pumpkin masta

I've been loving seeing all you festive fall-loving bloggers and your pumpkin creations. Here's my pictorial journey and finished product.  I added a linky at the bottom so we can see yours too!

Alright, I have not carved a pumpkin in YEARS.  The last time was back when I was in high school.  So yeah, it's been 10 years.  My skills are probably a bit rusty.  Or maybe they never existed in the first place.  Yeah, probably that.

 Finding a pumpkin was actually half the battle.  Being in a new town, I didn't really know where to look since I hadn't been seeing them on the side of the road like back home (and I refuse to buy one at the grocery store).  After much search, I found a church selling them to support the youth group, so we headed there yesterday to go pick one out.

Thank God this apartment has a patio.  Other than for growing basil and sitting out there on a sunny morning to read a book, it was also the perfect size for gutting a pumpkin.  That second picture there is me not thinking ahead and trying to scratch an itch with gooey hands.  Yes, I found a piece of pumpkin in my eyebrow later.  Sigh.

I'm totally lame-o and used a stencil that came with my pumpkin-carving kit (bought because I had absolutely zero intentions of using my beloved kitchen knives on "art").  This was probably the easiest one in the set.

That being said, I really do not want to know what a "difficult" one is.  This took me about an hour to carve.  I moved to the kitchen because I waited until after supper and it had gotten "cold" out.  Yes, I've turned into a total Florida weather wimp!

And now, what you've all been waiting for . . . the finished product!

Okay, just kidding, this looks ridiculous when it's not lit

One more time . . .

Yay!

What's my pumpkin so afraid of, anyway?

Don't forget to link up below to show everyone your beautiful pumpkin(s)!