We Carved One-of-a-Kind Jeep Wrangler Pumpkins (ver. 1.0)

Written by Lynnette on November 2, 2005 | Comments (0)

Okay, so the Halloween gods finally caught up with us this year, and we paid the price for our procrastination.

Dearly.

Here's how it all went down...

You may recall, we were excited to try out the new Jeep templates we created this year.

On Halloween night, we set out to live up to our fame and glory as "the pumpkin masters of the neighborhood". (We failed miserably.)

Even though we are ALWAYS the last ones carving pumpkins on the porch each year (up to the very minute that the trick-or-treaters start arriving), we usually manage to create some pretty cool looking pumpkins in the end. This time, however, was another story.

Jim Likes To Grill
Jim had his heart set on carving "the coolest Jeep grille ever"!

To me, the Jeep grille template is just too simple.

To Jim: it's classic.

To the public: it's... it's... railroad tracks?

Just kidding. People (especially the Jeep fans in the neighborhood) knew what it was. But we certainly didn't do it justice with our less-than-perfect straight lines -- which ultimately make a grille a grille.

Lynnette: The Jeep Wrangler
I, on the other hand, had it in my head that the Jeep Wrangler template would surely yield the world's best Jeep pumpkin.

...and people would be talking about it for years to come.

(They might have... if it had been completed by the time Halloween was over!)

Some Modifications Are In Order
Here's what we learned about our homemade Jeep stencils (version 1.0)...

You need more than 10 minutes to undertake such a project -- especially for the first go-around with some new templates.
The pattern itself could be a tad bigger for better overall perspective (i.e. to look "sharp" and clear from a distance).
The cut out spaces should be thicker to add more dimension and allow more light through.
If you allow say... 30 minutes instead of 10 (before the trick-or-treaters started arriving, and we ran out of time) then you might have time to actually carve out the grille part, and some of the other minor details which we completely ignored.

Overall, if we'd taken our time, made the cuts cleaner, and sharpened up the edges, our Jeep pumpkins surely would've won the "best pumpkins on the block" contest again this year.

Oh well, better luck next year... Be sure to check back for Halloween '06 to see the enhancements we make to the Jeep Templates and download your own copies (version 2.0).

We Still Had FUN!
Jim made some friends -- and a few enemies -- when he offered all the wee ones a handful of GOO (slimey pumpkin seeds & string) in lieu of sweet treats from the candy dish.

And I made a point to invite everyone who took an interest in our pumpkin-carving-on-the-porch to "check back tomorrow... that's when our pumpkins will probably be finished!"

In the end, the simplest of them all may have been the best-looking pumpkin we created on this night.