Kitty Jack-o-lantern

0 Posted by - October 26, 2012 - DIY & Crafts, Halloween

What kind of a Halloween month would it be here on Pintester if I didn’t do a jack-o-lantern, hm? In years past, I’ve managed to create fairly un-stupid jack-o-lanterns, so this year, I opted for something a little challenging. This pin on Pinterest is a fun kitty one:

Image from Mousebreath

But I went for one that came in the Williams Sonoma pumpkin carving set my mother-in-law bought for our pumpkin carving party. (She always goes all out.) Here’s sort of how that one was supposed to look:

It’s a cat in a crescent moon with a spider above it.

We began with the ritual de-gutting, which I really love because there is no way to mess up this step.

Mom and I are the de-gutters.

Once the pumpkin has been de-gutted, though, all bets are off. Mine imploded immediately and had to be doctored up with toothpicks.

And that worked for a while…

But a few days later, it’s collapsed, moldy, and unrecognizable. Oh well. At least the de-gutting was fun.

  • ErinMcNamara

    Girl, you need to slather that puppy with Vaseline to keep it from doing that. Really lube it up!

  • ginad129

    You can coat the exposed pumpkin meat with petroleum jelly and it will last indefinitely.

    • pharmd2012

      ginad129 ’Coat the exposed pumpkin meat with petroleum jelly?’ I cannot stop laughing at the innuendo here. I think many people have tried that…and still do not have anything last indefinitely…in the bedroom…wink,wink. Lol.

      • StephHC

        pharmd2012 ginad129 Snicker Snicker Snicker

  • CortneyMcGinnes

    does vaseline work? i always have something like this happen to my pumpkins and i never know what i can do to fix it.

  • JudithBrandsnessWolford

    i haven’t heard about the vaseline, but i have seen a pin that says put one of those silica gel packets – the ubiquitous things that are packed in your shoeboxes and all other stuff you buy.

  • tyntiff2012

    Kinda off topic but one thing that is sort of making me wonder about people more and more is the knowledge of the use of all these products. I mean who in the hell was sitting there looking at their pumkin after carving it and said ‘holy shit I’m gonna baste that fucker with some vaseline?’ I mean really! And the silica gel stuff..thats great if it works but who is this person/s trying this shit out for the first time! I don’t know if they should get a medal, the chest to pin it on or a fricken padded room! Or maybe a Nobel Piece Prize! Just sayin…not hatin.

    • m_pinning

      tyntiff2012 I’ve been wondering the same thing! Really, who looks at a pumpkin and thinks “You know what this need? Lubricant.”

      • HeatherJarrell

        m_pinning   lol

    • CrystalKYuhhyzaguirre

      tyntiff2012  I cant speak fpr the vaseline lol but if you know the purpose of the silica packets then it would seem a logical train of thought to go from that to putting it in a pumpkin. [they suck up moisture so they keep moisture from being excessive]

  • mcmommy

    Yes, the vaseline works! coat all exposed parts (it doesn’t take that long) and it will last over a week (sometimes more). Yes, it’s kinda messy, but worth it if you spend time carving a pumpkin.

  • Truffles8761

    I’m sorry. I refuse to lube a pumpkin and my hatred for gutting them is well documented.

  • Mommybailey

    Hey atleast you could get yours to last that long! Lol. We carved ours a couple of days ago and decided to keep them inside for a feq days because its been snowing and we read that freezing temps are a no-no for pumps. Well the next morning after carving them, my once glorious “creepy skeletol-zombie-like hand coming out of the grave” carving was a total “strong hand from Scary Movie 2″. Seriously. I have pics. Not cool! So I left my punkin out because what’s not creepier than a “strong hand pumpkin”? Nothing.

  • pandymonium

    Our jackolanterns have held up for more than a week, sans lubing.  I found something saying to spray it daily with a bleach/water mix.  I’ve never seen pumpkins last so long.

  • AGrandNote

    You guys are going way to complicated.  All you need is EEVO. Or any olive oil and it does the trick too.  You don’t have to use jelly or vaseline ….for us “o’naturale” people.

  • madbowie

    I painted mine this year instead of carving. Can’t go wrong! ..unless you drop the paint on the floor and it explodes into a disaster of green unwashable paint-goo. Which it did.

  • cormakesitpour

    I love carving pumpkins or, at least, trying to carve pumpkins until I break out into disgusting hives from a weird pumpkin allergy.  Smdh, Halloween is the season of itching.

  • http://www.oddwomanout.com/ TheOddWoman

    So… for the last several months, I have been hopping online everyday during my lunch hour to read your blog.  Because it is full of awesome and win.  Yesterday, as I entered the URL and pressed my Enter key… trembling with giddy anticipation over what gems of awkwardness were about to be revealed, my screen turned to a giant stop sign with a message: “This site has been blocked for the following reasons: Obscenity.”
    … And this is how I know that I’m reading the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the pièce de résistance.  Any shit that’s blocked at work due to obscenity is some good fucking shit.

  • HeatherJarrell

    I do believe there are at least a pin or two about spraying it with bleach and then smearing with Vaseline to keep it from drying out and molding…I’ve not tried it yet..but then again I’m not exactly the pintester either  :O)

  • mimibeth

    Cut first and THEN gut. Keeps it from caving in on itself :)

  • ShannonDilger

    I thought in the first pic – you had bought 3 pumpkins to cover your ass if the first 1 or 2 failed. But all the designs turned out awesome!!

  • Ethne Hedren Denham

    I keep it simple – I make my husband do Jack Skellington every year.  After about 2 days, his zillion teeth start to curl in and mold too; it’s super scary for all the kids, so they’ll never smash our pumpkins.

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  • http://www.shehulegal.com lawyer

    I wonder how much time you spend behind all this amazing things….

  • LKGirlHPFan

    No way to screw up degutting? Please… A few years back, my younger brother (who has a sensitive gag reflex) puked in the pumpkin while we were degutting. I would say that’s a pretty screwed degutting.