Great yard sale find! If I had seen those, I surely would have picked them up. $2 is a deal. Do you know how thick these foam pumpkins are? Or how stiff the foam is? You'll likely want to cut a hole on the bottom for lighting, so that's a good area to test your carving methods.
Looking at the photo on your blog - the smaller pumpkin on the right looks to be a "gemmy" type, which is sold at Michaels. For those I like to use the
Versa Tool. That heated blade zooms through that type of foam!
The more pear shaped pumpkin you have... I'm not sure what type that is from looking at it. If the foam is thicker or more brittle in texture, you might want to try a more traditional carving saw with teeth. Finer teeth work better, such as the Pumpkin Masters saws labeled for artificial pumpkins. Or you could use the
Pro Pumpkin Carving Tool if you have one.
As for what patterns to try first... that's entirely up to your bravery level. If you're hesitant about it, try one of the simpler patterns (you can search by difficulty level). Maybe a classic jack-o-lantern face is a good place to start. Not only are those designs pretty simple, but the image is classic and never out of style. Because, keep in mind... these pumpkins don't rot away, so you'll want a design you won't get sick of.
Oh, and thank you for the shout out on your blog!
