Halloween is my favorite holiday and I love carving jack-o-lanterns, both real and faux. This year I decided to try my hand at making my own "carvable" jack at home rather than buying one. They're a lot more expensive than they used to be!!
I used Great Stuff Big Gap Filler, available at just about any hardware store. I found them at True Value for $6.99 each and got 2 cans. This was the cheapest I found it. I also bought a very large snack/chip bowl at Dollar Tree for $5. I made one half of my pumpkin at a time, spraying in a spiral pattern from the center inside of the bowl til I got to the top rim. After drying for 10 minutes, or until the surface bounced back upon touching it. I then carefully coaxed it out of the bowl by sliding my hand slowly around the inside to loosen and remove it. Be patient with it and it releases pretty much immediately.
I then used the bowl as a holder and, placing one half back in the bowl, I sprayed a thick line of foam on its top edge and placed the other half on top of it, snugging it down gently, and spraying extra around the outside to fill any gaps. I let it cure for a few days, but you could probably paint it in a couple of hours.
I then painted the whole thing with good acrylic paints because I had them on hand, but inexpensive craft would work fine too.
I made the stem and leaf from polymer clay (Sculpey) and baked pieces of stiff wire into the places where I wanted to attach them. The foam is easily pierced with the wire and you can remove the stem and leaf for storage purposes!
I carved the face with a small serrated knife. The foam was very easy to piece and cut! I'm really happy with the way it turned out as it looks a lot like a few varieties of actual heirloom pumpkins! I've included actual photos for comparison purposes.
If you try this project, don't try to be too perfect, as the foam seems to have a mind of its own! Just have fun with it!
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