# Carving foam pumpkins (Micheal's)



## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Hello all,

While in the midst of planning my Halloween display of "Singing Pumpkins" for this year, I was initially going to stick with store bought pumpkins, however I had a change in tune with a problem I discovered.

My display is going to consist of 7 pumpkins set up in a pyramid fashion with the largest pumpkin on top. This pumpkin will do only lead vocals of my songs. Two pumpkins will be below this one, and they will mostly handle the backing vocals. Below these pumpkins will be four small pumpkins and they will mostly be doing light chase patterns (various on/off patterns to the music).

Now the first pumpkins I bought were the two medium sized ones and I bought them at Lowes. They are foam and use a 7 watt white light to illuminate the interior. The interior is white. These pumpkins were around $8 each.

I bought the remaining pumpkins at Target. These are all plastic and have a 7 watt amber bulb inside of them the interior is an orange/black mix. The Target pumpkins were very cheap with the large one being only $10 and the small ones going for $5. They looked great and I thought I had a good deal. However, when I got home the deal soured. As it turns out the Target pumpkins were no where near as bright as the Lowes ones.

I have already made the desision to return the Target Pumpkins, but keep the Lowes ones. I have decided to buy two more of the Lowes pumpkins and use these as my four small pumpkins.

Now right across the street from Lowes is a Micheal's crafts and I had noticed that they are carrying the carvable foam pumpkins. So I got the idea that perhaps I should carve the 3 larger pumpkins myself.

This is where I am looking for advice.

Earlier in the year I bought a foam cutting/carving tool from Lowes. It is a heat based tool because I didn't want to deal with the mess associated with other cutting blade methods. I am curious if anyone has carved foam pumpkins using a hot blade/wire method.

As an alternative, I DO have a Dremel, but I would like to avoid using it because of the mess. (I don't want a long cleanup).

Being that it is still warm out, I do intend to work outside.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Thank You,

Geo


----------



## Thom_Serveaux (May 8, 2008)

Well, if they are still made the same way that the ones I bought ages ago, (and I strongly suspect that they are) then I don't see the need for the heat-based cutting tool method, unless you're more comfortable with using it. As I recall I was able to use a combination of a serrated steak knife and one of those Pumpkin Masters saw-toothed cutting blades. There really isn't that much mess associated with it as say with some styrofoam products, like say the white foam board....


----------



## Greyhawke (Sep 10, 2010)

For carving foam pumpkins, a Versa Tool (@Michaels) is the bees knees!

I've been carving detailed patterns in real pumpkins for a few years, and bought a bunch of Funkins and Gemmys at clearance sales last year. For the foam pumpkins at Michaels (Gemmys), the Versa tool is awesome. It's the same price as a foam cutter - 29.95 - but you can use the 50% off coupons in the Sunday paper to whittle that down. It's a woodburner with an Xacto tip and a bunch of others. The Xacto tip is what you use to carve the pumpkin.

A regular Xacto isn't a bad choice, but it can take a while. I did the WWF tiger template in an hour with the Versa tool. A regular pumpkin saw leaves very rough edges on the carve.

Check out the forums @ zombiepumpkins.com for more information.


----------



## Doc Doom (Oct 7, 2009)

For cutting completely throught the pumpkin, I use an Xacto knife for a smoth cut. FOr cutting only throughthe outer skin, I use a Dremmel tool.


----------



## Pumpkinprincess (Aug 8, 2007)

Michaels pumpkins do not cut as easily as the Funkin brand. I had a tough time getting fine detail. 

I do a pumpkin choir every year. I use already lit pumpkins. I find them to be more stable and bright. They work great witht he LOR.

Check out my profile pics for my set up.


----------



## One eyed Mick (Feb 19, 2008)

Pumpkinprincess said:


> Michaels pumpkins do not cut as easily as the Funkin brand. I had a tough time getting fine detail.
> 
> I do a pumpkin choir every year. I use already lit pumpkins. I find them to be more stable and bright. They work great witht he LOR.
> 
> Check out my profile pics for my set up.


I would like to try carving out a few of these myself.....where do you get the "funkin" brand pumpkins???


----------



## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Greyhawke said:


> For carving foam pumpkins, a Versa Tool (@Michaels) is the bees knees!
> 
> I've been carving detailed patterns in real pumpkins for a few years, and bought a bunch of Funkins and Gemmys at clearance sales last year. For the foam pumpkins at Michaels (Gemmys), the Versa tool is awesome. It's the same price as a foam cutter - 29.95 - but you can use the 50% off coupons in the Sunday paper to whittle that down. It's a woodburner with an Xacto tip and a bunch of others. The Xacto tip is what you use to carve the pumpkin.


