Halloween Carving 2013

This year I decided to carve a Volkswagon (I didn't know about Fillmore until someone told me). To make such perfect circles for eyes I used an apple corer. As the pumpkin dried, his mouth started to compress, making the funniest pursing of his lips.

If you like the Jack Skellington window display in the background, you can see it better in this past post: http://paperzen.blogspot.com/2011/10/happy-halloween.html

To make Totoro's tummy, I used a melon baller which makes it look a bit like fur. Then I scraped from the inside to thin the wall so his tummy could glow.

I can't believe hubby used a chef knife to carve this eyeball! Then he used linoleum carving tools to define the pupil lines. Creepy!

Some years ago I bought this kit at half price from Walmart. When I brought it to a carving party last year, they were so excited to use something safer than a paring knife.

Off they went to buy a kit of their own, but this year they told me it didn't compare. Their kit was orange and the blades were thinner which meant they bent and broke easily. The "Goop Scoop" wide scraper was also better because it has such an easy grip vs theirs which had a handle. To copy the patterns inside, mine has an easy to wipe marker where theirs had a perforating wheel - they assured it was not worth the effort.

I had no idea my plastic purchase was such a good investment, so imagine how happy I was to find my familiar green tools at the Spirit Halloween store. I hope you had a craft-filled Halloween!