It’s that time again! Get ready to pull out the patterns, scoops and saws. Lets get carving!
I love carving pumpkins. I’ve done it every year since I was old enough to safely hold a saw. In the beginning we just drew with markers on the pumpkin and and then cut out our own designs. I remember this actually being very frustrating as a kid. The marker design would ALWAYS rub off! In hindsight, we might have been able to use a sharpie, but then you risk leaving bits of black all over the pumpkin after you carve it. Another year, my Mom decided to try something new and she bought a
Pumpkin Masters kit for the whole family.
If you haven’t heard of
Pumpkin Masters, listen up! These kits were first introduced in the 80’s and have gained a lot of popularity. They enable you to create intricate designs with patterns that range in difficulty levels from easy to hard. These kits also include small saws that are pretty safe for little hands. It would take some effort to accidentally cut yourself with them.
Pumpkin Masters can be found at most major retailers. There are also a lot of copy-cat brands out there now too.
After using the Pumpkin Masters kit for many years I eventually got bored of them. When I became a teenager I started making my own patterns from movies. My first was of Superman. It turned out very well and I was very proud of myself. However, it was very,
VERY time consuming to create my own pattern and to make it work just right. Eventually I ran across a website called
Zombie Pumpkins.
I love Zombie Pumpkins. It has been my go-to for pumpkin patterns for almost ten years now. This site has been run by Ryan Wickstrand since 2002. Every October he starts releasing new pop culture based patterns that he creates himself. He has patterns that range in difficulty from “beginner” to “maniac”. Zombie Pumpkins uses the same method as Pumpkin Masters, so you can reuse your old tools too. He has family friendly selections like Kermit the frog and he has some pretty scary movie monsters too. One of the best parts about Zombie Pumpkins isn’t just the great selection, it’s how affordable it is.
There are different levels of “membership”. You can spend as little as $2 or as much as $20. I usually buy the $5 membership. This gets you 25 patterns and a 9-month membership (not that I really use it after October anyway). Twenty-five patterns is more than enough for my family and I! I also really like that he takes Paypal. That really just makes it even easier for me. Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover are also accepted.
All in all, I highly recommend Zombie Pumpkins. Given all the selection, I hope that you find something that you really like. Happy carving!
Related
