Sculpting is really fun especially when you enjoy the process of designing what your pumpkin would look like and what features it will have. It’s a really fun process where everyone can get involved and really all out, people really enjoyed the final results.

so pick your pumpkin, grab a tool or two nothing fancy.

Supplies

Pumpkin, any shape/ size

Gardening wire, 2 meter/ strong enough.

Scalpel/ craft, knife or something similar.

White board marker, not permanent!

Towel or Tissues

Tea light candle or LED candle

Spray bottle, to keep the pumpkins nice and moist

Step 1: Choose Your Pumpkin

The preferred pumpkins are normally big and heavy, my pumpkin is short but heavy and I am happy with that because the design I am going for is more oval and slightly flat on the other side with a lot of meat to carve into.

Step 2: Tools

Tools help makes life easier to carve but honestly you don’t need anything more than a small carving tool and something like a spoon to scoop out the guts. If you really want to you could make a small loop out of a tuna can and attach it onto a x-acto knife, but be careful not to cut yourself as the blade will be sharp.

Step 3: Design It!

It’s not written in stone but it’s good to always plan out either on paper or directly onto the pumpkin. Don’t stress if you can’t come up with a design, take it easy or just wing it. A pumpkin does not always have to look good especially a halloween poomkin!

Step 4: Blocking Out!

You can start by either cutting into areas where the light passes through 100% or you can carve away gently and slowly build up the shape like I did. Use your carving tool to block out the shape using the drawing on the pumpkin as a guide focus on giving shape at this point rather than detailing. Mark out the jawline and the mouth/ teeth.

Step 5: Making a Hole

Make sure to spray exposed flesh in between your carving to have a nice smooth carving experience and does not dry or wrinkle as quickly. To make a hole simply mark out how big you want the hole to be on the bottom of the pumpkin and when cutting the hole out keep the knife or any appropriate tool at an angle so you can pop the lid on and off without a hassle.

Step 6: Going Deep 👁

How deep you go will differ from pumpkin to pumpkin so if your not sure, gently carve as you would and slowly you will notice the pumpkin will become softer as you go deep into the flesh. At this point you will gain confidence to carve circles with different variations in depth just by having a feel of the flesh if not you can always use a flash light and measure the depth on how much light passes through.

Step 7: Secret Door 👀

Not really a secret but a easy access to lighting the candle inside when the time comes, a 2.5 by 2.5 inch door cut at an angle. Keep it simple at first then add details like the previous steps.

Step 8: Detailing

Start adding detail to the jaw and form the teeth gently in a 3D shape like spikes, you really want to express the feeling of anger and rage from pumpkins being carved annually during this time. Take your time to carve as you can not undo a broken tooth. Reveal the upper and lower gum line gently peeling away the first very thin outer layer.

to get those really sharp teeth use a knife or even metal wire and gently cut away from top to bottom, do not apply pressure or the wire would dig into the flesh or worse damage it.

Step 9: Adding the Antenna

Angler fish have a rod on top of their head which emits light at will in a pulsating beat. It was a real challenge to fit a rod on top of the pumpkin without any support built around the pumpkin, however the munchkin pumpkin (smaller pumpkin) were really tiny and light. I need up using 300mm of wire 3mm thick x3 and twisted them together with pliers and drilled it from the inside out and hung the munchkin onto a fine wire (1mm).

Step 10: Clean Up

If you do not finish the carving process and would like to continue the following day, spray the pumpkin with water and cover it with a plastic wrap to trap moisture so the carve is still workable. Make sure you clean up the mess you make this includes the pumpkin shavings and making sure the tools go back where you found it.