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Published October 31, 2012 by Ken Pickard
Published October 31, 2012 by Ken Pickard

How To Carve a Pumkin – The Network Dad Style

How to Carve a PumpkinHappy Halloween!

Today I’m sharing a fun video my kids and I did this past weekend.

“How to Carve a Pumpkin.”

You know with 5 kids I’ve carved my fair share of pumpkins. Actually I get the messy part of de-lidding the thing. My kids get the easy part of carving them.

This one seen here is my entry to this years “Pickard Pumpkin Patch.” Say that 5 times fast!

 

So back to how to carve a pumpkin. Throughout the last 20 years of carving I’ve developed a process I call “The Darth Vader Helmet.”

You know when cut the top of the pumpkin and you have the clean out the inside…

The strings and seeds and difficult to pull out and the slimy stuff gets on your arms?

Well I’ve solved that issue!

Not only that but this technique makes lighting the candle so much easier. Here let me show you…

 

YouTube Preview Image

 

As you can see we had a bit of fun with this one. Usually we’re carving these things the night before, but with such good weather we were able to take our carving activities out side this past weekend. So now we’re ahead of the game.

 

I snapped a few pictures of my helpers..

 

Jacob taking on the pumpkin – I guess the tongue helps some how…

Eli…The pumpkin slayer – He’s a young slayer…

Hopefully you’re able to stay clean now that you know how to carve a pumpkin!

Noe tell me a little story of your best Halloween costume. What did you dress up as a kid? Any wild parties you want to share with the community?

Ken Pickard

Have a fun and safe Halloween!

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About Ken Pickard

Ken Pickard is "The Network Dad" and a freedom fighter. This father of 5 has helped many people find their niche and passion using social media and their blog. Tell him your Goals and Dreams and he will help you own them until they are your reality.   Ken is also abolishing the "Lone Ranger Marketing Mindset" by building tribes and mastermind groups. There is no reason why you need to learn it all by yourself. Join Ken and his Tribe mates to see how they can help you.   If you liked this post tap as many of those share buttons on the left as you want. :) Your followers just might THANK YOU. If you REALLY liked this post and you want to "link back" to it from a relevant post of your own...please send a Facebook message and include your post. I will give your post some extra love via Tribe Pro

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24 Comments and Trackbacks

  • Reply
    Posted by Wendy MacKay on October 31, 2012 at 8:41 am

    Hey Pumpkinman,Good Job! I haven\’t carved for years (part of living in the country with kids who\’ve grown up) but I\’ll sure remember your de-heading tip when my grandkids are born. Good video taping! You\’ve caught an excellent camera man there.

    • Reply
      Posted by Ken Pickard on October 31, 2012 at 5:58 pm

      Wendy,

      Thanks for the video capture comments. I’ll pass them on to my kids. They are starting to make some videos of their own and want a website to post them up to. I may just have to set them up with one huh?

      Ken

      • Reply
        Posted by Wendy MacKay on October 31, 2012 at 6:41 pm

        Absolutely Ken! You have a family of entrepreneurs there and before you know it they’ll be teaching you the tricks of the trade. Heck, they may even be earning more than we ever thought possible and all the money you save on furthering their education you can retire on and travel, lol.
        Wendy MacKay recently posted..Economy getting you down?My Profile

  • Reply
    Posted by Donna Merrill on October 31, 2012 at 12:23 pm

    Thanks for sharing Ken!

    I am a terrible pumpkin carver! I usually do the pain triangles for eyes and nose and a smile. But…love to roast those pumpkin seeds.

    In the past it has been great to do when the kids were small. But a year ago when the adult kids came up, they had done an elaborate job.

    Pumpkin carving brings out the kid in all of us.

    Donna
    Donna Merrill recently posted..Mother Nature Stops BusinessMy Profile

    • Reply
      Posted by Ken Pickard on October 31, 2012 at 5:50 pm

      Donna,

      I agree, carving brings out the kid in us. At least this way I don’t get as messy. It’s actually fun to line em up and gut them so the kids can take over. I love seeing their efforts and creativity.

      Hope you all have a safe night. Are the lights back on in your neighborhood?

      Ken

  • Reply
    Posted by Adrienne on October 31, 2012 at 12:31 pm

    That’s pretty cool Ken…

    I’ve never carved a pumpkin before, ever! Well heck, I don’t have kids. I don’t recall my brother ever carving any with his kids so I guess I just missed out.

    I might have to try that sometime. I bet that was fun!

    Thanks for sharing and you guys have a great time tonight.

    ~Adrienne
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    • Reply
      Posted by Ken Pickard on October 31, 2012 at 5:46 pm

      Adrienne,

      One of the best things to do is carving a pumpkin. Ok maybe not…but we’ve done it many times. So you can live vicariously through our efforts. Do you get many trick or treaters in your area?

