Hanging Pumpkins: An homage to Rhonda

Life goals...

The beloved and quintessential Halloween movie Trick 'r Treat inspires and excites me about as much as burlap and a good hanging prop.  It should come as no surprise then that the first time I saw Rhonda's pumpkin bonanza my head literally started spinning.

I was already doing the "abundance of pumpkins" thing but OMG hanging pumpkins?!?!  HANGING PUMPKINS?!?!?  Now THIS I had to do.

It only took me about 5 or 6 years of solid porch swing brainstorming before I finally got it.  Commercially made metal plant hangers were either too expensive, not large enough or covered a lot of the gourd.  I picked up a couple  Kitchen Cooling Racks at my favorite kitchen supply store and then ordered some Metal Planter Chain of Amazon.  A couple coats of black matte spray paint on the racks and add the chain, making sure to space them out to keep the rack level.  The racks usually have feet - you can either have them hang down like feet or, flip the rack over and bend them out slightly and create a sort of cradle for the pumpkin.  This helps keep some of the smaller pumpkins in place.

It works out to just a few bucks per hanger and I like that they work with a variety of different sized and shaped pumpkins.  Obviously, the larger the cooling rack, the larger the pumpkin but I kept mine on the 8" size taking into account the weight of the pumpkin and what I would be hanging them from.

The pumpkin at the far right is hanging from the Camellia bush

Pumpkin Carving Tips

Averaging 25+ carved pumpkins a year one is bound to figure out some short cuts and tricks to making it an easier, more enjoyable experience.  Often I've learned the hard way - you can't believe the rash one develops around their forearm gutting out dozens of gourds.  So here I am, to save you some sweat, tears and strangers concerned about your level of contagiousness.

Before we get started, let's talk tools.  The pumpkin saws available with kits are pretty great but have a pretty wide spread in quality.  Look for one's that have a sturdier looking handle and blade paying particular attention to the where they connect and if it's a strong bond.  The carving action can cause the low quality one's to bend as you saw eventually causing the blade to snap at the handle.  It may cost you a few bucks more but it's worth it.

You'll need:

Pumpkin Saw
Large metal spoon
Crazy sharp knife

Here's my kit:

The crazy sharp knife is just for cutting the tops.  Dull knives are far scarier for this process as the rind of some varieties of pumpkins can be tough to get through.  A good sharp knife gets you through this initial phase faster and safer.  I found this one at Smart & Final 2 decades ago.  I have never sharpened it and it could still cut through a tin can.

I'm pretty sure the spoon is a Chinatown purchase but it may also have come from Smart & Final.  It's the perfect pumpkin scooping spoon as it's edge, while not actually sharp, is able to "cut" the pumpkin guts from the pulp.   One of those "cheaper is better" products at least for what we need it for.

As for the pumpkin saw, I primarily use the long blade with the black & orange handle from a kit I bought at Lombardi Ranch many years ago before they closed.  It's extremely well made so I never worry about the blade snapping off.  The other two with green handles are well made and have smaller blades for the smaller details. 

And now, onto the tips...


Tip 1: Smoke hole - it goes without saying you should cut a hole in the lid of the pumpkin if you're going to use a real candle.  Take it a step further and cut a matching hole in the pumpkin itself.  Now you'll never have to guess which way the lid fits.

Tip 2: Cleaned & Gutted - getting the guts out can be annoying.  I like using a metal rice spoon similar to these.  I've found them at Smart & Final, Big Lots & Dollar Tree stores.  The cheaper one's seem to work better.  The guts tend to have a connecting point dead center bottom (called the Blossom End) that is a good place to start.  Grip the spoon close to where the neck & bowl meet and used the edge to "cut" this away from the flesh/pulp.  Then, starting at the bottom, continue to scrape the fibrous strands where they connect with the flesh, rotating the pumpkin and working your way up as you go.  This technique should cause the guts to accumulate in the middle in one big clump.  Flip the pumpkin over and it "should" just plop right out.

Tip 3: Keep 'em cool - here in LA it's pretty impossible to keep a carved pumpkin more than 48 hours before it starts to mold and collapse.  If you have the space, pop the pumpkins in the fridge during the day to keep them fresh.

Tip 4: Keep em' moist - congratulations, you got me to use my least favorite word.  Moist.  Ugh.  Anyway.  After carving, I rub petroleum jelly or use veggie oil on the exposed areas.  This helps trap in the moisture (ugh, again!) and maintain the shape, especially those finer details that tend to dry out faster than others.

