How to make a pumpkin for Halloween with your own hands

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

On the night of October 31 to November 1, one of the most interesting and original holidays is celebrated - Halloween. He combined in himself two completely opposite features: showing respect to evil spirits and admiration for all saints.

If you are also partial to the traditions of the ancient Celts of Ireland and Scotland, you are probably wondering how to make a DIY pumpkin for Halloween. There are many options for creating the main symbol of the holiday - the Jack lamp. You just need to choose the most interesting ideas and set aside some free time.

The history of the main symbol

There is an old legend about the lazy Irish farmer Jack, who did not hesitate to drink and steal. Once, in one of the taverns, he met with the devil and offered to have a glass of ale, agreeing to give his own soul in return. When it came time to pay, stingy but enterprising Jack asked the owner of the underworld to turn in a gold coin, and then put it in his pocket next to a silver cross.

No matter how hard Satan tried, he did not succeed in regaining his former appearance.

For his release, Jack requested several years of free life. After the agreed time, the devil came to him to take the "favor". The cunning farmer asked only for the last favor - to taste the apple growing on the tree.

The dark lord climbed the apple tree, and Jack quickly scrawled a cross on it, depriving Satan of his powers. Once again, the farmer bargained for years of carefree life and the opportunity not to give his soul.

But very little time passed, and he passed away. The gates of Paradise were closed to the rogue, the devil also refused to let him into Hell. Since then, Jack wanders the earth in anticipation of the day of judgment, lighting his path with a coal from a hellfire placed inside a turnip.

With the first settlers, the tradition firmly established itself in the United States, while the turnip was replaced by a large and bright pumpkin. According to legend, such lanterns help souls find their way to purgatory, scare Jack and other evil, otherworldly forces from home.

Classic lamp

The pumpkin, from which you will make a lantern for Halloween with your own hands, should be free from damage and rotten areas.

Choose a vegetable of the size you like and proceed to execution, guided by step-by-step photos and recommendations:

1. Cover your work surface with oilcloth.
2. Decide what kind of backlight you will use. If you intend to lower the candle inside the pumpkin, mark with a marker at the top (where the tail is) a circle or square. If using a flashlight, mark a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin.
3. Use a sharp knife to cut out the outline. If you are making an opening from the top, then keep the blade slightly tilted to create a tapered notch. In this case, when you put the "cap" back in place, it will not fall inside the vegetable.
4. Peel the pulp and seeds from the pumpkin. You can use a spoon or scraper. Especially carefully work out the walls, on the outside of which there will be a "muzzle". Their thickness should not be more than 2 cm.
5. Draw facial features with a felt-tip pen. You can print a template, glue it to the fruit with tape and point out the outline of the drawing. Remember, the larger the fragments of the eyes, nose, mouth, the easier it will be for you to cut.
6. With a well-sharpened knife with a short, thin blade, draw along the marked lines. The main thing is not to rush, act as carefully as possible. Otherwise, you can not only spoil the pumpkin, but also accidentally injure yourself.
7. Push the cut pieces into the workpiece or, conversely, squeeze out. Areas with an uneven outline or pieces of pulp, clean with a knife.
8. Treat the cuts with Vaseline. It will extend the "life" of your flashlight.
9. Place a small candle inside. It is best to use "pills" so that the pumpkin does not bake over the fire. Do not forget to make a few holes in the cap for hot air to escape. If the opening is located at the bottom, cover a flashlight or an electric garland connected to the mains with a vegetable.
10. Prepare your Jack-Lantern 1, maximum 2 days before the holiday. To make the product last longer and not lose its appearance, place the silica gel inside, which you will surely find in many shoe boxes. Each ball needs to be pressed lightly into the pulp, but not too deeply.

If you notice that your artwork is beginning to deteriorate, soak it for 8 hours in a solution of 4 liters of water and 5 ml of bleach. Then, wipe dry using paper towels. To keep the vegetable in its original state as long as possible, spray it daily with the indicated mixture.

Bat

In addition to the classic Jack Lantern, you can make a cute bat out of a pumpkin for Halloween with your own hands.

Just follow the step by step instructions:

1. Prepare the vegetable: cut off the top, free it from pulp and seeds, and scrape the walls well with a scraper.
2. At the bottom, use a black felt-tip pen or marker to draw a smiling mouth with two teeth.
3. Bring out a large "heart" from above, with a rounded bottom. Inside, add another one, but much smaller. These are future eyes.
4. Using a stationery knife, cut the pumpkin along the marked outline. Smooth out any irregularities.
5. Paint the fruit with black acrylic. You can pre-apply the craft sealant, which is sold as a spray or in cans. The paint lays on it better and smoother. After the sealant has dried, proceed to color change the workpiece.
6. Take 2 double-sided very thick cardboard in a deep blue shade (A4 size is suitable). Turn over in the manner of an album sheet and draw wings for a bat: draw out half of the oval, and in the lower part make a kind of wave with three sharp peaks. To the edge of the cardboard, from the last prong, draw two lines forming a rectangle. Due to it, the wings will be inserted into the pumpkin. Cut along the contour.
7. Using the template, draw 12 identical circles on the red, single-sided cardboard. Cut out, glue on the wings in random order.
8. Take a pumpkin, use a clerical knife on the sides to make two narrow symmetrical cuts. Gently insert the wings into them.
9. Wrap twine around the ponytail on the “lid”. Remember to mark some hot air vents.
10. Put a candle inside.

