Steampumpkins for the Michaels Great Pumpkin Challenge

I am thrilled to be part of Michaels’ Great Pumpkin Challenge!  Second only to Christmas, Halloween is my favorite holiday!

For the challenge, Michaels sent craft bloggers some foam pumpkins, a hot knife to carve them, and a gift card to cover expenses, and turned us loose to make some crafty Halloween pumpkins.

When I decorated pumpkins last year, I was all about the glitter.  Bright, neon-y glitter in stripes and polka dots.  This year, I was feeling it for steampunk.  Or… as I like to call them…  Steampumpkins!!

I made two of them.

And I gave them names.  Jack Catterwall and Pumpkins-for-Brains.

Let me introduce them to you.

Pumpkin-for-Brains

When I saw the little white pumpkin in the box, I was all like, bra-a-a-ins!!  And so I turned him into a pumpkin brain.

This little pumpkin put the hot knife to the test!  And it passed with flying colors! There is no way – NO. WAY. – I could have cut all those squiggles without the aid of a heated knife.  The heat melted the foam so it cut through like buttah.  I went back with an awl to dig out the lines further, then gave it a glaze from watered down gray craft paint.

Jack Catterwall

And here’s Jack Catterwall.  Between his goggles and his buck teeth, he looks like a steampunk geeky scientist sort.  Eager and smart and friendly, but also a little awkward.  Like me.

I kind of made him up as I went along.  I knew that I wanted him to look like he’s made of metal, so I started by spraypainting the pumpkin a light metallic (Caramel Latte, the can says) and then aging it with a black glaze and spots of Rub n Buff antique gold. Then I took the pumpkin with me to Michaels and auditioned metal embellishments until I found a combination I liked.

I’m super proud of the goggles he’s wearing.  I made them!  Crazy, right?

And they weren’t super difficult, either.  Michaels had all the materials I needed to make them.  I’ve got a tutorial planned that will show you how I made them.

Behind the goggles, I think you can see the gears I used for his eyes.

I cut round holes in the pumpkin and glued the gears over the openings.  The gears came from the jewelry section, as did the little token I used for his nose and that awesome lightbulb assemblage that became his teeth.  There are also some cool steampunk style accents in the Tim Holtz section of the scrapbooking embellishment aisle.

Thank you, Michaels, for allowing me to be part of your Great Pumpkin Challenge!!

Michaels will have a Great Pumpkin Event at all stores on Saturday, October 5, 1pm – 3pm.  For $6 (which covers the cost of a 9” carveable pumpkins), kids can create their own pumpkin design.  A free face painter will also be on hand.

Michaels also offers custom carved pumpkins that can be personalized with a variety of designs and names.  Prices start at $19.99 and you can order them at all Michaels locations.  Just make sure to place your order by Oct. 13 so that it will be completed by Halloween.  Visit http://www.michaels.com/custom-carved-pumpkins for more information.

Disclosure: Michaels provided a foam pumpkins, a hot craft knife, and a gift card to purchase supplies for my pumpkin crafts.  They asked that I blog about what I made, but made no requirements that I give a favorable review of their store. My opinions are entirely mine.