A-Z Blogging Challenge: J is for Jack o' Lanterns

Jack o' Lantern by Madame Luciel

With their hollowed-out, glowing orange faces and distinctive silhouettes, Jack o' Lanterns are an instantly recognisable symbol of modern Halloween celebrations. Originally carved from turnips, beets, and other root vegetables, Jack o' Lanterns represented faries, spirits and the Will o' the Wisp phenomenon (lights / orbs that floated above marshland etc.) in Gaelic folklore and were part of the Samhain celebrations. 

Will o' the Wisp / Stingy Jack Folklore

One of the tales associated with Jack o' Lanterns is that of Stingy Jack, which comes from Ireland and Scotland and is similar to the story of Will o' the Wisp. Although there are many different variations, one version tells of a thief called Jack who is running from villagers from whom he has stolen. He meets the Devil,  who wants to take his soul, but Jack comes up with a plan in order to prolong his life for a little longer. 

Jack o' Lanterns by myself & Madame Luciel

He tells the Devil - who can take any form he pleases - to turn himself into a coin and allow himself to be found by the villagers. Then, when he makes himself disappear the villagers would begin to fight and their souls would be more susceptible to the Devil's trickery. The Devil agrees to the plan and jumps into Jack's wallet; however, he finds himself next to a cross, which has also been put there by Jack. The cross strips the Devil of his powers and he is trapped there. 

Before Jack releases the Devil, he forces him to promise never to take his soul, to which he agrees. When Jack eventually dies, his Earthly deeds mean that he is not allowed into Heaven, but because of the Devil's promise, he's not allowed into Hell either and so has nowhere to go. Jack asked how he would find his way in the dark without light and so the Devil mocked him by throwing him an ember from the fires of Hell, which would never extinguish. Jack then carved out a turnip, in which to put the light and endlessly roams the Earth, looking for a place to rest; thus he became known as Jack o' Lantern.

Modern Jack o' Lanterns

Jack o' Lanterns by Madame Luciel

Although pumpkins were never traditionally carved for Halloween, in the 19th century US, where pumpkins were harvested close to the Harvest Festival / Samhain / Halloween celebrations, they began to use these orange gourds. Their skin was much easier to carve and their size made it much easier to put candles inside of, and so the pumpkin became much more popular and synonymous with modern Halloween celebrations. 

Pumpkin Crafting

Death Jack o' Lantern by Kei of Unfortunately Oh!

Traditionally, pumpkin carving was limited to faces, but now there are a vast array of designs used by crafters; it really is an artform!

Witch Jack o' Lantern by Madame Luciel

Frankenstein's Monster Jack o' Lantern by Kei of Unfortunately Oh!

This post is part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge, 2013.

23rd: Carving Pumpkins...With a Gun

The zombie uprising isn't for a few months, but lots have people have been getting prepared early! This one man Mr. Hickok45 has apparently combined zombie preparedness with Halloween festivity and now uses this to carve his pumpkins!

This man has videos going back to 2009 of this method, and has released one for this years season!

It does have the bonus of carving both sides at the same time! Though the face is a little :- | it would be a very quick method for some last minute pumpkins during an assault of the undead!

This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

14th: Pumpkin Fridge Magnets

These pumpkin / jack 'o lantern fridge magnets are from a company called The Witches of Pendle, who are based in Pendle in Lancashire, UK. The company mainly specialises in witch-related items - specifically those relating to The Pendle Witch Trials in 1612 - but they also carry other merchandise as well.

For some reason, the above pumpkin reminds me of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes whenever I see him. He's cute nevertheless!

The other magnet (pictured above) seems to be some kind of pumpkin-magician-elf type guy. Quite charming really! I don't know if these two are sold anymore, but The Witches of Pendle do still make lots of other spooky things.

This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

5th: Halloween Decor - Cat Clown in a Pumpkin

The '5th' in the title is referring to today's date, the 5th of October. This is because I'm taking part in The Countdown to Halloween, but joined up a little late. So the countdown commences from today here!

Anyway, the above photograph is of an ornament I got last year featuring a cat dressed as a clown, in a pumpkin. It came from TK Maxx and, strangely enough, in my experience, they often have odd handmade decorations like that in there. This one is approximately 20-25cm tall and even though I have no idea what exactly the Juggles the Kitty (that's not really his name, I just made that up, obviously) is supposed to be doing, it has cats, clowns, pumpkins and a vintage feel, so I love it! (Seriously though, what do you think he's doing there o.O?)

