October 26, 2009

Pumpkin Design!

By: Christina Smith

It’s Fall! Halloween is right around the corner. As a child, my dad grew pumpkins in his garden in the backyard. A week before Halloween, we would venture out, pick the best pumpkin we could find, take it into the house, and carve a Jack O’Lantern. It would take hours to remove the seeds, innards and then carve a face (or what we thought looked like a face). Over the years, the tradition dwindled. My dad had stopped growing pumpkins and neither of us had time to devote hours to the carving process. However, this past weekend, my fiancé and I were at a friends’ house for a “Fall Themed” party. The highlight of the evening was none other than carving pumpkins! Since I hadn’t done this in years, I didn’t realize how far technology has come! There are now pumpkin-carving kits equipped with pinky sized jagged blades (that come in two sizes), a claw-like scoop (to remove the innards) a booklet with a multitude of various Halloween-like designs, and small puncher (to punch holes along the stencil line). At first, the entire process seemed very labor intensive. Seeds were being thrown all over the kitchen. There is a lot that goes into carving a pumpkin these days! However, all the hard work paid off! We placed tea lights inside the pumpkins, turned off the lights and voila! Gorgeously carved pumpkin! Not only did we have a lot of fun, I realized design is not just used to create websites or posters. It transcends to almost all aspects of life, even fall parties and pumpkin carving.