How to make a pumpkin lamp with your own hands.
Despite the fact that the Russian people have a lothis own holidays and traditions, and he does not disdain those of others either. Such a famous foreign holiday as Halloween was no exception. This harmless, at first glance, celebration came from ancient pagan rituals and holidays. Back in the seventh century, May 13 was celebrated as the night of all Saints, which was dedicated to honoring the memory of all the dead martyrs. From the very beginning, this day represented a unification of the traditions of several Celtic celebrations that were dedicated to the element of fire, the power of darkness, summer and winter periods. But over the years, the traditions turned into more Christian ones, and the holiday moved to the night from October 31 to November 1. In the celebration of Halloween these days, only pagan attributes are observed: spiders, cats, witches, brooms, dressing up, etc. And the main colors of Halloween are orange and black, which always corresponded to the ancient concepts of death and harvest of ancient idolaters. Our people do not attach such importance to this celebration as it does in the States. And instead of the main traditions: visiting neighbors' houses, distributing sweets, etc., our younger generation celebrates this holiday in a rather simplified form. Everything is limited to an ordinary masquerade and comes down to dressing up in creepy costumes. One of the main attributes of this intriguing holiday is considered to be a pumpkin with a candle inside. There are many versions regarding its origin: protection from evil, lost souls, etc. But the most interesting is the legend of Jack, who tried to outwit the Devil and twice received his assurance of untouchability. But he soon died without using his privileges. But Jack could not get to hell or heaven after death. Since then, his spirit has wandered the world, lighting his difficult path with a small piece of coal given to him by the Devil. Jack placed his smoking coal in an empty pumpkin and set off to wander the world.
Jack-o'-lanterns are madeusing various types of faces. And in this article we will try to dwell in detail on how to make such a lamp for All Saints' Day with your own hands. To make it, you need to stock up on a large set of tools. This is a file, pins, an awl or knitting needle, two knives (short and long), a spoon, a candle, a can of black paint, a kitchen board, a stencil, and, of course, the pumpkin itself. Now let's get down to making it. For this master class, a bottle-shaped pumpkin was selected and, suitable for it, the shape of Jack's face. First, you should cut off the top of our pumpkin. Make the cut at a slight angle so that the pumpkin closes like a cork.
It is enough to cut out a pumpkin of this shapenot easy, because its top is filled with pulp, and the seeds will be only at the very bottom. Therefore, you need to get to them very carefully. Extracting the pulp is quite difficult, so in this work, in addition to a spoon, you can also use a knife. Our preparation will be ready when the pulp and seeds are extracted.
Now let's start cutting out the face using our stencil. Adjust it to the size of your pumpkin. Then attach all the parts to the pumpkin. If you are satisfied with everything, pin them in place.
Next, using an awl, make small holes, as if outlining our stencils.
You should get something like the picture.
Use this method to outline parts of Jack's face andPut the stencils aside. Then take a small knife and start drawing all the lines, but be extremely careful. Taking it closer to the end will make it easier for you to do the job.
With each touch, apply more pressure to the knifestronger, so that in the end you will be able to cut through the walls of our pumpkin. Pull out the eye, carefully prying it with a knife. The same thing needs to be done with all parts of the face.
As you can see, all the edges look veryuneven and careless. To correct this situation, process them using a file. This should be done in the same direction: inward, so that the edges do not have a torn appearance. As you can see: the right smoothed eye is significantly different from the left one.
Using the same steps, smooth out all the ends,except for the hat. The pumpkin carving stage is finished. Place a decorative candle inside and the Jack-o'-lantern is ready. But if you want something more original, then prepare black paint. In order not to paint the cut lines, plug all the holes with newspaper. Know that paint that has not yet dried is highly flammable. Therefore, place the candle inside only after the pumpkin has completely dried.
After two hours, when the paint is completely dry, remove the newspapers from the holes. You can paint the pumpkin stem a different color if you wish.
Now our Jack-o'-lantern is completely ready. Light the candle and turn off the light. Its reflection will spread in a very long path, thanks to this shape of the mouth.
