Pumpkins! Please share your Jack O Lanterns

[apt11]

Is it possible to preserve a Jack-o-Lantern? Like coat it in shellac or something?

After I carve out the faces, I put Vaseline on the cuts. I also put my jack-o-lanterns in the fridge during the day and display them all lit up at night.

And for an emergency and the pumpkin looks beyond repairable and shriveled, I fill up a big bucket with water and leave the pumpkin submerged for a few hours, it comes out looking new and fresh.

[therealgigantor]

Is it possible to preserve a Jack-o-Lantern? Like coat it in shellac or something?

After I carve out the faces, I put Vaseline on the cuts. I also put my jack-o-lanterns in the fridge during the day and display them all lit up at night.

And for an emergency and the pumpkin looks beyond repairable and shriveled, I fill up a big bucket with water and leave the pumpkin submerged for a few hours, it comes out looking new and fresh.

Good tips! But I think she was talking long term...like to keep and use again? That's what I was thinking.

In terms of short term freshness, I find keeping it in the fridge and sprayed with water works well too

[bubbledragon]

Hi all!  I just thought I'd show everyone this awesome experiment on pumpkin preservation, as I don't think it's been linked yet.  I carved mine on friday, and it had already shrivelled up something awful, so I soaked it in the bleach/cold water solution overnight, and it plumped right back up.  I did this since I won't need it for very long anyway.  Anyhow, enjoy:

http://www.myscienceproject.org/pumpkin.html

[cinnamon teal]

Hi all!  I just thought I'd show everyone this awesome experiment on pumpkin preservation, as I don't think it's been linked yet.  I carved mine on friday, and it had already shrivelled up something awful, so I soaked it in the bleach/cold water solution overnight, and it plumped right back up.  I did this since I won't need it for very long anyway.  Anyhow, enjoy:

http://www.myscienceproject.org/pumpkin.html

How funny!  I was just about to post a link to this project.

But for long term (year after year) preservation I'm really not sure.  You could try sealing it with resin.  They also sell carvable, artificial pumkins that are meant to be kept for years.

[RockWaterFalls]

Okay! Here are ours:
Strong Bad for me...


And spooky tree for the FH...


It's our first attempts to carve since we were kids...It was so much fun! Thanks again for the inspiration!!

[corpsetlames]

I made it today, and lookit! It's my first one, ever, so it's sort of messy... But it's so cute because it's tiny  , it's seriously about 5cm tall. Meet Mellow:
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/6070/dscf1154og0.th.jpg
In action:

And to see how tiny it is:

[roxybadoxy]

aww mellow is adorable!!!!!!!!! is that really a pumpkin!!

[Preturbed]

Is it possible to preserve a Jack-o-Lantern? Like coat it in shellac or something?

After I carve out the faces, I put Vaseline on the cuts. I also put my jack-o-lanterns in the fridge during the day and display them all lit up at night.

And for an emergency and the pumpkin looks beyond repairable and shriveled, I fill up a big bucket with water and leave the pumpkin submerged for a few hours, it comes out looking new and fresh.

Good tips! But I think she was talking long term...like to keep and use again? That's what I was thinking.

In terms of short term freshness, I find keeping it in the fridge and sprayed with water works well too

*Ahem* I think you mean he. Other than that, you're right. I was looking for long-term solutions. Given some thought and an extensive google search, I don't think its really plausible to save a Jack-o-Lantern for more than a week or so.

[megan+mary]

The boyfriend and I bought the fake pumpkins from Michael's and carved them. They weren't as sturdy as real pumpkins (obviously) but they definitely were cleaner and better to keep in our second-story apartment! You also cannot use real candles in them, so luckily for my best friend's wedding they used battery-powered "candles" and I just happened to have two! 

Mine, freehanded but based on a pattern in a children's carving book


The boyfriend's

[Amalas]

Triforce (husband's):
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a382/Amalas/IMG_1827.jpg

Navi (mine, design from here):
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a382/Amalas/IMG_1828.jpg

Somehow I think it's mildly unfair that he picked an easy design, while mine took way longer.  *pout*