Hot off of my fail from last weekend...
Not one to give up, I went on to my second trick for the Fall theme I didn't realize I was doing - The Pumpkin Luminary
Have you ever wanted to give in to the Christmas decorations in October but don't want to be called out for being "that person"? This is the pin for you (and me, clearly.)
I mean - you know a pin is going to be awesome when it comes from This Old House. Just the thought of it makes me nostalgic for Sunday morning TV with my dad.
So, right on the heels of my fail (linked above in the very first sentence - can't believe you missed it!), I started over with a pumpkin project. I got everything together:
Turns out, the entire pumpkin punching kit was not needed. The "punches" were grouped together not only in the package, but also as a whole. So I couldn't punch just one whole - I had to punch BOTH holes. Stupid. The scooper though - that's where it is at! Definitely get yourself a scooper.
So I got started by carving my pumpkin the old-fashioned way: cut off the top and get your hands in there for a while until you're grossed out at the amount of pumpkin under your nails. Then you use the amazing scooper (or a spoon, let's get real) to scoop the rest of the guts out and make it nice.
My handy tip at this point would be to get the walls on the thinner side if it is a thick-walled pumpkin (as was mine).
Remember to keep the seeds if you are Betty Homemaker and would like an easy, seasonal treat. I, on the other hand, threw it all out in my frustration at my last fail. So there's that.
I didn't get pictures of the next steps because it was just plain messy and I like my camera clean and working. Basically, you get out the power drill and put a drill bit on it that is just about the circumference of a mini-lightbulb. Then - go to town!
The pin has a nice little design that I'm sure you can draft up with markers, pens (or hell, crayons) and then drill holes in the pattern. I decided to go with the "balls to the wall" approach and go wild with the drill. I didn't measure, plan nor try to get them equi-distant apart - none of that fancy "I know what I'm doing" stuff. One tip that my husband gave me (other than "don't break my shit") was to not only drill the hole, but also go in and out of it a couple times to make it real clean.
Unlike your mind on that last sentence.
Once you have all your holes, make one big hole at the bottom side. The pin has the woman making it literally in the bottom of the pumpkin, but I can't wrap my head around how she would set it down and have it sit straight. This hole has to be about as big as the plug.
Then, you feed the lights through and push them through the holes from the inside of the pumpkin out. I started at the top of the pumpkin and worked my way around the circle until I got to the bottom. Depending on how your holes are spaced, you'll certainly miss a few lights here and there. It'll also get super jumbled in there, so my suggestion is to keep a hand on the light that JUST went into the pumpkin at all times, and keep moving backwards as you push the lights through the holes.
When in doubt, jam all the lights in the pumpkin and push lights through whatever hole they are closest to. You do you.
In the end, you have a rather cool looking pumpkin:
And when it's done? In all honesty, it looks super weird when it's not lit up and it's just chillin' on the table.
But when it's lit?
It's pretty damn awesome.
Alright - time for the breakdown:
- Pumpkin - $3.00 (bought it at Walmart and the price is still $3 when I went today)
- Lights - $2.49 - I also bought this at Walmart in their Christmas section. I bought the 150 mini-lights and that was plenty. You could almost go with 100 if you find them, but I wouldn't go with 50.
Total Cost: $5.50
Yes, yes, you could get yourself a carving kit for $2-$3... but just use a spoon. And yes, I (and This Old House) say to use a drill, but if you don't have a drill....
... Christmas is coming - just wait until next year. *wink*
Enjoy your weekend all :)
I didn't get pictures of the next steps because it was just plain messy and I like my camera clean and working. Basically, you get out the power drill and put a drill bit on it that is just about the circumference of a mini-lightbulb. Then - go to town!
The pin has a nice little design that I'm sure you can draft up with markers, pens (or hell, crayons) and then drill holes in the pattern. I decided to go with the "balls to the wall" approach and go wild with the drill. I didn't measure, plan nor try to get them equi-distant apart - none of that fancy "I know what I'm doing" stuff. One tip that my husband gave me (other than "don't break my shit") was to not only drill the hole, but also go in and out of it a couple times to make it real clean.
Unlike your mind on that last sentence.
Once you have all your holes, make one big hole at the bottom side. The pin has the woman making it literally in the bottom of the pumpkin, but I can't wrap my head around how she would set it down and have it sit straight. This hole has to be about as big as the plug.
Then, you feed the lights through and push them through the holes from the inside of the pumpkin out. I started at the top of the pumpkin and worked my way around the circle until I got to the bottom. Depending on how your holes are spaced, you'll certainly miss a few lights here and there. It'll also get super jumbled in there, so my suggestion is to keep a hand on the light that JUST went into the pumpkin at all times, and keep moving backwards as you push the lights through the holes.
When in doubt, jam all the lights in the pumpkin and push lights through whatever hole they are closest to. You do you.
In the end, you have a rather cool looking pumpkin:
And when it's done? In all honesty, it looks super weird when it's not lit up and it's just chillin' on the table.
But when it's lit?
It's pretty damn awesome.
Alright - time for the breakdown:
- Pumpkin - $3.00 (bought it at Walmart and the price is still $3 when I went today)
- Lights - $2.49 - I also bought this at Walmart in their Christmas section. I bought the 150 mini-lights and that was plenty. You could almost go with 100 if you find them, but I wouldn't go with 50.
Total Cost: $5.50
Yes, yes, you could get yourself a carving kit for $2-$3... but just use a spoon. And yes, I (and This Old House) say to use a drill, but if you don't have a drill....
... Christmas is coming - just wait until next year. *wink*
Enjoy your weekend all :)
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