Stuff / Hack-o-lantern

Ok, now there's no question about it: I'm a hack-a-day fanboy.

Let's just say, from the first time I saw this site, early in 2005, I realized I was amongst friends. So to pay homage to my favorite site, a hack-o-lantern made perfect sense!

Let's start by printing out the t-shirt logo from the t-shirt contest materials. Tape it to the pumpkin, as best possible that is...
t-shirt logo

Now using that little poking wheel in the carving kit, transfer the design to the pumpkin. These dotted lines are the result. There are other dotted lines and even some pen from where I tried to do this freehand and without the right printout. Glad I didn't butcher the design and just printed out a bigger one.
Dotted lines

Finally, a rough draft. Hmmm.... it's missing something...
rough draft

How do we get those eyes in there? Never mind the nose... I went to find toothpicks, but couldn't locate them. What to do? I've only got 4 hours left, and finishing a pumpkin carving isn't on the top of the priority list. I decided I'd take a chance on using some stiff wire, like that from cat5 cable (ok, stiff in small lengths). It was a miserable failure. I couldn't get the pumpkin bits to stay where I put them, and the wire never worked. Luckily, I actually remembered that I had a package of toothpicks from a restaurant in my coat pocket. Don't ask. My wife would tell you that my coat is basically my man-purse, er, murse, whatever. It weighs a ton because it carries all my junk in the winter time. I have yet to find a good equivilent for the summer time, at least one that doesn't make me look stranger than usual.
quit poking my eyes!

The cat5 wire didn't work, but here's the finished product with the toothpicks.
cat5 vs toothpicks

And here's the finished product lit and on display!


outside

on the porch