'll all be getting invitations in your email to sign in and post pics and stories of your pumpkin carving creations!

No rules, no structure, just a Halloween pumpkin free-for all to keep everyone close!

Unfortunately, if you already have a Goolge login but do not have a Blogger account, there's a small technical hurdle to get over before you can jump in. The whole "Google knows me, but Blogger doesn't" situation confuses Blogger, so you'll have to un-confuse it. Here's how:

1. Go to https://www.blogger.com/signup.g
2. If you already have a Google account, follow the link at the top of the page to sign in to that account before proceeding.
3. Create an account on Blogger. You don't need to create a blog. Just the account is all you need. So you can bail out of their little form once you get past "Step 1: Create Account".
4. Go back to the email invitation you received from Blogger, and click on the link. You should be able to sign up.

I can't wait to see everyone's pumpkins! We'll have a poll at some point and we can all vote for the best pumpkin, and we'll try to do prizes or something. But for now, let's just let fly with the Halloween goodness!

-Chris