Happy Monday! We are officially 1 week away from Halloween. Can you believe it?! October is coming to a close, so I had to share a fun DIY with you all. I have seen all over Instagram couples and even people alone, doing photoshoots with a jack-o'-lantern style pumpkin on their head that they carved. I decided to partake in this trend going around, and let me tell you, it was so much fun. It is not too late to create your own Pumpkin Head Photoshoot before Halloween arrives next week. All you need to do is follow my steps below.
1.
Get a pumpkin. Ideally, one that is large and head shaped.
2.
At the bottom of the pumpkin, make a circle slightly larger than the size of your neck on the base, and cut that area away. As you can see, this is the area that was cut away. It should be a large round circle. This should be done the night before you will be doing the photoshoot, so that your pumpkin will have some time to air out before you wear it.
3.
In order to actually fit your head inside, you’ll need to cut away a portion of the lower back quadrant of the pumpkin. In order to cut away part of the back, you will need to decide which sides are going to be the front and back. Generally, the flattened or bumpy side of the pumpkin that faced the ground while it was growing makes a pretty good back side. After selecting the front side of the pumpkin, mark out the back section: just wide enough to fit your head through. Make clean straight cuts, so that there is a wide surface for later reattachment if needed.
4.
This is how the pumpkin should look after removing both of those sections. Don’t forget that you will also need to thin the inside-top of the pumpkin. Scoop out all those pumpkin guts and seeds. You should be able to get most of the shell down to about ¾ - 1" thick. Now, slip the pumpkin on your head to see if it fits. If it does not, you will need to make the openings bigger. Remove more from the circle cut or the lower back quadrant.
5.
Lastly, carve out a face in the pumpkin. This is the fun part. Now, you can really let your creativity show. As you can see, I went for the classic jack-o'-lantern face. I had my father carve it for me, as he is much better at it. I love how it tuned out. Very cute and classic.
6.
This is the carving kit I used. Includes 6 eyes, carver, poker, scoop and stencils. Worked well and there is a great variety of faces you can pick from. I used the tools and the jack-o'-lantern face, highly recommend if you need tools or do not want to free hand your pumpkin's face.
I also wore a shower cap, so my hair would not get any pumpkin in it. I waited 2 days before wearing the pumpkin for the photoshoot; however, I still wanted to be sure nothing got in my hair because I heard it is really hard to get pumpkin out.
7.
Finally, go out and do a photoshoot with your very own pumpkin head. We had a blast.
Check out my Instagram, linking here, to see my full Pumpkin Head Photoshoot Challenge video! Leave me a comment or send me a message with how you think I did. I tried to go to a variety of fall themed locations and do a bunch of different poses. It was so much fun. I highly recommend you try this challenge before October ends.
Also, I want to give a shoutout to my sister Kailey, who turns 19 years old today! Happy Birthday Kay! I hope you have an amazing birthday. 1 year left of being a teen. I cannot believe it. You are growing up so fast. You are my best friend and I love hanging out with you. Kay is one of the photographers for my blog, and without her, the blog would not be possible, so thank you Kay!
Xoxo,
Chey