Tip 5: Stop the rot - mix a little bit of bleach with water in a spray bottle and spray all the exposed areas after carving.  Give it a fresh "bath" every day or so.  This will keep it moist (kill me now) but more importantly, will delay mold growth.

Tip 6: Bath time! After I carve I like to submerge my pumpkins in a bucket of water and let them soak for about 10 minutes.  The gourd absorbs some of the water, giving it some life and it helps remove any strands and loose pieces leaving you with a nice clean Jack-o'-Lantern.

Tip 7: What big eyes you have! Something about a pumpkin turns everyone into a sculptor.  And that's great.  I'll never get between someone and their art.  The results can be spectacular.  However, they're only really appreciated up close and with ample time to admire.  I have found a basic formula is most effective = big eyes + big mouth = big impact.  Most visitors experience your pumpkin from afar so the larger the features the higher the visability.  Also, if you're doing a whole bunch of pumpkins, you can crank these out a lot faster than carefully peeling the rind off a pumpkin with a carrot peeler to get a "cool layered effect."  (Note: when friends come to help me carve their inner artist has flourished so you'll notice some of these fancier pumpkins in some of my pics.  Gotta give credit where credit is due.)

Tip 8: Foster Imposters - If you really want to go to town with loads and loads of pumpkins, mix carved craft pumpkins in with real ones.  Use an Xacto knife to carve your favorite designs into assorted size and shape craft pumpkins available at most craft stores.  This can be done during the boring, non-Halloween, part of the year.  The part I like the most is that I can put these out October 1 and have carved & lit pumpkins all month long!  The trick here is the LED candle - they are often dark or have a funny colored light which causes them to stand out against a real pumpkin/candle combo.  After many purchases and returns, I have found one I am really happy with and highly recommend.  And they're remote control!

(before I found the good flameless candles)

Tip 9: Pumpkin Posterity - What to carve?!  One asks themselves, pen poised, ready to draw on their selected gourd, hovering for an eternity as they wait for inspiration to smack them upside the head.  Meanwhile, I have 15 pumpkins to carve so I've busted out 2 before the first pen stroke slides across rind.  How?  Because I just pulled up my "pumpkin" file on my computer and scrolled through the pics from previous years.  Super original no but honestly, who from last year is going to remember anyway?  And if they do, it's often because the liked the design.  I also like to save images I see online or on TV for future pumpkins.  What I'm saying is, make a catalog and get to carving already.

Tip 10: A Charlie Brown Pumpkin - Charlie Brown picked the saddest, least perfect tree on the lot and it was glorious.   With genetic farming taking over and stores looking to buy & sell only the most perfect pumpkins, it can get rather boring.  The giant bins of pumpkins that are all EXACTLY the same are freaky and unnatural.  But what can you do, sometimes this is the only place to get pumpkins.  If you don't have a farm pumpkin patch near you, I've found each store tends to buy from a different grower.  While all the Vons pumpkins may be round and exactly 12" in diameter, Trader Joe's will have bought a different variety that is a different color and size.  Smart & Final tends to hook me up with the tall, oblong one's.  If you have the time, it's worth the separate trips.  If you're lucky enough to have a farm near you even better.   They're more likely to have the twisted and funky gourds and while typically more expensive, a few of these mixed in with store bought and you're set. 

And there you go!  I've included lots of group pics for you to add design ideas to your catalog and would love to see some of your favorite faces and designs.  

48 days till Halloween....

(Quality flameless candles blending in with real candles)

History of the Little Pearl Haunt

Perhaps I've started this blog to share my love for Halloween or perhaps I've done it simply to prolong the addiction.  Give me another avenue to mainline all things Halloween.  Either way, here I am ready, heart racing and blood pouring ready to share my haunt and how I've built it, gravestone by gravestone, over the years.

In later posts I'll go into the details and do some how-to's.  As it's already September, this year's prep is well underway so it's  perfect time to catalog the process.

In 2004 when I was house hunting, my realtor rolled up across the street from a gem.  The minute I saw it's front porch and steps, I envisioned pumpkins lining the stairs.  That year I carved 4 of the 5 pumpkins I bought.  I thought holy cow, look at how magical!   It's quite quaint looking back at it now, but the seeds of great things are often a tad underwhelming.

