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Independence, MO —
April Mazeikis grew up an artistic person and had intentions of going to art school.
“I should have gone,” Mazeikis of Independence says. “The reason I chickened out was because I was always good at copying stuff, but not really good at creating my own stuff.”
So, pumpkin carving came naturally for Mazeikis, and about five years ago, she graduated from using patterns in carving kits to looking at an image and then creating it freehanded on a pumpkin.
“Somebody around the block on Halloween had one of Marilyn Monroe, and I went, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s amazing. I can do that,’” she says. “The next year, I started trying it out, and I was kind of good at it.”
These days, Mazeikis has aspirations of growing her Facebook account, The Pumpkin Diva, into a small business. She’s created pumpkin-based works of art featuring the images of Frankenstein, Edgar Allen Poe and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as taking requests from family and friends.
For those just getting started, Mazeikis offers the following Top 5 pieces of advice. Check out her Twitter account, @april_michelle2, for more samples of her work.
1. Choosing the not-so-perfect perfect pumpkin.
If you’re going to carve directly into the face of the pumpkin, creating a 3-D image, choose a heavier pumpkin since it’ll have a thicker skin, Mazeikis says.
And don’t worry about finding the perfect pumpkin.
“Everybody will go out and spend time trying to find the perfect round, beautiful pumpkin,” Mazeikis says. “If you get one that’s crooked and funny, you can work into that.”
For carving faces, flatter front pumpkins work well, she adds.
2. Children can carve, too – and safely.
The young ones can join in the fun without using knives, Mazeikis says. Clay ribbon tools, normally used for clay sculpting, are a safer alternative.
“My daughter is 4 years old, and she can carve a pumpkin because she doesn’t need a knife,” Mazeikis says.
Adults also can use tiny woodcarving knives. Graphite paper from a craft store works well for transferring images onto the pumpkin so its ready for carving.
3. Think bleach water.
Carvings typically should be completed in one sitting, Mazeikis says, but it’s possible to preserve the work for more than just a few days. Mazeikis immediately sprays down her pumpkins with bleach water to keep them moist and to keep the mold away.
April Mazeikis grew up an artistic person and had intentions of going to art school.
“I should have gone,” Mazeikis of Independence says. “The reason I chickened out was because I was always good at copying stuff, but not really good at creating my own stuff.”
So, pumpkin carving came naturally for Mazeikis, and about five years ago, she graduated from using patterns in carving kits to looking at an image and then creating it freehanded on a pumpkin.
“Somebody around the block on Halloween had one of Marilyn Monroe, and I went, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s amazing. I can do that,’” she says. “The next year, I started trying it out, and I was kind of good at it.”
These days, Mazeikis has aspirations of growing her Facebook account, The Pumpkin Diva, into a small business. She’s created pumpkin-based works of art featuring the images of Frankenstein, Edgar Allen Poe and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as taking requests from family and friends.
For those just getting started, Mazeikis offers the following Top 5 pieces of advice. Check out her Twitter account, @april_michelle2, for more samples of her work.
1. Choosing the not-so-perfect perfect pumpkin.
If you’re going to carve directly into the face of the pumpkin, creating a 3-D image, choose a heavier pumpkin since it’ll have a thicker skin, Mazeikis says.
And don’t worry about finding the perfect pumpkin.
“Everybody will go out and spend time trying to find the perfect round, beautiful pumpkin,” Mazeikis says. “If you get one that’s crooked and funny, you can work into that.”
For carving faces, flatter front pumpkins work well, she adds.
2. Children can carve, too – and safely.
The young ones can join in the fun without using knives, Mazeikis says. Clay ribbon tools, normally used for clay sculpting, are a safer alternative.
“My daughter is 4 years old, and she can carve a pumpkin because she doesn’t need a knife,” Mazeikis says.
Adults also can use tiny woodcarving knives. Graphite paper from a craft store works well for transferring images onto the pumpkin so its ready for carving.
3. Think bleach water.
Carvings typically should be completed in one sitting, Mazeikis says, but it’s possible to preserve the work for more than just a few days. Mazeikis immediately sprays down her pumpkins with bleach water to keep them moist and to keep the mold away.
“Every day, if you go out and spritz your pumpkins with bleach water, they’ll last a week or two, as opposed to a day or two,” she says.
4. It’s all about the details.
While visiting a pumpkin patch, grab lots and lots of pumpkin vines, Mazeikis says.
“You can twist them up and make the coolest arms for pumpkins or different props,” she says.
Other fun props for finishing touches include using staples and nails or the guts of the pumpkin. Instead of candles, Mazeikis suggests, use inexpensive glow sticks from the dollar store to illuminate your carvings.
5. Carving isn’t just for Halloween.
Too busy to fit in a carving session before Oct. 31? Pumpkin carvings also work well for Thanksgiving, Mazeikis says, and apple carvings also are fun for Christmas.
“I’ve always loved Halloween – I’ve always been a horror movie fan, and I love costumes,” Mazeikis says. “I wait patiently all year long.”
