[Liderc]

Last year I bought one Funkin from Michael's and I was not pleased. I bought the largest one I could find which was quite small in comparison to the usual pumpkins I carve and it also looked horrible.

When I brought it home I punched out my stencil on the funkin and began to cut, soon realizing that I could not cut the damn thing, I mean literally couldn't puncture it nor cut it, I was using the regular Pumpkin masters saws so I'm guessing that was the problem.

I'm worried about buying another one this year, because I had such a horrible time with the one last year, looking for some encouragement from expierienced funkin users to get me to buy one this year, thanks.

[Tkaraoke]

Are you sure it was the Funkin brand? I went there the other day and they sold some other brand of carving pumpkin that honestly looked like crap compared to a real Funkin. It was squishy to the touch unlike the hardness of a Funkin.

[Pumpkin King]

Liderc-

I use the pumpkin Masters foam carving saws and they work well, but are slow going. Also the suggest of using an exacto knife would work as well. Could it be you got one of the decorative pumpkins not for carving by mistake? Michaels does sell some decorative one that are not for carving.

[Tkaraoke]

That's what I was wondering as well. Funkins are hard but they will give in when you apply some pressure to them. The biggest problem I've had with Funkins is that sometimes the foam is uneven on the inside and makes for some slow going when carving.

[Drayco]

The foam being uneven on the inside and paint peeling off sometimes have turned me off to Funkins. While the Funkins have a better overall color to them, the Michaels pumpkins have a consistent foam thickness once I take the sandpaper flap wheel to the inner lip that causes the black horizontal line, and the paint has never peeled off. I think it all boils down to preference.

[Liderc]

I'm pretty much a veteran to pumpkin carving, so I would have to only assume I picked up the right one, they were in a bin with about 25 or so of the same kind just different sizes. Maybe I just got a bad one, I'll give it another try this year, thanks for all the help.

[Zombie Pumpkins!]

As far as I'm aware, Michaels doesn't sell Funkins. Since they produce their own (thinner) pumpkins, it seems that selling Funkins would compete with their standard product.

Personally, the only places I've been able to get Funkins are on Fun-kins.com and at Jo-Ann, A.C. Moore, and Hobby Lobby stores.

[Tkaraoke]

I get my Funkins from Hobby Lobby, which might be owned by the same company as Jo-Anns.

It was weird, one HL's Funkins looked (color wise) a lot brighter than another one. Maybe it was just a bad/good batch

[Pumpkin King]

Micahel's carries their own knock off version of Funkins. I also saw that Gardenridge carries the same brand as Michaels.

[Donaldo]

the Michaels pumpkins have a consistent foam thickness once I take the sandpaper flap wheel to the inner lip that causes the black horizontal line.

How do you do this exactly? I thought the lines were seams and that ya just had to live with it since the Michael's pumpkins are cheaper. This sanding the seams/lines doesn't cause the pumpkin to fall apart?

Thanks
D

[Drayco]

the Michaels pumpkins have a consistent foam thickness once I take the sandpaper flap wheel to the inner lip that causes the black horizontal line.

How do you do this exactly? I thought the lines were seams and that ya just had to live with it since the Michael's pumpkins are cheaper. This sanding the seams/lines doesn't cause the pumpkin to fall apart?

Thanks
D

Hi Donaldo,

There are different things you can use to do this but I find a sandpaper flap wheel and a 12" drill extension that looks like this (click here) works the easiest for me. You can pick them up at your local hardware store for around $12. After you cut the lid of the pumpkin you place the sanding wheel inside and sand directly on the raised horizontal lip until it's just about even with the upper and lower surface wall all the way around the pumpkin. If you have enough space drop an old pumpkin light in that you don't mind scratching before hand and turn down the room lights to get a better idea of how far to sand the lip down. Never sand the lip lower than the upper or lower surface wall or that black line will turn into a lighter color line than the rest of the pumpkin.

Make sure you do this before you carve your pumpkin so you don't risk breaking off fragile parts of the pattern after it's been carved. Take your time until you get the feel for it. After you get use to it you'll probably be able to do it in 3 to 4 minutes per pumpkin.

Hope this helps.

[pumpkinhead232]

micheals does not sell fun kins micheal pumpkins are made by gemmy funkins made a carving saw just for carving funkins . pumpkin masters just duplicate there product just too make a profit

[balsak40]

I've tried funkins and I'm not really impressed with them. Michaels on the other hand seems to be a bit tougher on carving but the molding is durable and no paint peels..

I'll pick up funkins when Jo ann's blows them out after halloween so I can scarf them up at 75% off and carve all year!

The Michaels brand was hit at my local retailer. They were out by the first weekend of October. don't think I'll get lucky on any blowouts!