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I know it's kind of early to start this but I decided to try and get a jump start on pumpkin carving this year since I didn't carve any last year.

Please add pics of your Halloween decorations, pumpkins and costumes.

My intention was to start with something easy this year to "warm up". Plus I wasn't feeling confident in my carving skills. I ended up picking the most complicated design I've done so far.

I'm kind of embarrassed to say but this took me about 23 hours of actual carving time, not including the time I stopped to eat and sleep. I did it over two days and only stopped to eat, and sleep. Although it's not perfect, I'm really proud of it.

ETA: I wanted to post the original pic I used. I hope this doesn't end up being huge.

[This message edited by Myname at 10:41 PM, September 25th (Wednesday)]

Dude... that is just fricking amazing. Nicely done!!

I was secretly hoping this was one of your pumpkin pictures when I saw the subject line, by the way.

Wow! That is awesome! You are very talented.

MyName! That is AMAZING!

I can't tell you how excited I was when I saw this thread with your name on it. You make such amazing carvings.

Absolutely awesome, myname!! I have to show this to my son, who fancies himself the local great pumpkin imagineer (always something totally unexpected and off the wall, NOT like this). He will be soooo jealous and my grandson will bug him for one like yours!

Great job Myname!!!

Wow! That is awesome!

Do you do anything to preserve them. I keep seeing all these ways to make pumpkins last a bit longer, but I've never done it.

How do you get such small detail? What kind of tools do you use?

Also, how thick is the wall of the pumkin?

I have shaved the wall down on occasion in order to get small slices to show/glow. It's very difficult.

This is just an amazing work of art and skill, Myname.

Awesome.

[This message edited by Lola2kids at 6:50 AM, September 26th (Thursday)]

Here is somethings I made a few years ago...The big one wasn't quite finished in this pic. Gotta find one when it's done.

[This message edited by broevil at 7:01 AM, September 26th (Thursday)]

Myname that carving is absolutely fabulous. Wow. That's all I can say.

Broevil - you too! I love the big one it's so imaginative. We've got some very talented people here...

Do you do anything to preserve them.

No. I'm afraid I'll spray something on it and the whole pumpkin will melt before my eyes. They last longer carved this way as opposed to the "traditional" jack-o-lantern way.

How do you get such small detail? What kind of tools do you use?

I use an exact-o knife with extra sharp blades. A small screw driver to do some shading, pulling cut pieces out and cleaning out the cuts, tweezers, and a push pin for some of the smaller cuts. Each square on spider-man was cut then to remove the pieces out I had to cut them into 3-5 smaller pieces and very carefully removed them. Otherwise I would break the square. I go VERY slow in order to make my lines so thin.

Also, how thick is the wall of the pumpkin?

I have shaved the wall down on occasion in order to get small slices to show/glow. It's very difficult.

This one was probably about 3/4 to 1 inch thick. The more shading you have to do the thicker you want to leave the wall so that you can get more contrast in color. The most important thing is to try and keep it one even thickness. Also, I error on the side of too thick than not thick enough. I can fix too thick, I can't fix not thick enough.

Just to say, this is only the 4th pumpkin I've carved so I'm sure there are better ways of doing these things.

ETA: Thank you guys so much for all the kind words. It makes me feel really good.

[This message edited by Myname at 11:40 PM, September 26th (Thursday)]

HOLY CRAP !!!!

Seriously ... go to those craft fairs ect and run those little old ladies out of business ... You would make a killing at this ... Little kids from all over will want a Myname pumpkin someday ...

Serious talent here.

Awesomesauce!

Yay!! You're carving again this year.

I missed them last year.

That is absolutely spectacular. You have a real gift for shaping things into other things.

So COOL! You mean to say you have the patience to make even more of these things?

I swear these pumpkins take longer and longer every time. This one was around 20 hours. This pumpkin is really big. Probably around 25 lbs or so. Lots of area to work with. Because of the size I couldn't use my normal lighting method of 2 night lights inside. This one has a string of 200 white Christmas lights inside.

I wasn't sure how this one was going to come out. I tried some different things and techniques on this. I'm happy with how it came out.

I think the coolest thing about this pumpkin (besides the large size) is that a section of the fairy dust trail is super bright and as you move or walk past it the brightness of the trail moves along too so it gives the illusion of movement. This one really needs to be seen in person to appreciate it to it's fullest.

Amazing! We have such creative people here.