Before now I have always carved real pumpkins. For
many years I grew my own in a small pumpkin patch in my garden. Hopefully this
year I’ll be able to do that again, depends on if we can get a truck load of
dirt brought in. The garden has eroded over the years so it needs more dirt. I miss my pumpkin patch.
I’ve been seeing so many awesome carvings and
pumpkin designs with artificial pumpkins that I had to give it a try. I like the idea that your creations will last instead of rotting away after all that hard work you put into them. Plus if you are planning a party you can carve them well in advance and not worry about them turning to mush before the event.
The brand I hear about most is Fun-kins.
They have a huge selection of realistic pumpkins in many shapes, sizes and
colors.
They offer a couple basic designs at Jo-Ann
so I grabbed a couple they had on clearance for $9.99 each. I didn’t want to
buy the more pricey versions for my first go. I had no idea how they would turn
out.
So I cleaned out my workshop and played with some
ideas for decorating and carving the Fun-kin Pumpkins.
First I dressed one of the Fun-kins up in lace.
Then I sketched out a design to carve into the
Fun-kin.
I bought a hobby knife and some new bits for my
Dremel. I cut out the bottom of the Fun-kin and played with my bits to test
them out on the piece I cut out.
I printed out two copies of my design and cut them
out.
Then I taped one design to the Fun-kin and used a
Dremel bit to sketch out the Frankenstein couple silhouettes. I used painter’s
tape so it wouldn’t pull the color off the Fun-kin.
After I cut the outline of the couple out I peeled
that stencil off and put a fresh one on. I just held it in place and traced the
outline with the hobby knife.
I just needed a rough outline of the shape.
The end result is supposed to look like an old
fashioned silhouette couple portrait.
This is just a surface carving, not an all the way
cut out carving. That will be my next project.
Using the Dremel to carve and sand down the Fun-kin
created so much dust (which any kind of sanding does- which I why I usually outsource sanding to my husband who doesn't mind it LOL).
I was covered, my kitchen table was covered, everything was covered. I am glad I didn't do the work in my shop because that's a dust free painting zone. I yell at my husband for bringing dusty wood work into my shop. I love the finished products he brings me to paint but he needs to clean all the saw dust off first.
I felt like I should have worn a face shield and HAZMAT suit. I am exaggerating. But the feeling of dust on my lips was annoying.
At least I wore safety glasses (always). I will need to figure out some way to minimize dust in the future or collect it. I know there are shop vacuum attachments and other workshop dust collection devices. (Making a note here so I remember to research this, would be helpful for hubby's shop too.)
I was covered, my kitchen table was covered, everything was covered. I am glad I didn't do the work in my shop because that's a dust free painting zone. I yell at my husband for bringing dusty wood work into my shop. I love the finished products he brings me to paint but he needs to clean all the saw dust off first.
I felt like I should have worn a face shield and HAZMAT suit. I am exaggerating. But the feeling of dust on my lips was annoying.
At least I wore safety glasses (always). I will need to figure out some way to minimize dust in the future or collect it. I know there are shop vacuum attachments and other workshop dust collection devices. (Making a note here so I remember to research this, would be helpful for hubby's shop too.)
My next Fun-kin will be carved old school with serrated pumpkin knives and saw blades. I suspect that will create much less dust. Maybe I’ll do a standard Jack o’ Lantern design.
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