So the Versa Tool is a wood burning tool? I did pick up one of those recently at Lowes for $19.99, but it is a 'pistol' or gun type cutter/burner. I am assuming the Micheal's Versa Tool is of the pencil type. I would prefer that style, but at $29.99?? (I do not receive the Sunday paper). At any rate, I am NOT looking for great detail as I am only interested in making Jack-O-Lantern faces and not those really intricate 'show' style pumpkins I have seen lately. I really just wanted to carve my own pumpkins for a Halloween Singing Pumpkin display. Since several of my pumpkins will be of the same size, I wanted to add some originality to the mix by carving some of my own pumpkin faces.

I don't think I would need that much detailing. The smallest pumpkin I intend to use are the 5" pumpkins that Micheal's sells.

I did buy the pumpkin carving set they were selling for $3. The set has 3 serrated cutting tools. From what I been reading it seems like smooth cutting tools are the way to go (other than using heat tools). As of now I do intend on working outside, so I can go either way. Naturally I don't want to make too much of a mess. But since I have both types of tools I can go both ways.

[quote
A regular Xacto isn't a bad choice, but it can take a while. I did the WWF tiger template in an hour with the Versa tool. A regular pumpkin saw leaves very rough edges on the carve.[/QUOTE]

The tools I bought at Micheal's is a serrated knife set, but I made sure I got the set that has very fine teeth and not the larger knife set that is used for carving real pumpkins.



> Check out the forums @ zombiepumpkins.com for more information.


Ok, thanx for the tip



Pumpkinprincess said:


> Michaels pumpkins do not cut as easily as the Funkin brand. I had a tough time getting fine detail.
> 
> I do a pumpkin choir every year. I use already lit pumpkins. I find them to be more stable and bright. They work great witht he LOR.
> 
> Check out my profile pics for my set up.


I had bought several types of pumpkins and I found out that the foam pumpkins with the WHITE interior were the brightest...Those turned out to be the first pair of pumpkins I bought at Lowes. For some reason, lately Lowes has been 'rushing' holidays and they are already setting up for Christmas, while their Halloween display isn't even fully set up!!!! Needless to say, the 1st week in September I found those pumpkins and now they no longer have them on the shelves!

However, during this time I noticed that Micheal's had put out their carvable pumpkins and I had noticed they do have the white interior, so I decided to go this route.

I ended up buying a large pumpkin ($11.99) and two small pumpkins ($4.79). Just on the outside looks alone they look WAY better than the cheaper electric pumpkins I bought from Target.



mic214 said:


> I would like to try carving out a few of these myself.....where do you get the "funkin" brand pumpkins???


You can get them directly from their site, but they are eeexpensive. 

http://www.funkins.com/

However, you probably do get what you pay for and if you are doing any of those really intricate pumpkin designs, then I would go this route myself.

So I would like to thank everyone for chiming in, I just need one more bit of advice:

Where can I find some really good Jack-O-Lantern carving stencils on-line. (The kind I can print out and affix to the pumpkin as a carving guide). Once again, I am looking for simple traditional Jack-O-Lantern faces and not any fancy 'show grade' pumpkin patterns. Again I am doing a singing pumpkin display, so I need 'faces'.

Thank You,

Geo


----------



## Andretti (Sep 30, 2010)

I've been carving foam pumpkins now for display for 3+ years but carving over 5. I purchased and started trying to use funkins and the 'gemmy' brand pumpkins that Michaels sells. One comparison of the funkins with the Michaels brand made me return them immediately (though I know others who really like them). The funkins do have a really nice 'glow' about them. But....the thickness and density of the foam is horrible and not consistent. I gave up on them immediately.

I HIGHLY recommend the pumpkins from Michaels if you are trying to carve something with detail on them. The tools you choose to use is completely up to you and your comfort level. I only use a dremel. When I'm doing a cutout pattern I use the smallest bit that is sold in the dremel bit set (it is in a grey plastic 'case' and comes with 5 or 6 I think) that is a 1/32nd size bit. If there is some way I can help you (if its not too late into the season for you) please feel free to pm me and I'll help anyway I can. The hot knife is ok....it totally limits you to just 'cut out' styled patterns. Even then, get one ready to go and me and my dremel....and I could finish the exact same pattern in at least half the time. Yes, some is experience...but most is because the heat gun cant keep hot enough to constantly cut. The endless stopping or slowing to allow the heat to catch up it just too much. Dremel wise, I can just keep going till I'm done. As far as a 'mess'....you said your doing it outside....the only thing the foam/dremel combo does is create dust. If your outside anyway, who cares?

As far as patterns go....I'd HIGHLY recommend http://www.stoneykins.com. I'd put his patterns up against any available on the net....they are that good. He has hundreds of cut-out styled patterns as well as 'shading' ones that give incredible detail (prolly over 1300 total patterns easily). There is also a forum where you can go and get tons of help and suggestions as well. When I initially started carving I was a member of a few other sites one of which was mentioned previously in this thread. When I found Stoneys though, I never went to the other sites ever again. But that is totally a person opinion. There are many good patterns available at a few different sites.

