Now that Autumn is here, it’s time to get started with my favorite part of the changing seasons: decorating! This year, my favorite decoration I’ve been working on is a collection of carved foam pumpkins. These pumpkins look incredible, and they have the added benefit of not being real pumpkins! As great as real pumpkins are, they can only be used once. Foam pumpkins can be used every single autumn as a truly show-stopping decoration!
These pumpkins are incredibly easy to make, and there are only a couple of materials you’ll need to make them!
Materials
Materials- Foam Pumpkins (I bought mine from Michael’s)
- The great thing about foam pumpkins is that you can get them in a variety of colors and sizes. Feel free to get as many or as few as you’d like! I got some in orange, black, and white.
- Hot Knife (This one from Amazon works well, but feel free to shop around if you’d like)
- Pencil
- Seam Ripper (Or a similar small, sharp object larger than a needle)
- Pumpkin Carving Stencils or Patterns (The Pumpkin Lady has tons of them)
Process
WARNING: HOT KNIVES ARE INCREDIBLY HOT. USE CAUTION AND BE SAFE!
First, plug in your hot knife. Using a hot knife to carve these pumpkins is a hundred percent easier than using a regular knife. The heat helps you carve the pumpkins like butter. The knife will take a few minutes to heat up all the way, so you’ll want to do this step first.
Second, choose which pattern you’re going to use! Faces are the easiest to carve, but let your imagination run wild and carve anything you’d like! I’d recommend printing out the pattern you’ve chosen onto paper, laying it over your pumpkin, and carefully using your seam ripper or another sharp object to poke holes through the paper into the pumpkin. Poke holes into all the corners and periodically along any curves. Once you’re done, remove the paper and use your pencil to connect the dots! By the end, you should have a perfect guide of where you need to carve.
Third, very carefully use the hot knife to cut along the guide you just made with the pencil. Once you’ve made a complete shape, I’d recommend using your seam ripper or another sharp object to help you remove the cut portion of your pumpkin. Keep on cutting and removing until you have a finished jack-o-lantern!
