Puking Pumpkin

by noahw in Living > Halloween

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Puking Pumpkin

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Tired of those same old pumpkin carvings year after year? Try something new this Halloween with the puking pumpkin!  It's simple, only takes a few minutes to pull off, and is just as fun and entertaining for kids as it is for adults. 

The phobia name for the fear of puking is emetophobia.  You know you've found a good pumpkin carving theme when it has its own official medical terminology and self help website - http://fearofvomiting.com/!

If one puking pumpkin isn't enough for you, check out Schooniedude's How to Make an Awesome Pumpkin Instructable.

Materials

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Making your own puking pumpkin really isn't any different from carving any other type of pumpkin.  All you need is:
  • a pumpkin or two
  • a permanent marker
  • various sharp small knives (I'm using a Stanley utility hack saw in some of the photos)
  • a spoon
  • a bowl


Draw a Scary Puke Face

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The puking pumpkin starts just like all other pumpkin carving adventures begin - by grabbing a marker and sketching out an outline to follow when it comes time to cut out the design.

Try to imagine that face that you make while you're vomiting, then, try to draw that face on the pumpkin.

Pop the Top

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Use a sharp knife to carefully remove the top of the pumpkin.  If possible, try to cut on a slight angle so that the top fits back inside like a wedge or cork and doesn't fall in. 

This will likely happen on its own, even if you're not trying, and if you've ever carved a pumpkin before, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

Scoop the Puke...

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...I mean pumpkin.  No, the puking pumpkin doesn't use real vomit, although, it could if you have access to some and want to up the anti a bit. 

Instead, you can use the stringy bits and seeds that you scrape out from the inside.  They're pretty wet and unruly on their own, and when you arrange them shooting out of the pumpkin's gaping mouth, they can really look like pumpkin puke.

Cut on the Line

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The next step is to use a variety of small sharp knives to cut along the marker line that you drew and remove chunks of your pumpkin.  Be careful in this step - who knows how much blood has been lost do to wayward pumpkin carving knives. 

I carved my pumpkin using both a small paring knife, and a hand held hack saw made by Stanley.  The hack saw works surprisingly well for gentle curves and straightaways.

Arrange the Vomit

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Reach into that big bowl of pumpkin bits that you scooped out earlier and pick out the longest stringiest parts.  Take a big handful of them and shove them into the pumpkin leaving a good amount of them hanging out of the pumpkin's mouth.  Arrange it to look as much like vomit as possible.

Place Strategically

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Place your puking pumpkin someplace strategic.  Think about all the different places one can vomit for a minute or two and see what moves you.  There are so many possibilities...
  • by a bottle of alcohol
  • next to a trash can
  • in a hospital
  • outside a bar
  • in an alley
  • by a rotting fish
  • looking at another pumpkin, that happens to be puking
Or, my personal favorite puke spot, which I've chosen to show in this Instructable - into a toilet bowl.