Carving a hole in the bottom has more advantages than putting your trap door up top.
One thing we take seriously around here is pumpkin carving. This may not have much to do with artificial intelligence but hopefully it saves you some time this Halloween.
Buy any Pumpkin Masters® kit and you know how to transfer a stencil to your pumpkin for carving. From here on out we assume you've done this before.
These are my top three tips for pumpkin carving:
Tip #1: Carve your opening out from the bottom.
I started doing this about a decade ago and it makes way more sense than the trap door on the top. NOTE: Be sure your jack is vented on top with a little hole for exhaust if you use candles. Here are just some of the reasons why the bottom door makes sense:
- Allows you to carry the jack around by the stem
- No risk of burning hands like with candles
- Can simply set the jack over the top of a candle
- The pumpkin is more likely to balance upright
Tip #2: Use a set of white Christmas lights for brighter light.
- Aside from being a safer alternative to candles they are much brighter
- Lighting several pumpkins with one string can actually be cheaper than candles
- More festive since the bulbs on the outside light the outer part of your jack as well as creating back lighting
- Reusable year after year
Use white Christmas lights to light your jacks - they're brighter and safer. From left: Silly Jack, Herman Munster, A-basin Ski Area logo (for our ski / snowboard friends).
Tip #3 (Advanced): Search Google Images for anything you want to carve, then load in Photoshop to reduce complexity.
Use Photoshop > main menu > Filter> Filter Gallery> Torn Edges to adjust sliders to detail you're comfortable carving into a pumpkin. NOTE: Image should be grayscale to work best (Main Menu > Image > Mode > Grayscale).
Depending on how artistic you are, this technique can reduce the difficulty of the stencil you want to transfer. If the stencil has shading and lots of detail, you'll need sculpting and woodcarving tools to adjust the thickness of the pumpkin. This is more advanced carving which we'll save maybe, for next year.
Use Photoshop > main menu > Filter> Filter Gallery> Torn Edges to adjust sliders with detail you're comfortable carving into a pumpkin.
Pumpkin carving is maybe my favorite time of year. With a little patience and effort you can create some really cool decor that all the neighbors will love. Take the day off and throw in a spooky movie while carving. Just make sure it's one you've seen before so you put the attention on the jack-o'-lantern where it belongs. That's how President Jefferson lost his nose (below). ■
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