dry ice pumpkin for Halloween

 by dave spencer
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This year for Halloween I made a jack-o-lantern that blows dry ice water vapor. A friend turned me on to http://www.pumpkingutter.com. I thought it was amazing but I figured it was well beyond my abilities artistically speaking. Then I thought up this idea and had to give it a shot.

If you like this then check out my jack-o-lantern from last year. http://www.instructables.com/id/the-gruesome-suffocating-jack-o-lantern/

Please check out my other instructables and I also have a diy podcast called mechanicalmashup.tv

 
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Step 1: Materials

You obviously need a pumpkin! Free- $5

Ice bucket -$2

Old vacuum hose Free -$0.67

Dry ice - $1/lb from a welding supply store (20 lbs would keep this running for a while)

pumpkin carving tools - $9 exacto-knife kit (on sale)

- potato peeler

- spoon
shaneomacmcgee says: Oct 29, 2009. 6:43 PM
Dry ice smoke is Carbon dioxide, not water vapor... isn't it?
I've always heard not to stick your head in the clouds of smoke, not because of toxicity, but to avoid suffocation
brykun2 in reply to shaneomacmcgeeOct 31, 2010. 10:53 AM
Dry ice is carbon dioxide, but the water in the air condenses to form a cloud of water vapor you can see.
bleachworthy says: Oct 31, 2007. 1:23 PM
nice job man! I would do this with a real pumpkin, but the only available one in town weighs 184 pounds, and is $50! even if I had the cash, it would be too big to fit in my car! so, i am using a plastic one, it fogs very nicely with about a pound of crushed dry ice, and a liter of water, just poured in it. I found dry ice for $0.67 a pound here, so naturally, I bought 15 pounds of it, :P. I found that if you take a laundry basket (solid tub style), and put 10 pounds crushed in, with it half full of hot water, you can fog up an entire lawn, or a house easily. (in the house, the fog rose to about 2.5 feet! great job!
Jonny Appleseed in reply to bleachworthyOct 17, 2008. 8:55 PM
lol i'm gonna use my friend's pumpkin, weighs 597 pounds and the seeds sell for up to 50 bucks a seed, and there's thousands inside, gonna be a good halloween :)
BuffaloNickel in reply to Jonny AppleseedOct 19, 2009. 12:04 PM
Why $50 per seed?? a regular pumpkin seed has just as much of a chance of being big as one from a big pumpkin.
porcupinemamma says: Oct 9, 2009. 11:29 AM
Veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeryyyyyyyyyyyy Scarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry ;0)!! ;0)
M F says: Oct 23, 2008. 10:25 PM
I like using CAR FLARES in my pumpkins. they make it glow and sulfur smelling smoke comes out. use layered cuts for the full 3-D effect some of the little kids are afraid to come to the house. use a ceramic plate and extra vent holes in back. It doesn't really get too hot. it's made of water. one car flare lasts 30 minutes. if it's too big just break it in half.
Zem says: Oct 12, 2008. 8:48 AM
Could this be done with a fog machine?
Awesome Possum in reply to ZemOct 16, 2008. 7:29 PM
If you could fit it inside the pumpkin, then probably. Just make sure that the machine doesn't need ventilation.
Weissensteinburg says: Oct 30, 2007. 12:15 PM
Where did you get the dry ice?
Yerboogieman in reply to WeissensteinburgOct 12, 2008. 12:19 PM
they have it at safeway too.
Bran in reply to WeissensteinburgOct 30, 2007. 12:46 PM
I'm not sure about Florida, but 'round here, dry ice is sold by Wal-Mart Supercenter, Publix, and I believe Kroger. I think you have to show ID that you are 18, for safety reasons (dry ice bo.mbs).
fwjs28 says: Oct 12, 2008. 10:56 AM
im gonna try this with fog machine.....should work.....you could make a cannon shape and blow the fog out lol.....
Zem says: Oct 11, 2008. 7:05 PM
I've seen dry ice at Wal-Mart's, Price Choppers, I think CVS too.
abscam says: Oct 10, 2008. 3:24 PM
very cool. why not just put d.i. in a tupperware w/ water inside the pumpkin? also, couldn't you cut the skin really shallow at the eyes, add a light or candle (maybe not w/ the dry ice) inside for a glowing effect?
dave spencer (author) in reply to abscamOct 10, 2008. 5:43 PM
putting the dry ice away from the pumpkin allowed me to refill without worrying about moving the pumpkin or stuff around it and kept the dry ice away from the kids. Good idea about the light but I don't think a candle would have worked. Leds next time.
iamthemargerineman says: Oct 8, 2008. 6:36 PM
SICKEST JACK O LANTERN EVERRRRR!!!!
trooperrick says: Oct 30, 2007. 6:07 PM
i was going to do this with a fog machine and fog chiller
Pie_eata says: Oct 30, 2007. 5:09 PM
suite idea dude would look uber sectcy w/ leds
tiuk says: Oct 30, 2007. 7:58 AM
My dad did this when I was a kid, it was the first time I had seen dry ice. He had painted the pumpkin black and attached "legs" made of foam tubes, making the pumpkin look like a spider. Anyway, it's a very cool effect, and amazes a lot of people.
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