More details on how to create a bat can be seen in the video.

Papier mache

If you do not want to use a fresh vegetable, but really want to make a pumpkin for Halloween with your own hands, you can resort to the materials at hand.

You will need a balloon, string or tape, old newspapers, glue, orange paint, and a paper knife:

• Inflate the balloon. It should be firm, but not too tight.
• Drag the piece with twine or tape, forming characteristic "slices".

• Wrap the frame with cling film. This will make it easier to extract from the resulting pumpkin.
• Cover the structure with 2 layers of torn white napkins soaked in water, then 3 layers of shredded newsprint. Leave the tip of the balloon open. Let dry completely.
• Next, glue 3 more layers.

• Once dry, pierce the ball with a needle and gently pull it out through the top hole.
• Add guidelines for the eyes, nose, mouth. Cut out. To create the effect of thick walls, glue a wide strip of white paper along the inner contour.

• Cover the frame with papier-mâché. To do this, soak white paper napkins torn into pieces in boiling water, squeeze out in a day, and grind the resulting lumps in a blender. Then add PVA glue and some linseed oil. Stir until smooth.
• Cut the cap off the dried pumpkin. Also decorate the inner surface with papier-mâché mass. Just add red paint to it first.

• The ponytail can be made from a cylinder from cling film or foil, shortened to the required length and coated with an adhesive mass.
• Use plasticine or polymer clay to blind your teeth and eyeballs. Attach with clear baguette glue.

Paint, varnish

If you wish, decorate the pumpkin with a themed pattern using the decoupage technique. You can "plant" your creation on a stump made from a putty bucket. To provide additional lighting, cut out the bottom and place an LED flashlight inside

Holiday symbol made of paper

At home, you can also make a voluminous pumpkin out of colored paper:

• Take a thick, double-sided orange-tinted sheet.
• Cut into strips of equal length and width (approx. 210 mm by 25 mm).
• Bend each segment in half. Make holes at the fold and along the edges with a hole punch.
• Take the first strip and pass the decorative wire through the central hole.

• Repeat the manipulation with the rest of the pieces of paper, laying them out at a slight angle in relation to each other. You will get a kind of sun with equidistant rays. Fix the central part with tape.
• Wrap each strip, passing the outermost hole through the wire.
• After collecting the pumpkin to the middle, put a small surprise inside. For example, candy.

• Fold over the remaining strips. From time to time you can glue them a little to avoid deformation and movement.
• Decorate the top with a leaf.
• Wrap the wire in a spiral.
• It is not necessary to use pure orange paper. Create as much as your fantasy allows. In addition, you can glue your eyes, nose and toothy mouth to the pumpkin.

Table decorations

If you have a desire to make a holiday symbol without using a pumpkin, try creating the main attribute of the holiday using polymer clay.

Cute, funny, cunning or dangerous faces will be a great souvenir for friends:

1. Form the perfect ball out of the gray material.
2. Use a toothpick to make characteristic grooves.
3. Mark the outline of the hat on top, and insert a wooden tail in the center.
4. Squeeze out your eyes, nose, mouth.
5. Bake for a few minutes in a preheated oven at 100 ° C.
6. Paint the blank with dark orange acrylic.
7. Highlight the inside of the face in yellow.
8. Wear gloves when handling polymer clay. If you are sculpting without them, be sure to wash your hands. Particles that remain on the fingers and then enter the body can cause poisoning. After baking in the oven, put a large container of water inside, heat to maximum temperature. Repeat 2-3 times and ventilate the oven well.

Simple decor ideas

To quickly create a festive atmosphere in your home, you can use the following options:

1. Paint the pumpkin white and put on a lace nylon stocking or glue on separate openwork patterns.
2. A glamorous interior will be created by vegetables painted in golden or silver color. Use aerosol cans.
3. Rhinestones and marbles on black pumpkins will look mysterious, giving the holiday a special, mystical atmosphere.
4. Take ordinary glass jars, decorate with different colors, glue black eyes, nose, mouth. Insert lighted candles inside.

There are a lot of options on how to make a pumpkin for Halloween with your own hands. If you have absolutely no time, you can inflate orange balloons, draw funny or angry faces with a black marker, and make a ponytail out of corrugated paper.

After all, in the end, the main thing is not the ideal appearance of all the attributes of the holiday, but a fun pastime with friends and a great mood.