If your looking for some examples, go through this video I did of my past carves. The first two years were all real pumpkins doing cutout patterns from Zombie pumpkins and another site using the pumpkin master styled tools. Starting in 2008, I switched to foam pumpkins using a dremel. To me, there is no comparison.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktYly0oioJI

If there is any help I can offer, please let me know.

Andretti


----------



## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Hello Andretti



Andretti said:


> I've been carving foam pumpkins now for display for 3+ years but carving over 5. I purchased and started trying to use funkins and the 'gemmy' brand pumpkins that Michaels sells. One comparison of the funkins with the Michaels brand made me return them immediately (though I know others who really like them). The funkins do have a really nice 'glow' about them. But....the thickness and density of the foam is horrible and not consistent. I gave up on them immediately.


Wow! You are one of the rare few that PREFER the Micheal's pumpkins. For me I went the Micheal's route because they looked good enough. I saw what the store did with them, and they looked fine to me. They were on par with the foam pumpkins I bought at Lowes.



> I HIGHLY recommend the pumpkins from Michaels if you are trying to carve something with detail on them. The tools you choose to use is completely up to you and your comfort level. I only use a dremel. When I'm doing a cutout pattern I use the smallest bit that is sold in the dremel bit set (it is in a grey plastic 'case' and comes with 5 or 6 I think) that is a 1/32nd size bit. If there is some way I can help you (if its not too late into the season for you) please feel free to pm me and I'll help anyway I can.


I have the Dremel in the gray case as well. But yeah, it is now October and I still have 5 pumpkins to do for my display! I am just about complete with my song programming.



> The hot knife is ok....it totally limits you to just 'cut out' styled patterns. Even then, get one ready to go and me and my dremel....and I could finish the exact same pattern in at least half the time. Yes, some is experience...but most is because the heat gun cant keep hot enough to constantly cut. The endless stopping or slowing to allow the heat to catch up it just too much. Dremel wise, I can just keep going till I'm done. As far as a 'mess'....you said your doing it outside....the only thing the foam/dremel combo does is create dust. If your outside anyway, who cares?


For now I intend to work outside. I did buy a heat 'gun' rather than a pencil type because of the problem you mentioned. I figured the gun will hold heat longer/better... but yeah, there would be a sacrifice in control on details.

Fortunately, I am not looking to do drastically detailed patterns. 



> As far as patterns go....I'd HIGHLY recommend http://www.stoneykins.com. I'd put his patterns up against any available on the net....they are that good. He has hundreds of cut-out styled patterns as well as 'shading' ones that give incredible detail (prolly over 1300 total patterns easily). There is also a forum where you can go and get tons of help and suggestions as well. When I initially started carving I was a member of a few other sites one of which was mentioned previously in this thread. When I found Stoneys though, I never went to the other sites ever again. But that is totally a person opinion. There are many good patterns available at a few different sites.


Wow! That IS an impressive site, but as I mentioned earlier, I am just going to do simple cut out Jack-O-Lantern faces for a singing pumpkin display. I am certainly not going to attempt anything of the level I saw on that site. However, in the 2010 section, they did have some Jack-O-Lantern patterns which were cool. But I am looking to keep it simple. I just want to have some of the pumpkins look more unique.




> If your looking for some examples, go through this video I did of my past carves. The first two years were all real pumpkins doing cutout patterns from Zombie pumpkins and another site using the pumpkin master styled tools. Starting in 2008, I switched to foam pumpkins using a dremel. To me, there is no comparison.


The work you have done is fantastic!...I especially like the wolf! 

But again, this is a level far beyond what I was looking for.



> If there is any help I can offer, please let me know.
> 
> Andretti


Would you know of a site that has more Jack-O-Lantern faces?

Do you happen to have a video of yourself actually doing a carve? I would be curious to see you in action. 

Thank you for the info and keep up the great work!

Geo


----------



## killerhaunts (Jan 6, 2010)

I'm not sure if you have it where you are but the only place here you can get FUNKINS is Joann's Fabrics.


----------



## feedmelies (Oct 13, 2007)

I have over 20 pumpkins from Michaels. I love them. You can use a razor knife to carve them, but it can be hard. I prefer to use a rotary tool. The mess is really not an issue... just do the carving outside and let the dust blow away.


----------



## Andretti (Sep 30, 2010)

jukingeo said:


> Hello Andretti
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Of the three sites that I consider worth it, none really had many just 'jack-o-lantern' faces. It seems kinda strange to say that, but it actually doesnt surprise me. Most who go to these types of sites are typically looking for something more than the whole 'triangle eyes/nose'. No offense intended in the very least, but it is pretty much the case. Most who go to these sites are looking to start pushing the envelope a tad and want to shock people when they do such intricately detailed pumpkins. If you looked at stoney's and are thinking they look too hard, I can tell you that yes, there are few that are 'easy', but honestly...its nothing that you cant do with some effort. Yes, the shaded are even tougher....some take me over 10 hours worth of work. The cut outs though....as long as you go slow...are really not difficult at all. For $5 you can join and download all you want....I'd say if nothing else you can start getting patterns that you like and might want to try for work off season. I think you'd end up surprising yourself. It really doesnt take long to get up to speed.

