How to Carve a Pumpkin Over 100 Pounds!

I won this 161lb pumpkin at my local grocery store. This is the story from beginning to end.
As soon as I saw it I knew I was in trouble. … I couldn’t even put my arms around the pumpkin!
At the grocery store it took several men to load the pumpkin into my car. Once at home, my husband and I helped direct my two neighbours who carried this enormous heavy pumpkin to place it on our antique dinning room table. Every morning I would come downstairs hoping that the table did not collapse due to the weight of this huge pumpkin.

I knew my husband and I could not carve this ourselves, we needed family!

Step 1: Tools Needed

• Sharpie
• Drill with large bit
• hacksaw
• Large garden knife
• various kitchen knives
• pottery tool
• rubber gloves
• aprons
• tarp
• Exacto knives
• Ice Cream Scoop
• Several Large Bowls
• The carving crew (husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law)

Step 2: Plan Out Your Design

After looking for some inspiration on the Internet, we decided to create a bird with wings. This way we could reduce the weight of the pumpkin so we could assemble it outside. Using an sharpie we drew the eyes and the wings so that we could see where to cut.

Step 3: Let the Carving Begin - Opening Up the Pumpkin.

Using a drill we made a small hole in the back of the pumpkin. This was actually the bottom, but with the way the pumpkin grew on its side we had to go with how the pumpkin wanted to rest.

Once we had a large enough hole, we used the garden knife to saw around the line, removing the back of the pumpkin. In order to reduce weight (and to have lots of pumpkin for baking) the back of the pumpkin was trimmed down.

Step 4: Let’s Look Inside.

Even though it was a heavy pumpkin, it was quite hollow inside. The sides themselves were 2" to 3" thick in places and the pumpkin had a lot of water weight. No mold or nasties inside, so we were good to pull out the guts and harvest the seeds.

Step 5: Time to Clean the Pumpkin Out.

We took turns getting deep into the pumpkin. It was a lot of work, made much easier by having a solid ice cream scoop (a very valuable tool it turns out!). Scraping out the inside was done in shifts. We were happy to be removing so much though . . . every pound out would make the pumpkin easier to move later!

Step 6: Does a Bigger Pumpkin Have More Seeds?

This is a question we were constantly asked when we showed everyone pictures of the pumpkin. We separated the seeds out of the pumpkin guts and set them aside. The seeds were about 1" long and there were just under 4 cups. This was a bit surprising to us, we thought for sure there would be more than that!

Step 7: Having Some Fun

My father-in-law went in for the big scrape deep inside the pumpkin . . . which made my husband immediately grab the camera and start taking pictures. It reminds me a little of the Mr. Bean episode where he has a turkey on his head!

My father-in-law was definitely having way too much fun!

Step 8: Cutting Out the Wing.

Once again out came the drill and large drill bit. We used the drill to make a hole so we would have a place to start as we cut out the two wings. Once the hole was made and we could get the knife into the hole, the garden knife's serrated edge made quick work out of cutting along our outline.

As we did with the back piece, the wing was trimmed down to remove weight. Even after trimming each wing still weighed 12 lbs!

Step 9: Adding Texture to the Wing.

We wanted the wings to look like there were feathers (like an owl) and we wanted the light to shine through when it was all lit up. This was a challenging part to do as the thickness of the wing (even after it was trimmed down) made it difficult to cut all the way through. It needed to be done though, so that the light would show off our owl's feathered wings.

Step 10: Place the Wing Back Into the Pumpkin.

Small notches were cut in the top part of the former wing's space so that we could put the wings in. Our goal was to make it look like our bird wings were sticking out from the body. Getting this part right was important to do while we were inside, so we knew exactly how it would work once we moved all the pieces outside to be reassembled.

Step 11: Adding Texture to the Body of the Pumpkin.

At this point Ona the Owl was looking more like a mouse, so some texture was needed on the face to help sell it as a "bird" and the stem of the pumpkin as the beak. I used the pottery tool to scrape small bits of orange pumpkin flesh, taking care to have the lines radiating outward from the center. We added back in some pumpkin for the eyeball and put those pieces in with toothpicks.

Ona is definitely looking more like an owl now!

Step 12: Adding the Little Touches.

Using scrap bits of pumpkin we created a fringe of feather/hair on the top of the pumpkin. We used bamboo skewers to hold the back of the pumpkin in.

There was still one last detail . . the eyes still didn't seem right to me. So into the fridge I went and found capers! A caper on each eye made the final design pop!

Step 13: Ona the Owl

Ta Da - Ona the Owl was finally born. Fully assembled she was still 135 lbs. and beautiful!

Step 14: Making Her Nest Outside.

We used two burlap coffee bags to make a nest for Ona on Halloween night, so she could greet the neighbourhood trick-or-treaters. We popped off the wings and the back which dropped the weight of the pumpkin low enough that my husband could carry her to her nest. Reassembly was a breeze, the notches allowed us to quickly position the wings and set Ona up.

We tried a few lights inside, but eventually we had to add a camper's light to make her light up enough so that you could enjoy her Halloween glow.

Ona was a highlight of many a neighbours' visit!

This is how we carved our 161 lbs, pumpkin. Everyone should do it at least once in their lives . . . it builds character!