While half the fun of Halloween is the costumes and candy, we can’t forget the other half, pumpkin carving! I remember as a child, counting down the days until Halloween, and I always knew it was only a few weeks away once Dad came home with the pumpkin for us to carve. We used to have such a good time sitting around, carving the pumpkin together as a family. I can even still remember the smell of the candle burning inside the first time we lit it! Each year we continue to keep this tradition alive by carving a pumpkins with my family. And as a Good Cook blogger, this year I was sent the new Sweet Creations by Good Cook Pumpkin Carving Kit to try.
The Sweet Creations Pumpkin Carving Kit comes with everything you need to carve your pumpkin masterpiece! The kit contains 2 saws, 1 scraper, 1 drill and 1 punch wheel, as well as 10 pre-designed paper stencils of varying degrees of difficulty. All you need is the family and the pumpkin!
Choosing the pattern is half the fun, and the tools included in this kit enable you to make any type pumpkin you desire, whether it’s creepy, scary, funny or silly. And if you can’t decide, pick one of the ten patterns that come with the kit. Still can’t decide? Visit the Good Cook Pumpkin Creations website where you can find many more ideas and stencils including everything from monsters to cute faces!
We finally decided to carve Dr. Graves, who is a 2 out of 4 on the difficulty level, although the kit made it much easier! First we cut the top of the pumpkin off, and cleaned out the guts. This has always been my least favorite part when it comes to pumpkin carving, but the included scraper made it much quicker and easier. I made sure to save the seeds for a tasty treat, too!
Once the inside was clean, we removed the pattern from the book and taped it to the pumpkin. Using the punch wheel, I traced around the entire pattern, then removed the paper from the pumpkin.
Next I took pen and traced the pattern made by the dots, then start cutting using the saw. While you do not have to do this step, for me it makes it easier to see the design. I found I needed to use both saws as some parts required more attention to detail, so the smaller blade really came in handy.
The entire cutting process took around 45 minutes, and once finished, we stuck a tea light candle inside, lit it and displayed our pumpkin proudly on our porch. I was real impressed with how easily these tools cut through the pumpkin, as well as how sturdy the tools are. With other kits I have used in the past the blades have often bent easily or snapped in half, but the tools in this kit are well made and durable. Granted, by the time I finished, the blade on the larger saw was curved just a tad, but it was easy to bend back.
Each tool was comfortable to hold and easy to handle. At first I was worried that they may be a bit too small, but it turns out they were the perfect size for manipulating around the angles and curves in the pattern. My only suggestion would be that they include a long-handled scoop with a scraper edge on one side for the initial gut scooping and scraping. That way your hands won’t get all gooey, sticky and yucky. Then, once you have the main mass of guts out, you can come in with the smaller scraper and get the remainder off the sides. Other than that, I definitely recommend the Good Cook Sweet Creations Pumpkin Carving Kit!
Get your own kit directly through the Good Cook Sweet Creations Pumpkin Creations website where it retails for $7.99. However, right now it is on sale for only $6.99! AND, for a limited time only, you can get 25% off all Sweet Creations Halloween products (including this kit) if you use the special promo code PUMPKIN25 at check out!
Have you carved your pumpkin, yet? What will your pumpkin look like this year?