I dont have any videotape of me carving or anything (sorry), but if you went to the forums of stoneys, there are a TON of 'how too's, though none are videos. There are plenty of threads explaining how we glue the patterns on all the way through suggestions for carving. Many do use the hot knife as well as an exacto and do great work. I just decided that I liked the idea of a dremel alot better and figured I'd just start there (I'd already used the tools that come with the pumpkin masters pattern books for a few years). Once the season is over, I guess maybe I could try to put something up showing the process, but anytime prior to then would likely be difficult.

Thanks much for the compliments on my carves. I'd really like to encourage you to give this a shot sometime any way I can (its so close to Halloween already though I can totally comprehend not wanting to spend alot of time trying to learn something new when you might have other projects already planned for the month). Since I started carving, the responses have always been way over the top each Halloween and I've always gotten a really big kick out of it.


Andretti


----------



## cinders (Oct 12, 2003)

For simple Jack-O-Lantern faces, try searching for printable pumpkins or jack-o-lanterns or pumpkin coloring pages. These would be kid pages to color. I did an image search and found a very simple face I liked to carve into a globe. Just cut out the features from the page and place them where you want on the pumpkin then trace and cut.


----------



## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

I much prefer the Michael's pumpkins too. The Funkins were too thick & the finish on the outside peeled off. I haven't tried my Versatool yet but I can't wait to use it. You _can_ use those Pumpkinmasters tools on 'em but I don't like the foam flakes everywhere since I do them inside.

As for patterns I was just surfing carving sites on Friday & found some cool simple ones....googles...

There's some faces at the bottom.
http://www.celebrating-halloween.com/pumpkincarving/index.shtml

Here's a few more:
http://gonewengland.about.com/gi/o....idaysevents/halloween/pumpkinstenciltips.aspx

http://gonewengland.about.com/gi/o....=http://www.ehow.com/halloween/templates.html

Here's a whole page of links:
http://gonewengland.about.com/od/pumpkincarving/Pumpkin_Carving_Patterns.htm

I just googled "free pumpkin carving patterns" & most of what shows up are the less intricate patterns. A lot of "family" type sites have patterns like that.


----------



## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Andretti said:


> Of the three sites that I consider worth it, none really had many just 'jack-o-lantern' faces. It seems kinda strange to say that, but it actually doesnt surprise me. Most who go to these types of sites are typically looking for something more than the whole 'triangle eyes/nose'.
> No offense intended in the very least, but it is pretty much the case. Most who go to these sites are looking to start pushing the envelope a tad and want to shock people when they do such intricately detailed pumpkins.


Granted, I certainly might go this route myself someday, but given my specific task of singing pumpkins, pretty much something a 'little' better than just a store bought "triangle nose/eyes" job would be enough.



> If you looked at stoney's and are thinking they look too hard, I can tell you that yes, there are few that are 'easy', but honestly...its nothing that you cant do with some effort. Yes, the shaded are even tougher....some take me over 10 hours worth of work. The cut outs though....as long as you go slow...are really not difficult at all. For $5 you can join and download all you want....I'd say if nothing else you can start getting patterns that you like and might want to try for work off season. I think you'd end up surprising yourself. It really doesnt take long to get up to speed.


That does sound like a good plan for future projects.



> Thanks much for the compliments on my carves.


Your Welcome .



> I'd really like to encourage you to give this a shot sometime any way I can (its so close to Halloween already though I can totally comprehend not wanting to spend alot of time trying to learn something new when you might have other projects already planned for the month). Since I started carving, the responses have always been way over the top each Halloween and I've always gotten a really big kick out of it.
> 
> Andretti


I am sure down the road (perhaps even next Halloween) I might go a more advanced route, but for now I just need simple faces in which I can create a pumpkin in less than a half hour or so. The pumpkins are just going to be hooked up to a special lighting controller (which I normally use for Christmas lights) and that in turn plugs into my computer. The lights flash according to how I program them in relation to music.




cinders said:


> For simple Jack-O-Lantern faces, try searching for printable pumpkins or jack-o-lanterns or pumpkin coloring pages. These would be kid pages to color. I did an image search and found a very simple face I liked to carve into a globe. Just cut out the features from the page and place them where you want on the pumpkin then trace and cut.


Kid's coloring books...now why didn't I think of that! (A V-8 moment).



