How to Carve a Pumpkin like a Pro!

Let me start by saying I’ve had zero training, nor would I consider myself good at art/drawing. As many of you know I love browsing Pinterest to get inspiration for easy things to make and do. I saw lots of pins of people carving pumpkins like a boss & thought to myself I’ll give it ago, sure what’s the worst that can happen?

If it turned out awful, I’d just dump it and never speak of it again. I’d be carving when the children were in bed so there’d be no witnesses to remind me of my failed attempts!

Two years ago I decided to up my game; I was carving an Elmo pumpkin while watching T.V. It just happened to be Love/Hate with the storyline about Elmo allegedly telling the authorities about Nidge. For the craic I decided to carve a little extra on my pumpkin & posted it to social media. I couldn’t believe it when I woke the next morning to see it’d taken off and was reposted across tonnes of pages including 98FM, FM104, BreakingNews.ie, I’d even made it onto “18 of the Greatest Halloween Pumpkins Ever Carved” by the Journal.ie/The Daily Edge!

I thought it was hilarious and it gave me the push to try other designs after all it didn’t turn out as bad I thought it would. It really doesn’t have to take that long to carve a pumpkin, sure who has time to be spending hours? I know with 5 little ones I certainly don’t. From experience I’ve learned a few tricks that’ll not only save you time but a whole lot of energy and your sanity. If you stick to the advice below I guarantee you’ll have a masterpiece on your hands or your money back.* *monopoly money will be given back!*

How to Carve a Pumpkin Like a Pro:

Pick a fresh pumpkin with a blemish free side for carving and ensure the skin is intact with no dents or holes. Print a stencil you like from Google/Pinterest, I find the best way to do this is print screen & paste to a Word document that way you can gauge and adjust the size you need for your pumpkin.

• Silhouettes are by far the easiest and most striking images when carved.

• Wash your pumpkin before carving, I use baby wipes as I’ve no energy to fill a sink of soapy water just for a pumpkin!

• Cut off the top/lid using a knife I use a non serrated knife at a 45° angle so there is a ledge for the lid to sit on.

• Scoop out the insides using a large spoon just be careful not to scoop the flesh too close to the skin.

• Cut off the excess page from your stencil and tape to your pumpkin, ordinary tape will do. I just tape the top and leave the rest loose so I can bend it around the curvature of the pumpkin as I trace over it. 

• Otherwise you’ll spend ages getting it completely taped on.

• Trace over your stencil using a pen as a pencil can tear the page and mark the skin of your pumpkin.

• Don’t bother with those pumpkin carving kits as it’s extremely difficult to get any precise incisions with them; again I’m all about the easy life. I use little blades like a pencil with a blade as the nib, you’ll find a packet of them in Dealz for €1.49 and a packet of tiny screwdrivers same place same price.

• Remove your stencil and retrace around the pattern on your pumpkin using your blade. Tip: Hold the blade at an angle so the tip goes under the area of skin you are removing.

• If you are carving a circle for an eye hold your blade still and move the pumpkin in a circular motion.

• If you are carving a larger circle/curve move both the pumpkin and the blade as it’ll be much easier to achieve a circular cut.
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• Once you’ve gone around all areas with your blade using the smallest screwdriver peal back the skin. If it’s a large area of skin to be removes start by taking the edge up with the small screwdriver & move onto a large screwdriver pushing & swiping it from side to side lifting just the skin.

• Once carved if you have any gouges or rough looking carved areas simply smooth over with your finger, it’s very forgiving like that!

• Don’t panic, it looks much better with a light inside. I’ve often thought I’d made a mess of it only to be nicely surprised when I put in a candle.

• Use a candle, led light or even a torch for the inside. If using a candle & you want to put the lid back on you’ll need to cut a hole for a chimney in the back.

• To preserve your pumpkin spray/wash with bleach and water solution as it’s bacteria that makes them mould.

• You can rub all carved areas with Vaseline or oil to stop the air drying it out.

• If your pumpkin does start to dry out simply steep in water carved side down for anything up to 8 hours to rehydrate it.

