The Gemini Pumpkin

It's no secret that I absolutely love this time of year, from the crisp air and changing colors of the landscape, to the decorated shops and houses, all of it just makes me smile. Typically I'll head to the grocery store in September and buy small pumpkins, squashes and gourds I can leave on my table through January. On our morning hikes through the woods I gather fallen leaves, acorns and pine cones to add to the decorations. When it comes to pumpkin carving, however, I like to step out of the traditional triangle eyes and jagged mouth box, and create my own, unique decorated pumpkins. I love to use carved pumpkins as vases, coolers filled with ice for beverages, serving pieces (if serving soup or salad, for example), in bathrooms I fill them with potpourri, and by our front door I fill them with candy and let it ooze out of a goolish mouth. Because I'm a Gemini (known for having two faces, which hopefully all know I do NOT) I thought it was somewhat appropriate to create this fun, illusion when you walk in our front door. I always carve my pumpkins from the bottom up, so in this one I added the fun greeting on one side, downloaded a template online for the spooky face, traced it on the opposite side then carved away. To get the exact look I wanted I had to do a little adjusting, but the final outcome, in both of my opinions, is pretty cool!
TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: One hour
COST: Pumpkin was $8, downloading template was free
STRESS LEVEL: Having a spooky good time: LOW