RCIAG said:


> I much prefer the Michael's pumpkins too. The Funkins were too thick & the finish on the outside peeled off. I haven't tried my Versatool yet but I can't wait to use it. You _can_ use those Pumpkinmasters tools on 'em but I don't like the foam flakes everywhere since I do them inside.
> 
> As for patterns I was just surfing carving sites on Friday & found some cool simple ones....googles...
> 
> ...


The sites you linked to are EXACTLY what I am looking for! I saw quite a few faces I liked there. Thanx a bunch!

Thanx to all!

Geo


----------



## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

*Update: Singing Pumpkins update*

Hello All!

It is update time!

Today I tried my hand at my first carvings. With my wife and kids gone for the next two weeks on a vacation at my brother-in-laws (unfortunately I have to go to work), I decided to get busy right away on my Halloween projects. First up was trying my hand at carving those pumpkins I bought from Micheal's. 

I went with a couple of patterns from the sites that RCIAG mentioned and I decided to go with the Dremel tool since Andretti had so much success with it AND my Dremel tool came with the pencil style wand attachment already.

So why didn't I use the hand tools? Well, speed is for one thing, and another was that I was worried that with the serrated edges, there might be a chance of 'flaking' of the outter pumpkin skin and I wanted to avoid that. Today was a nice warm day outside, so making a mess was not going to be an issue.

Since I had two small pumpkins, I picked out the two patterns shown below (see attachments):

These two faces were extremely simple and I figured they were good to start with. Instead of printing out the stencils and placing them over the pumpkin, I decided to copy them freehand onto the pumpkin by lightly placing the design with a pencil (as to not dent the pumpkin's surface) and then once satisfied, I went over the pencil with a sharpie. After I was done with that, it was time to take a trip outside.

With my Dremel set up with the pencil attachment, I could hold it much as I would the Sharpie. I sat down on a patio bench with the Dremel next to me and set it to the #4 (out of 5) speed position. This would ensure that it was spinning fairly fast. I started on the center of one of the eyes first and then slowly worked out towards the edge. Good thing I did that too because unknowingly, the Dremel has quite a 'pull' on it, and it almost got away from me!! Luckily I managed to regain control just as the carving bit reached the outside edge of my marking! (WHEW! That was a close call). Seeing that happen, I decided to practice in the center of the unwanted material first to get a feel for the rotation of the carving bit and which way the Dremel wants to pull. Once I did that, I went back to work.

Once I was under way, I began to notice the mess. I cannot understate it enough, this IS a messy job. You SHOULD do it outside and perferably over grass. The foam dust went everywhere. Even outside, I had trouble dusting myself off! I do advise that if you have an air compressor...fire it up as you are going to need it to dust yourself off!

I have noticed that working with the Dremel, you CAN get the lines pretty straight, but they are not going to be dead perfect...however, I am also speaking from experience since these are my first pumpkins. Also, I don't have the steadiest hand out there either...so those of you with past Dremel experience AND with steadier hands probably will yeild better results out the box. When I had all the face cut-outs done, I DID go back and ran the Dremel bit over the edges to smooth things out a bit. When done the edges looked more like a knife was taken to a real pumpkin. Needless to say, right off the bat, carving your own pumpkins definitely looks more authentic!

After I did the first pumpkin face I knew that in order to get into the corners I will be needing an Exacto Knife (which I don't have as of yet). However, even without sharp corners I was pretty satisfied with how the face turned out.

The first pumpkin I did was the face without the nose and the mouth that was skewed to one side. It surprisingly came out very good! I am by far from an artist and this thing isn't looking bad at all!

Now came the fun part...mounting the light. I decided to use those small (nightlight style) bulbs that they sell at Micheal's. I chose to go this route for lighting as that is normally what comes with store bought Jack-O-Lanterns and I wanted to avoid heat build up. However, since these pumpkins will be used in a display that flashes the light on/off, there will be minimum heat to begin with.

Setting up for the position of the light, I looked at the top of the pumpkin and tried my best to sight up where the bulb should go so it would be as close to the center of the rear of the pumpkin as possible. I made a mark from that point and also centered top to bottom. With the Dremel I proceeded to cut the hole out in a spiral pattern until it was large enough to accomodate the BULB SOCKET alone. Once the socket cleared, I pushed the bulb in with enough force to create an indentation of where the clip started. I used this indentation as a guide to use the Dremel to cut out those marks. Once cut out, the bulb clipped into the back of the pumpkin PERFECTLY.

The moment of joy finally came when I lit the pumpkin up. I must say it looks pretty good for a first attempt if I do say so myself!! (Yaaayyyy!).

Now a bit more confident, I proceeded to do the second pumpkin (all triangle face features).

As with the first pumpkin this one too turned out very good. The only short coming was that I put the mouth a little too close to the eyes and as such I made it that much harder for me to go back and use the Exacto Knife on it for later on.