2004, in all it's out of focus glory...

Precious, right?

Then things started to grow.  For a couple years I went with a whole spider theme, as if my house had been infested with spiders.  I made hundreds of spiders out of pipe cleaners.  I became known as "The Spider House."  This was my first touch of Halloween Neighborhood Notoriety and oh, I was hooked!  What?!  Kids are talking about my house!?!?  There's a "word of mouth" about MY house!?!?  Well, obviously, I'm going to have to go bigger next year, right?

Spider House, 2007.  I think I was up to 8 carved pumpkins that year.

2008 things started to get real.  I hated how dark the porch was so my focus that year was improving the lighting.  And I started to expand beyond the spider theme.  I had been super resistant, I loved being The Spider House, but it was just too hard to resist some of the props out there.  Little did I know, I was taking a giant step off the deep end and had fully transitioned into Haunter.

The haunt grows...Not entirely sure of the pumpkin count that year.  Definitely getting into the teens...

2009 I added a cemetery.  Still Spider House but at the time I started developing a new direction for the haunt.  I wanted it to look like a proper, spooky house.  That house in the neighborhood you ran past as a kid.  I wanted kids to look at it and have a brief moment where they question whether it's awesome Halloween decorations or, does a witch ACTUALLY live there?  This would dictate just about every new purchase or DIY prop from this point forward.  I tend to avoid animatronics, inflatables etc.  Nothing overly cartoonish.  I've taken this philosophy to heart and perhaps a tad too seriously, as you will see coming up.  

2009 and the pumpkin count grows.  Meanwhile, my inability to take a photo in low light does not improve.

Skipping ahead to 2010.  My dad is a clever guy and can build all sorts of things so I asked him to build me spiders that would drop from the trees and porch and then recoil back up.  He thought I was nuts but okay, if his daughter wants spiders that drop from the trees so be it.  He built this incredible contraption of pulleys and motors and it was a huge hit.  I also managed to infect my dad with the Halloween bug and he's been back every Halloween since.  

Meanwhile, I still couldn't take a proper picture...

2011 and the Spider House is no more (although I always include webs and spiders to some degree.)  I'm full blown "Witch's House" and I was gleeful.  The Trick or Treaters loved the changes.  With regulars coming back year after year, they love trying to find the new additions as well as their old favorites.  The chalk ghosts are hugely popular and everyone loves the multitude of pumpkins.  I believe 2011 was the year I was up to 28.  Once I've hit a number, I can never do less than that subsequent years.  I've really carved myself into a corner with this "rule."  Sigh.

2012, big year.  BIG year.  I had always hated those cheap foam tombstones.  Slightest breeze and they'd fly away and break.  I found some amazing cement molds on ebay and because a pro at concrete.  My graveyard took on a whole new life and has become the first thing I put out each year.  I like to do it at night so when the kids are on the way to school, one day it's not there and the next, full cemetery.  My roommate from college was also out that year so I FINALLY got some really great pictures of my decorations.  

33 pumpkins that year.  33!  And the big news, the following year The Today show featured one of the pictures on their show.  I got to hear my name and "33 hand carved pumpkins" fall out of Al Roker's mouth.  I will never be phased by the odd looks by fellow shoppers when I'm stocking up on Halloween in August again.  Al Roker approves, so there.

And now... the photos!!!

Skipping to 2014, still steadily growing.  By now I had introduced some carved craft pumpkins to the mix.  So much easier to start every year with a solid dozen ready to go.

A daytime shot, morning after.  Doesn't look too bad for 400+ trick-or-treaters.

For some reason I have very few pics of 2015.  Same with 2016 but there was a good reason for that.  My daughter showed up just a week and a half before Halloween.  I still fully decorated though.  Got a neighborhood full of kids counting on me.

One of the few pics from that year, but likely the best photo yet...

2017 has lots of great photos and new additions that made me swoon so I'll do a separate post in honor of it's glory.  In the meantime, behold Pumpkin Bushes:

And finally...last year.  Two words: Zombie Horde.  Wait, even better.  3 words: Free Zombie Horde!!!

Phew.  That was a long one.  Won't do that again!  But at least you're now all caught up and familiar with the depth of my Halloween "sickness."  I can't wait to share some of my favorite details & tricks.  

51 days till Halloween...time to get haunting.