[Zombie Pumpkins!]

Every summer I carve a couple watermelons, usually for display at outdoor summer parties, barbecues, and the like. Independence Day is one summer holiday that has become connected to carving for my family. What pumpkins are to October 31st, melons are to July 4th.

Considering the meaning of our July holiday, I usually try to do one patriotic pattern. This year I went with good ol' Honest Abe. I carved the pattern about 12 hours after designing it, and I'm pretty pleased with how he turned out.



My cousin went for a different theme, and opted for a Michael Jackson tribute. The Thriller pattern is likely more suited to the Halloween season, but the subject matter is certainly timely right now.



My mom carved another of the new patterns, giving our cookout a more tropical vibe with the Tiki Monkey. Sometimes it pays to keep stuffed toy monkeys around, never know when the prop will come in handy.



Any good 4th of July night has to end with some fireworks, and Mr. Lincoln looks quite noble among the bombs bursting in air.



MJ got the fireworks backdrop as well, but his emitted an eerie green smoke. It looked like something right off the set of the Thriller video.



Thanks for checking out my crop of melon-lanterns for this year, hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.

[Tkaraoke]

They all look awesome! I hope you had a great 4th. Seeing all of these melons is starting to make my carving finger twitch.

[purple1worm]

Great melons! Happy 4th of july!!

[SuperSonic]

omg the thriller pattern with the smoke looks awesome as does honest abe happy 4th of july (even though im a day late)

[gregh3196]

Nice ryan! The abe looks great carved and the MJ with green smoke looks amazing

[Nightwatchman]

Great display Ryan! Abe Lincoln and Michael Jackson are both awesome patterns.

[nosferatu]

Sensational. Do you and your family use lazers to cut watermelons / pumpkins? The cuts are always so neat.

TikiMo is my favourite. He's just so angry. Like the flags in the background and also the patriotism. Proud to be.......

We can't really do that over here as our flags, The Union Jack and The Cross of St George (England) have been hijacked by Nationalist parties with racist overtones. Unfortunately, if you display one outside your house, unless it is in a football context, more often than not you are considered to be a bigot rather than being proud of one's country.

Nice fireworks in the background too. Your photography skills are very impressive too because when I tried doing that at Halloween, all you could see on the photo was a green glare.

[The Captain]

Great melons! Happy 4th of july!!

I totally laughed when I read you post!

Ryan they look amazing! Michael Jackson will be great a Halloween, great new patterns!

[CombichristGirl]

great job and the way each pic is composed just adds to it

[Raven]

Wow, those are most excellent! Abe with the fireworks behind him is stunning. You are certainly a carving master!

[Zombie Pumpkins!]

Thanks for the compliments everyone.

Do you and your family use lazers to cut watermelons / pumpkins? The cuts are always so neat.

No lasers, I'd have to say that my "secret" is the final two steps in the Carving section of my Tips pages...

Final Touches
Once you've removed all of the cut pieces, look your design over and compare to the paper pattern. Placing a flashlight inside the pumpkin will allow you to see the openings clearly. If some areas don't look right, you can use the detail saw tool to carefully trim the inside edges of any excess flesh. Trimming in at an angle will allow more light to come through.

Giving It A Rinse
When you're done, you can give the finished pumpkin a good rinsing in the sink. With the faucet or sprayer hose, spray some cool water through all the cut openings. This gets rid of any of the dangling bits and gives the pumpkin a little extra hydration for a nice fresh look.

I actually do both of these steps at the same time. It's during this sink rinsing step that I also do the last minute tweaking with the small blade of my pro carving tool. I trim away any areas that don't look straight and smooth enough for my level of perfectionism. This includes making sure small openings (like eyes) are cut open enough to let light through, smoothing any large curves so there are no "ripples" and things like that.

We can't really do that over here as our flags, The Union Jack and The Cross of St George (England) have been hijacked by Nationalist parties with racist overtones.

I didn't realize that. Well that's a shame. I suppose something slightly comparable here in the US might be the Confederate flag. But that wouldn't have been appropriate next to my Abe Lincoln anyway... wrong side of the Civil War.

Nice fireworks in the background too. Your photography skills are very impressive too because when I tried doing that at Halloween, all you could see on the photo was a green glare.

Thanks. I find that I take so many pictures of melons and pumpkins every year, I'm always looking for ways to make the photos more interesting.

It's funny to look back on my first pumpkin photos... taken with a lousy camera, in total darkness. You can see the carved design, but no hint of the pumpkin itself, nor any props or creative lighting.

The funny thing about the photos with fireworks in the background... I was the one with the lighter, setting off the the fireworks. So my camera has on a tripod, triggered by remote. Oh, and I was taking video at the same time too. Let's hear it for multitasking!

[SuperSonic]

Multi task PRO

[SuperSonic]

but how do you do those fine details in abes eyes ??? what kind of knife are you using

[Zombie Pumpkins!]

Why, I just used the Pro Pumpkin Carving Tool (with the fine detail blade in place). It's pretty thin and pointy, great for poking out the smallest of bits.

The tools are on order, by the way. I'll keep ya posted if you're interested.

[purple1worm]

I am. Keep two for me.