(A Carving Craftastrophe)
BAM, it’s a Halloween extravaganza this week on An Utter Craftastrophe! Plus, there’s a double whammy, folks! My carving craft became a nutritious craft too (but that is a little treat for next week)! Not to mention the change of scenery; I went home this week so prepare for some guest appearances!
So, are you tired of carving huge pumpkins? Too much effort? Want to eat more than just seeds from your masterpiece? Bored of having to throw away your rotting mess after that spooky Halloween night? Well, you’ve come to the right place!
Brace yourself for QUITE a fright, my freaky folks!
What you will need for this haunting endeavor:
- A Squash (acorn squash, a pumpkin -if you’re crazy-, a fruit, something else, etc.)
- A Knife (something sharp with sharp ridges – because they cut hard things better)
- A Spooky Spoon (or not so spooky, depending on what spoon you use – of course)
Step 1: The Reaping and Rinsing
Picking your carving victim is a challenging task! You want something firm and preferably something that could become tasty. I picked an acorn squash, which came highly recommended. It’s up to you, ghouls! Also, make sure that your selection is large enough to be carved! Small things can lead to a higher chance of slicing and dicing your own fingers (not good)! Please proceed to thoroughly clean and wash your selection.
Step 2: The Initial Incision And Gut Removal
Chop that top! Safely use your sharp tool to cut a round hole in the top of your vegetable (or fruit?). Make sure you cut deeply (but not enough to go through the other side) and angle your blade toward the center of your selection. Then yank off the top by the stalk of your selection.
Use a spoon to scrape out all the seeds and squash guts! Scrape at the sides a bit so that they are nice and smooth on the inside!
Then rinse out the inside!
It should now look all pretty and stuff – like a freshly washed and emptied skull!
Step 3: The Mutilation of a Formerly Intact Squash
Now you’re going to make an incision. There are no specific measurements to this; you’re just going to eyeball it! (See what I did there? You’re cutting out an eye… No? Oh, okay.)
(A Tidbit of a Tip: Triangles are highly favorable here!)
Be careful to make sure pieces of your squash don’t fire at other people or things like I neglected to do! My puppy found that eye…
Cut out another eye to your preference! The carving options are pretty much up to you, but we went for a somewhat classic look to demonstrate.
Cut out your nose! Making them smaller or larger than your eyes makes it stand out a bit better.
And, lastly slice out a smile (a frown, or something else – up to you)!
Step 4: The Spooky Beauty of a Job Well Done
Put a light in it and put it on display OR keep it in the fridge and wait for next week’s recipe spin-off on this carving crafastrophe! It’s up to you, my crawly creepers!
End Note: I was at home so the mess was easier to control, but you may not find yourself such a well-fortuned fate! Also, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, put safety first! You are dealing with sharp objects and potentially open flames, so (if you are anything like me) have emergency medics on standby! Finally, don’t be troll! You don’t live in a cave or under a bridge, so clean up your mess! This could turn out to be one DISASTROUS craftastrophe…
Tune in next week for an edible take on this already deliciously delightful craft! Don’t kid yourself; you know you want to!
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Ah I love this and want to do this so bad!!! Super cute idea and a good change from all the carved pumpkins we all see! Yours turned out so cute and I’m obsessed with your dog… Great job I loved it !
Super interesting Tori. These pictures make it really easy to follow … Is it wierd that I feel like eating that squash??
Not at all! Next week you very well may…
Ok my favorite part of this might have been your dog…. he is so adorable and makes me miss mine! I’ve never thought of doing something like this but it’s a great idea! My little brother would love doing a smaller pumpkin or a squash. These would also be great for our dorm rooms!
This is such a great idea and it’s very cute to and much more time consuming. I spent a couple hours carving this outrageously huge pumpkin which looks nice now but its so time consuming and this seems much more fun because you could do many and decorate! You’re so good at making your blog posts personal I love it and you doggy is adorable.
And your dog is super cute :]
Reading your post really always make me smile :]…..I love your style of writing and you really make the reader feel as if they are your good friend. I never even thought of the options of carving anything other than a pumpkin! I am definitely going to remember this for next years Halloween!
This is an adorable alternative to carving pumpkins! Much more practical for dorms too, especially since the mess in minimal and there’s room for more of them. I love the twist on the classic Halloween carving!
PS- Your dog is adorable!
Tori, this is an awesome post. I love how you made it halloween themed too. I didn’t get to carve a pumpkin this year, but I’m not good at carving them anyway. I feel like this really would have helped me if I had the opportunity to carve one. And you have a really cute dog too!