The cheapest place I found for larger pumpkins is Supervalu Medium €1.50, Large €2.50 & Giant €3.50 each. I carved the characters from Inside Out onto tiny cooking pumpkins I bought in Tesco for 69c each. If you follow the above tips and use a silhouette stencil you’d easily have it done in 15-20 minutes or for me just in time to refill your wine glass!

Go on give it a go & please post your photos to show us how you got on. 

If you want to see some of my other creations check out my Instagram account @stonebabies, Twitter @stonetravel4, Facebook or, if you're quick I've a full How To on Snapchat today @StoneTravel!

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For - Movie Review

Who's in it?

Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eva Green and Mickey Rourke

What's it about?

Following a Pulp Fiction-esque 3-person story line, HUGELY graphic violence and stories are portrayed in perfect Frank Miller artsy style.

Any Good? 

As pulpy as month-old orange juice and as grindhouse as a skate store, Sin City 2 is incredibly visceral and FUN AS HELL!

Having only seen a good 60% of the first Sin City and read about 10% of the comics, I really really enjoyed this - as did my good friend Eadaoin who accompanied me. The art style struck me from the beginning and grew on herself, accumulating in a number of subtly beautiful gory death scenes that I found unashamedly beautiful.

The real star of the show

The acting was a bit shaky at the beginning but got much better as the stories progressed; all with the exception of Eva Green. I'm not sure if Ms. Green's script was just bad, but dear lord she was ATROCIOUS. Her acting as the Dame To Kill For was shocking, it was like watching a number of Fair City (The worst BEST soap of all time) scenes being slapped with a giant ham - but don't let that discourage you.

Mickey Rourke was brilliant as Marv - a creatively murderous 'good guy' with a penchant for stealing his victims clothes (and sometimes more); but the real star was Jessica Alba. She goes from trembling stripper to an INCREDIBLY bad ass character as insane as Marv, with scenes showing her slowly cracking and finally the change (you'll know it when you see it, it's fairly scary).

With an Old-Town group of marauding murderous women reminiscent of films like Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill! or I Spit on Your Grave, Sin City cranks the crazy-fun factor to 11. While some shlocky acting from many characters (such as JGL's) seem a little over-the-top, it fits right in with the setting of the movie itself. Some scenes look as if they were filmed for 3D, but I would totally recommend seeing this 80's-era exploitation/grindhouse film in 2D, it's fun, gruesome and utterly beautiful.

 Rating: 

Win an iPad for Your Travels: Play Falcon Holidays Sunshine Selector

Some people are incredibly gifted at finding great holiday destinations at knock down prices. My own sister is so good at it that we've nicknamed her Stone Travel (she married Mr. Stone), I, on the other hand am less than useless. 

Case in point the last fortnight spent scouring websites, catalogues, travel agency windows and cross referencing the lot with wildly varying reviews before giving up on the hope of new horizons and settling for somewhere we'd been before. 

I've teamed up with Falcon Holidays to make life easier for you though and share the news of the Falcon Sunshine Selector. It's a fun, interactive game that has been added to their website and aims to find you your perfect destination in just 7 simple questions. 

“For over 25 years, Falcon have been sending Irish families on their dream holidays,” says Charlotte Brenner, Marketing Manager at Falcon, “so we know each of our destinations inside-out. This simple, interactive quiz is a great way to demonstrate that knowledge and make choosing your summer holiday destination easier than ever.”

Not only will this fun little quiz point you in the right direction, literally but Falcon are also giving two very lucky participants an iPad Mini to take with them on their travels, simply for playing. 

You can play directly on Falcon's site or click here now but be quick about it as the competition ends this Friday. 

Andale,andale! Arriba, arriba!

*This post is in collaboration with Falcon Holidays. 

Cherry Pick of the Week - Fun - Some Nights

I heard this for the first time this week in the car and although I seriously had to pee, I held on in the car until I heard the song, now that's a definite indication that I'm going to love it. 

Cherry Pick of the Week - Fun - We Are Young ft. Janelle Monáe

It's a little Blink 182. It's a little My Chemical Romance. It's a lot catchy fecker. 

Love it.