Carved pumpkins - not really for halloween

[Melladh]

...but as always, there's no topic just perfect for my stuff I carved these pumpkins for the feast of harvest and night of art, to put on the low stone wall around my parent's vacation house garden, when we, well, where there for the feast of harvest.
I went with the "shaving off slices of skin" kind of carving instead of cutting straight through, as I like the effect and it protects the candles inside from wind. Also, it saves you from having to make sure nothing falls off...

First pumpkin:


Second pumpkin:


First pumpkin in daylight:


Second pumpkin with flash:


First time I ever tried this type of carving (was actually inspired by the fruit carving vids on 5min.com - only craftster ever has interesting ads.. ) it was really easy, just bought a sharp curved craft knife, it cut without resistance.

[silvia3891]

it's very nice and original!!

[Jolien]

Wow! Those are so cool! How long do they stay good?

[jlryan]

Those are awesome pumpkins!  Not only are they pretty but they have a classier element to them.  I just might have to borrow that idea for Halloween this year because its always windy then.

[Melladh]

Thank you all

They don't stay good for very long, maybe about a week, depends on the weather and age of pumpkin you use ofcourse... Since I carved an opening into the back, they're going to slump over more and more in that direction, and just sort of collapse after a while - they'll last as long as any carved pumpkin I suspect, because of that opening - if you just carve them without any openings they'll prolly last longer than a regular carved pumpkin, but without openings any candle you put in them will choke.. You could probably just give them small breathing holes around the top though, I suspect, and they'll do fine.
I've also heard that you can treat the edges and insides with some sort of petroleum paste or similar, to keep the moisture from evaporating, making them last longer.