Happy Halloween!

Behold, my magical 4-hour pumpkin! Combining Mickey and Sleeping Beauty Castle stencils printed from the Disneyland website and a little of my own imagination, I created this beautiful Halloween masterpiece. To quote one of the trick-or-treating children, "It's the best pumpkin ever!" Everyone at the doorstep ooh-ed and ah-ed over our pumpkin, especially once they realized that it's real! The pumpkin is from Burt's Pumpkin Farm in north Georgia, and I estimate that it weighs in at around 50 lbs. It's so thick that I could not cut the "lid" all the way out with a regular steak knife. I had to get out a longer carving knife to get a long enough blade. It had about a dozen little pumpkin vines growing from seeds inside it, and I was able to save three of them in a glass of water. For such a big pumpkin it didn't have a lot of guts, so that part went quickly. I started out by pinning the paper patterns onto the surface with straight pins and then scoring the outline into the skin with the business end of a corn cob holder. Then I used a garnishing tool to carve about halfway down into the meat of the pumpkin. This allows the light to come through subtly, creating a soft glow. I had to go over the whole design several times in order to cut deeply enough into the thick flesh to allow the light to show through. The "sparkles" that you see were stabbed in with a phillips head screwdriver. It was rather violent, but that's Halloween for you. I cut the sally port of the castle (the big door) all the way through to allow the most brilliant light to shine forth, as if there is a grand ball taking place inside. The pumpkin is lighted by a string of about 5 nightlight size bulbs dropped in through the top. This gives a little more candle power than a votive and allows the light to be distributed more evenly. It also does not cook the pumpkin from the inside out like a candle or go out annoyingly in the middle of the evening. Next year I may add a flicker bulb for effect. The result is gorgeous, if I do say so myself. I'm very pleased with it and was even asked to come out of the house to meet admirers. My Mom dragged me onto the porch, "Here's the carver!" People who love Disney as much as we do loved our pumpkin, and I'm glad that we could share a little Halloween fun without the blood and guts.