After I was done with the second pumpkin, I was COVERED head to toe with dust! 

I DO have a third larger pumpkin to do, but I was starting to get a bit fatiqued and figured I would call it quits for the day. Also, I have other Halloween projects to do before the day is out.

The final test was to bring out the Lowes pumpkins that I purchased earlier and see how my pumpkins would stand up in terms out light output. Given that the Micheal's pumpkins have a WHITE interior, I figured they would be much much better than those Target pumpkins (which I returned). Low and behold, the light output is precise MATCH! I couldn't be be more happy!

Ok, so the above wasn't really the final test. I wanted to see if there was any appreciable 'heat build up' from the light bulb. So I figured I would let one of the pumpkins run with the light on steady as I write this post. The pumpkin has been plugged in for over 45 mins now and there is practically no heat build up at all...and this is from being continuously plugged in. As I said, these pumpkins would normally be flashing.

I would say that after this experience, carving your own pumpkins is definitely the way to go. In the end you have something that can say you made yourself and it is unique from other pumpkins that are out there.

While I have not worked with the Funkin Pumpkins, I do have to give the Micheal's Pumpkins a double thumbs up. The outter surface of the pumpkin cut very well with the Dremel and there was NO flaking at all. The pumpkins are considerably thinner than the Lowes pumpkins, but they still feel pretty durable.

Now as of this point in time, I am not 100% sure if I would even try to use the serrated carving tools. I might still give the heat gun a try though, but I do have to agree with Andretti that the Dremel is VERY fast...but it is very messy. Good thing I did try it outside.

Well, I have to get going. It is 3:44 and I still have much to do with getting my display in order and I would like to do so before it gets dark.

I will keep everyone informed as my project unfolds!

Geo


----------



## Andretti (Sep 30, 2010)

Glad your experience went so well. 

A few points that would make things go much better next time.

Turn the dremel down. You dont need it on warp speed. Like you said, it WILL pull when turned up that high. I rarely turn mine up to half speed and usually carve with it on around 1/3rd. Anything higher and you run the risk of huge mistakes that happen in the blink of an eye. If you slow the speed down, any 'mistakes' are minimized because you can adjust for them before its too late that it ruins your carve.

If you have a pattern that you print out and glue to the pumpkin (especially in the terms of straight cut outs you are doing at this point) using the right glue (that is easily removed with water), the dust will be extremely mininal, but there obviously will always be dust with using a dremel.


Andretti


----------



## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Andretti said:


> Glad your experience went so well.


Yes, I was surprised. I don't really consider myself artistic. I am more a technical person instead (computers, electronics). Yet, I was pleasantly surprised how the pumpkins turned out. I was sure I was going to mess one up fist try, but in actuality I like the first pumpkin better than the 2nd one LOL! But both turned out pretty good overall, so I am not complaining in the least.



> A few points that would make things go much better next time.
> 
> Turn the dremel down. You dont need it on warp speed. Like you said, it WILL pull when turned up that high. I rarely turn mine up to half speed and usually carve with it on around 1/3rd. Anything higher and you run the risk of huge mistakes that happen in the blink of an eye. If you slow the speed down, any 'mistakes' are minimized because you can adjust for them before its too late that it ruins your carve.


Oh! Okay. I just thought I had to turn it up as another fellow of whom I viewed a tutorial on You Tube, said to turn it up MORE than half way. The pull though was hard to control at a higher speed and as I indicated, I was pretty fatiqued after the 2nd pumpkin. I really WAS trying my best not to slip up. I did have some minor 'holidays' (screw ups), but I was able to iron them out.



> If you have a pattern that you print out and glue to the pumpkin (especially in the terms of straight cut outs you are doing at this point) using the right glue (that is easily removed with water), the dust will be extremely mininal, but there obviously will always be dust with using a dremel.
> Andretti


I wouldn't dream of NOT using a pattern for the more advanced projects, but with the simple cut-outs I am dealing with for my project, it was pretty easy to eye them up and lightly pencil them in first. Once I fine tuned the pencil markings, then I went for the final line placement using the Sharpie. 

I wish I could show you my results, but alas, my wife took the digital camera with her on vacation. On top of that, she also has the cell phone with the camera. So she has BOTH digital cameras and I have none! .

The pumpkins are certainly not perfect and I wasn't aiming for that either, but they did come out surprisingly well considering I am a beginner AND this WAS my first attempt at carving.

Oh! While I was carving, I did play around with trying to create half depth cuts just to see how you would carve away just enough of the outter skin of the pumpkin and leave the inside foam 'flesh'. For the most part it dosen't seem difficult, but I could imagine that if you have one slip up, you could easily punch through the part you want to keep and then render a LONG carve useless. That is the one thing that bothers me about those 'shaded' carvings...you can easily mess it up.

Anyway, thanx for the tips once again. I am going to head out to Micheal's again and get the remaining two small pumpkins I need and also that Exacto Knife.