      Ken

      • Reply
        Posted by Adrienne on October 31, 2012 at 6:09 pm

        They look messy but I love the end results. I’ll definitely have to live vicariously through your efforts for sure.

        None, I live in a gated community and it’s small. We don’t have any children that live here. I’ve been here 22 years now.
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  • Reply
    Posted by Sylviane Nuccio on October 31, 2012 at 7:14 pm

    Hi ken,

    What a fun video and what a good excuse to have kids, right? Looks like you had fun and you’re very good at carving it seems.
    Sylviane Nuccio recently posted..My Internet Radio Interview With Saytue Saye Host Of BlogTalkRadio Mixture Of ArtsMy Profile

    • Reply
      Posted by Ken Pickard on November 26, 2012 at 11:25 pm

      Sylviane,

      Thanks for the video comment. Yes I’ve carved a few pumpkins in my day. I think just shy of 80…if my math serves me correctly.

      my younger boys would love to make a haunted house, but my wife is a not quite the fan. So we’ll see how that goes.

      Have a great day!

      Ken
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  • Reply
    Posted by Jens P. Berget on October 31, 2012 at 10:37 pm

    We carved our first pumpkin a few days ago. Halloween hasn’t been a big thing in Norway, well, until a few years ago. Now, all the kids are involved, and we did our best with the pumpkin. But my guess is that I’ll be better at it next year :)
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    • Reply
      Posted by Ken Pickard on November 26, 2012 at 11:27 pm

      Jens,

      Thanks for stopping by with your comment. make sure you show off your carving results next year. Glad to hear the kids getting involved too. It’s a fun neighborhood gather kind of thing.

      Ken
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  • Reply
    Posted by Ashley on November 02, 2012 at 2:26 pm

    I’ve always wondered how to carve a pumpkin – in all my years I have never had the opportunity to do so or see it being done. Thanks for sharing your video Ken.
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    • Reply
      Posted by Ken Pickard on November 26, 2012 at 11:30 pm

      Ashley,

      I’m glad you liked the video. Share you results with next years carving. Would love to see them. I’m always impressed to see what the kids come up with after i gut the pumpkin.

      Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week.

      Ken
      Ken Pickard recently posted..Thanksgiving Day Traditions and Being GratefulMy Profile

  • Reply
    Posted by Alexandria on November 03, 2012 at 11:41 am

    Love the Darth Vador Helmet technique! So simple & easy – too late for this year, but will definitely try next halloween! Thanks!
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  • Reply
    Posted by Sue Price on November 05, 2012 at 12:13 am

    Hi Ken

    Given I am an Australian and we do not really celebrate Halloween here (although more and more people are starting to get into it) I have never seen this done.

    Thank you for the demo!

    Oh and if you did not know we eat pumpkin in Australia as a vegetable and we make soup with it.

    Sue
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    • Reply
      Posted by Ken Pickard on November 26, 2012 at 11:33 pm

      Sue,

      You can share this concept and others will thank you for it. Haha…i love this part and enjoy seeing what the kids come up with as faces for the pumpkin.

      We eat pumpkin as well. Mostly in breads and such. I actually got 2 more pumpkins that we didn’t carve so my wife could use them instead of the canned stuff.

      Ken
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  • Reply
    Posted by Lexi on November 05, 2012 at 1:00 am

    Nice video :) Seems like everyone had fun. Never carved a pumpkin in my entire life though. Just not good at carving I guess but watching how fun it seemed in your video, I just might give this a try next Halloween, lol!

  • Reply
    Posted by Carol Minarcik on November 05, 2012 at 3:44 pm

    Hey Ken, Great Post. My daughter loves to carve pumpkins. In fact I sent this url to her so she could see this great demonstration. Thumbs up to you! 5 Kids Huh! Wow!
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  • Reply
    Posted by Steve on November 17, 2012 at 11:28 am

    The “Darth Vader Helmet” sounds like quite the legendary form of pumpkin carving :)

    My best Halloween costume as a kid had to be a full blow Power Ranger outfit back when Power Rangers used to be the big thing :) My mom used to actually make costumes with fabric and a sewing machine using the blueprint they would give you at the fabric store. It was actually pretty cool now that I think about it.
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    • Reply
      Posted by Ken Pickard on November 26, 2012 at 11:40 pm

      Steve,

      That’s awesome! My mom made a lot of my earlier costumes…as well as my siblings costumes come to think of it.

      We’ve done the same for our kids when they were younger. then for the last several years they have bought different parts and made their own costumes. They can be pretty creative.

      But as our twins (the youngest) turn 13 next year, I thinks they have out grown the costume part. they were not into that part this year.

      Thanks for stopping by.

      Ken
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