Sign up for a 3
hour tour of Halloween’s most honored tradition. The eerie light from
your front porch will make your neighbors jealous when they see what you
have created with the skills and tools that you acquire in this class.
The days of sloppy steak knife carvings are over... make way for a low
tech approach with precision results. These simple techniques will
have you overflowing with creativity. You will never look at a pumpkin
the same way again.
This tutorial focuses on the most classic
of carves... The Jack O’Lantern. Faces to decorate and add personality
to your home, table ,or party setting. If you like to show off and brag
on your Maker bravado this is the craft for you. You might actually get
sick of the word WOW. You will learn how to lid, gut, cut, and light
your creation. Methods of preservation and care for your craft will also
be included in the instructions. With the right handling, your gourds
will keep glowing and glowing and glowing to further energize the
spirits of this wondrous season.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED: A
pumpkin! Bring two or three if you like! Shape doesn’t matter. Size
does... go figure. The best pumpkin you can choose is smooth skinned
(one nice side is all that is crucial) and between 8 to 12 inches tall.
We will be applying a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper to the face of the
gourd, so selecting can be as easy as holding up a piece of paper
(portrait or landscape) to the gourd you grab. Inspect the pumpkin all
over. DO NOT PURCHASE a pumpkin that has soft spots, or fuzzy white mold
on the stem. Firm, with a strong stem, and a nice hollow thunk sound
when you knock on it. You should have time to carve up to 2 pumpkins.
You are welcome to bring as many as you like.
WASH YOUR
PUMPKIN!!! When you get your gourds home you will want to wash them with
a mild dish soap like Dawn and dry them with a towel. Pumpkins are
usually quite dirty and that will ruin your carve, make you filthy(ier)
and cause the pumpkin to rot instantly.
You will also need:
arm and hand strength and endurance, patience, willingness to reach in
and pull out the innards, and a creative spirit.
All other
supplies will be provided and you will leave the class with your own set
of tools so you can carve your little hearts out until halloween.
Take this class as a Family... Compare creations and inspire each other to fill the porch this year!
We will be using a variety of blades... SO it’s just smart and totally
required that children under 12 have a parent to supervise and assist
with their halloween hacking.
CLASS DETAILS, PRICE, AND AGE LIMIT call be found on our Calendar Page. RSVP by calling (913) 686-6562 or email: hammerspacehobby@gmail.com
A little about the instructor:
They don’t call me the Queen of Halloween because I make a good punch
for the party. It comes from 10 plus years of awesome costumes, eerie
edibles, and jaw dropping carves that echo the question “Is that a real
pumpkin?”. I eat, sleep, and breathe carving this time of year. It’s a
throwback to my youth... As a little gourd hacker, I was always so
excited to carve pumpkins... and so disappointed that they were never as
cool as I wanted them to be. A steak knife and a slotted spoon do not
pave the road to success. It’s paved with wet newspaper and pumpkin
innards. Learning to think outside the Jack and apply different tools to
the trade I can now carve photographs and fine art on the face of any
pumpkin. See the photo to pumpkin image as my credentials. I like
pumpkin as a media because it is organic. There is something special
about bringing that which is alive, even more to life. They have a charm
that is liken to the bouquet of cut flowers, they are of the moment,
and that moment is fleeting. This is a craft that I truly love. I can’t
thank the gang at Hammerspace enough for giving me a venue to share!
Happy Halloween Folks!