I will say one thing for carving your own pumpkins...I serously doubt I would buy a pre-made pumpkin again .

Geo


----------



## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Hello Andretti,

I must say thusfar these Micheal's pumpkins are the bomb! Yesterday I purchased more pumpkins because they are having a 50% sale on some of the Halloween/Autumn decorations. The pumpkins were a part of the deal. While I was there I also picked up a good X-Acto Knife and some other Halloween doo dads. In the Autumn Harvest section they had this cute little wooden stool, which was also 50% off. I bought it to sit my large pumpkin on. In terms of my display, the large pumpkins is all I have left to do...the four little ones are complete and they came out great!



Andretti said:


> Turn the dremel down. You dont need it on warp speed. Like you said, it WILL pull when turned up that high. I rarely turn mine up to half speed and usually carve with it on around 1/3rd. Anything higher and you run the risk of huge mistakes that happen in the blink of an eye. If you slow the speed down, any 'mistakes' are minimized because you can adjust for them before its too late that it ruins your carve.


I did this for the remaining too smaller pumpkins that I did today. Going slower is MUCH better in terms of control, but I found if you go too slow, sometimes the bit 'chatters' and that too can leave undesireable marks. I ended up leaving my Dremel set at the halfway point and that seemed good enough.

Then I followed up on all four pumpkins with the X-Acto knife. I got into the all the angular corners to sharpen them up a bit and I used the knife to smooth out some rough edges. I must say that finishing off with the knife makes a TREMENDOUS difference. I thought the pumpkins looked pretty good before the final detailing, but now they are fantastic. In fact I am very surprised that it was my hand that created them. What more is that I didn't bother to paste a stencil on the pumpkins. I just copied the designs by eye using a pencil...this way I had a chance to correct any minor mistakes before going over everything with a Sharpie.

Speaking of the Sharpie, I have found that even though I carved as close to my Sharpie line as possible, you can still see the markings on the pumpkins. I would like to know what would be the best way to remove these lines without harming the pumpkin 'skin'.

I do notice that the thickness of the pumpkins does vary. Perhaps it isn't as bad as the Funkins, but I have noticed that the pumpkin walls are only 1/8" thick close to the middle of the pumpkin and near the top and bottom this can reach twice as much at 1/4" thick.

Lastly, the thought had ocurred to me about what to do for storage in the off season. Since these pumpkins are unique, I do want to properly store them...perhaps I can pick your brain for some ideas in that department as well. I figured you must go through great lengths to safegard your pumpkins in storage considering that you put many hours of work into each one.

Thank you again for the tips (as well as everyone else).


----------



## Warped 1 (Aug 14, 2010)

*I like the hot knife*

I use a hot knife that I bought at Michaels. It uses standard exacto blades and cuts real the foam pumpkins with a clean edge. For fine work I cut a blade down so that it is only 1/8 thick. Becouse it does get hot, I wear a glove when I am carving


----------



## Saruman of Many Colours (Sep 8, 2010)

jukingeo said:


> Lastly, the thought had ocurred to me about what to do for storage in the off season. Since these pumpkins are unique, I do want to properly store them...perhaps I can pick your brain for some ideas in that department as well. I figured you must go through great lengths to safegard your pumpkins in storage considering that you put many hours of work into each one.


Currently have several that I carved two or three years ago. I store them in large cardboard boxes, two pumpkins to a box, with layers of bubblewrap on the bottom, around and between each pumpkin.

Just don't stack anything too heavy on top of them.


----------



## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Warped 1 said:


> I use a hot knife that I bought at Michaels. It uses standard exacto blades and cuts real the foam pumpkins with a clean edge. For fine work I cut a blade down so that it is only 1/8 thick. Becouse it does get hot, I wear a glove when I am carving


I was going to go this route and I actually did buy a hot knife, but it is of the 'gun' variant. I was a bit wary about using a gun but as Andretti pointed out, a small (pencil style) could loose it's heat too fast and you have to slow down so the heat 'catches up'. Guns are more powerful, BUT harder to handle.

Since the Dremel came up on discussion and I already have one with a pencil / wand attachment, I decided to give it a whirl.

I could imagine that the hot knife method does produce a nicer edge. The Dremel does leave a more rough edge, but it really isn't that bad. The serations left by the Dremel actually looks like the pumpkin was carved much like you would a real pumpkin. I just think it is a nice touch to say, "These pumpkins were hand carved".



Saruman of Many Colours said:


> Currently have several that I carved two or three years ago. I store them in large cardboard boxes, two pumpkins to a box, with layers of bubblewrap on the bottom, around and between each pumpkin.
> 
> Just don't stack anything too heavy on top of them.


Ahhhh, so you pretty much pack them like you are going to ship them. Sounds like a good plan. I knew that these pumpkins weren't as thick as the store bought ones and I didn't want to 'squash' them in with all my other Halloween stuff.

