Jack O'Lanterns> I must have them everywhere!:)

As someone who has carved dozens of pumpkins I’ll save you the aggravation of trying to carve a funkin pumpkin. Buy the ones at Michael’s craft store. They’re softer and made of poly styrene. Use a #11 blade xacto knife and be careful not to use too much force or you’ll cut right through a delicate part of the pattern. Been there done that.
Punch your pattern out with a push pin, that’s what I use and take the time to make sure the pattern is straight before you start.
After I take the pattern off the pumpkin I take the dull side of the knife and connect the dots with a line to make the pattern more visible before I start.
I attached the most complicated pumpkin I’ve ever carved. It was a *****!

Hi! I have been building a pumpkin patch for years, here's some of what I learned. On buying pumpkins, the 40% coupon is the way I go, but always be on the lookout for sales. Stores start putting out Halloween around Labor Day, remember to check Walgreens, Rite-Aid, Target, or any other big retail outfit for your patch building. Shipping cost kills buying them through the mail, but if Walmart, or your store of choice, offers free shipping to your local store, that could be the way to go.

Regular plastic pumpkins store no problem. Foam take more care. I have shelves in my garage attic that hold 20+ , up to 18-20 inch high. If you have access to milk crates, you can fit smaller pumpkins in them, just make sure the bottom of the crate is not touching the pumpkin below it. (Can you tell I ruined a Phantom of the Opera like that? I fixed it by filling the pumpkin with plastic bags and leaving it alone till the next year, Pushed his face right back out.)

As for carving, instead of using a pin to transfer the image, you can glue the paper stencil to a Funkin with a glue stick.(I recommend Elmer's, the ones that go on purple). You can wash off the glue and bits of paper in the tub under hot water.

I use a Dremmel, or rotary tool, to crave the image. You buy the very small drill bits, the kind to drill small holes. I mean REALLY small, They are called micro drill bits when you Google search. Use the smallest bit you can get. You start at a medium speed, plunge the bit in, and then trace along the lines. Start in the middle, and work you way out. I do the smaller spaces first. GO SLOW!! Let the tool do the work, DON'T FORCE IT !! If you do, you will be snapping bits off left and right.

For lighting, cut a big hole in the base, a little bigger that the light you are going to use. The, just put the pumpkin on top, I use to cut holes the the back, but the lights I was using shined right in peoples faces.

Foam cutting with a Dremmel creates A LOT of dusk. Wear a mask, try to do it outside, or the basement, were you can make a big mess.

You can glue short line of lights inside, make sure you use foam glue. I couldn't find anything else that worked.

If you go the Dremmel route, practice on real pumpkins till you feel comfortable trying on a $20 fake pumpkin.

Another style I tried was buying large standard pumpkins at Target and covering them in Great Stuff.

I flipped them over,and cut new faces in the back

Paint with good orange spray paint and bush paint highlight.

I made a stem on this one with duct tape

Storing the first one is a pain. The mouth is so big, the top collapses giving him a big overbite. I finally blew up an old beach ball inside him to hold the shape every year.

That's it, good luck with your patch

I hit all the clearance sales and buy whatever foam pumpkins I can find. If they are the pre-carved cutsie ones from Walmart I alter the face to be more spooky. Once they are corpsed you can't tell I altered them or that they were cute. I buy a bunch of uncarved ones from Michael's and Target too if I can get a good clearance deal. Great thing about corpsing them is that color, patterns, style, or any damage is all erased in the process.