Thanx for the tips guys,

I still have one pumpkin to carve and it is the large one. I picked out the face the other night and I made some adjustments on paper first before committing to a design which I put on the pumpkin tonight. This last pumpkin is going to be my 'Lead Singer', so I gave him a BIG mouth.

I couldn't carve him tonight because it is raining out . Bummer! I am hoping it will clear up for the weekend because I do have quite a bit to do yet. 

The Micheal's store by me is completely out of the electric cords with the bulbs on the end. I am curious if other stores carry them, such as A.C. Moore?

Thanx,

Geo


----------



## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

mic214 said:


> I would like to try carving out a few of these myself.....where do you get the "funkin" brand pumpkins???



Funkin Brand pumpkins do carve easier and cleaner IMO and Jo-Ann Fabric sells them. Right now they are on sale at 50% off this week (thru 16th), no coupon. I was at a Jo-Ann's yesterday and this location had some really nice sized ones still available. Saw both orange and white. I believe the Jo-Ann's online also has them on sale this week.

Jo-Ann Fabrics


This is the time of year that I will typically look for Funkins for next years projects.


----------



## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Ghost of Spookie said:


> Funkin Brand pumpkins do carve easier and cleaner IMO and Jo-Ann Fabric sells them. Right now they are on sale at 50% off this week (thru 16th), no coupon. I was at a Jo-Ann's yesterday and this location had some really nice sized ones still available. Saw both orange and white. I believe the Jo-Ann's online also has them on sale this week.
> 
> Jo-Ann Fabrics
> 
> ...



50% off huh? Michael's has theirs on sale for 50% off as well now. I guess the best thing would be to try each and compare for myself. I looked at that link you provided and sadly there isn't a Jo-Ann's close by. We do have them here but they are a bit out of the way.

Geo


----------



## Greyhawke (Sep 10, 2010)

The differences between the Michael's and funkins pumpkins are usually dependent on what/how you are going to carve.

The funkins look more like real pumpkins. However, they are also more difficult to carve with a heat tool, and vary quite a bit in thickness on the inside. You also have to be more careful with the paint coming off.

The Michael's pumpkins would never be mistaken for the real thing, but are much easier to carve because of the uniform wall thickness and the material is better suited to xactos and heat tools.


----------



## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Greyhawke said:


> The differences between the Michael's and funkins pumpkins are usually dependent on what/how you are going to carve.
> 
> The funkins look more like real pumpkins. However, they are also more difficult to carve with a heat tool, and vary quite a bit in thickness on the inside. You also have to be more careful with the paint coming off.
> 
> The Michael's pumpkins would never be mistaken for the real thing, but are much easier to carve because of the uniform wall thickness and the material is better suited to xactos and heat tools.


Thanx for the info!

Yes, I was amazed with the Micheal's pumpkins in that I didn't have any kind of flaking problem at all...even when following the Dremel cuts with the X-Acto knife.

Sure the Micheal's pumpkins may not be as realistic as the Funkins, but they are still much better than the ready made store bought pumpkins I been using thus far. So anything is better than that! LOL!

Geo


----------



## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

Greyhawke said:


> The differences between the Michael's and funkins pumpkins are usually dependent on what/how you are going to carve.
> 
> The funkins look more like real pumpkins. However, they are also more difficult to carve with a heat tool, and vary quite a bit in thickness on the inside. You also have to be more careful with the paint coming off.
> 
> The Michael's pumpkins would never be mistaken for the real thing, but are much easier to carve because of the uniform wall thickness and the material is better suited to xactos and heat tools.


I just learned this last nite. Last nite I did my first Funkins with the Versatool & I had a hard time with it on the Funkins. 

The Michaels pumpkins are more...Idunno...foamy if that makes any sense & a lot thinner. The Funkins are more like Great Stuff/styrofoam only orange & the ones I did have thick ridges of the foam inside. Though they look more like a real pumpkin inside & out. 

If I were doing a "fall" display that didn't involve cutting the pumpkin, I'd go for the Funkins. They're much more realistic looking. I did notice that the "skin" on the Funkins got kinda scorchy but I think that's because it's thicker in spots & you have to get the edge of the tool closer to the pumpkin.

Fake pumpkins have come a loooong way. 

IMHO, the Michaels ones worked better for me for the intricate patterns just because they were thinner & easier to manage but they have some seams & the color is less "pumpkiny." But that really doesn't bother me. I don't think most people are looking at them thinking "Yeah but you can see the seams..." they're thinking "Cool pattern!!"

But boy do I love that Versatool for carving!! I bought a bunch of the fakes 2 years ago & only managed to do 2 last year because it was such a pain in the arse, but now with the Versatool it's cut the carving time in half & I may have to hit Michaels for a few more blades & pumpkins!!


----------