Most of it is made of something that feels like a slightly heavier version of papier mache, with the accents being made of various fabrics. The cat looks pretty derranged - in the nicest possible way though! - and he's got his tongue sticking out as well.

The pumkin is also fairly unhinged with his swirly eyes and slightly open mouth, but it's the details like that that make this piece rather charming!

This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

Movies & Animation: Pumpkin Moon

Based on the Simon Bartram children's book of the same name, 'Pumpkin Moon' is a delightful, animated Halloween tale, directed by Hilary Audus. The story centres around a black cat that gets caught in the middle of a battle between a group of "good" jack-o'-lanterns, and some "evil" witches that want to take over the world. (Naturally. I mean, what else would evil witches in a kids movie want to do?)

The unusually large, orange, Pumpkin Moon is apparently what gives life to the jack-o'-lanterns, as well as all the Halloween decorations that the witches summon. 

The animation isn't that wonderful, but it's a very sweet, spooky film, and even a little bit sad at the end. Though I won't tell you what happens of course ;) Also, for those of you that don't like musicals and cheesy songs, there's only one corny number in the whole film. Admittedly, the movie is only 30 minutes long, but still, it's not so bad.

If you have the DVD version of 'Pumpkin Moon', you will also get the extras, which consist of a mummy puppet and scary helper hands demonstrating how to make various creepy Halloween decorations. They look quite effective and are all super simple to make.

More screenshots of 'Pumpkin Moon' after the cut below:

How-To Guides: Pumpkin Parcels

Today brings another find from an article in a magazine that was kindly given to me. It was in the October 2010 issue of Your Home, which had a section about Halloween crafts. None of them are on the website, so I thought I'd make them and share the guides here.

First up - Pumpkin Parcels! I used orange tissue paper instead of crepe paper and green tissue paper & cellotape instead of green florists tape, but they are essentially the same.

They're really easy to do and, depending on how many you make, only take between 5 minutes and half an hour to produce. You could put little presents or sweets or anything else you want inside and draw jack o' lantern faces on them to make them more individual, so they're also pretty versatile.

My pumkin parcels

You will need:

• Cellotape / double-sided tape
• Scissors
• Green tissue paper (or green florists tape)
• Orange tissue or crepe paper
• A pen
• Something to fill the parcel with
• A dinner plate (to draw around, not pictured)

More pictures and a step by step how-to guide after the cut below↓

Toys: Clockwork Horrors

Christmas brought some delightful creepy cute and horror themed gifts scuttling their way to me this year. These 6cm high  Clockwork Horrors, sold by Hawkin's Bazaar, lurched like little zombies! They come in four designs - Dracula, a pumpkin head, a skeleton and Frankenstein's Monster (not pictured, as sadly, I don't have that one...yet).

Although their balance isn't fantastic unless they're on a flat, smooth surface and they are a little bit noisy, they're well-made, fun toys and you don't have to wind them up much to make them go. Clockwork Horrors would make excellent party bag fillers or equally interesting things to keep on your desk to procrastinate with. 

Food and Drink: Spooky Chocolate Molds

This delightful spooky chocolate mold was bought as a present for me from the "home and creative kitchenware" shop Lakeland. I assume it was produced for Halloween and so I'm not sure if they still make it or not, but there are many other places, such as FRED, that sell themed chocolate/ice cube molds that could be used instead.

It's made of ridgid but bendable rubber, which means that although it will keep the shape of the chocolate well, it's also very easy to pop out each one when you're done. The rubber material also helps to ensure that they don't stick to the mold. There are shaped ridges and raised areas in each section, meaning that it is really simple to add cute details just by filling them in with a different colour chocolate. I used a small paintbrush to do the details in dark chocolate and then, after leaving it to set for a few minutes, poured in the white chocolate to fill up the rest of the mold.

Make sure the chocolate is completely melted and smooth before you start, as this will give a better outcome. The finished products below might look a little messy, but that was because I used a paint brush that was a little too large for the gaps, not because of the mold itself.

Quick, simple, delicious fun!

Halloween: Jack-o'-Lanterns

In the previous entry, I talked about the book  'Great Pumpkins: Crafty Carving for Halloween', by Peter Cole (with Jessica Hurley). Well, this time, I'm going to show you some pumpkins that Madame Luciel and I carved, including one from that book! 'Witches' Brew' was one of the stencils included and is a spooky and fun design. We didn't use the stencil because Luciel carved it freehand and, even though in the instructions it says you need a lot of tools, we managed only using the pumpkin, knife, bowl, spoon, tea light and newspaper.

'Witches' Brew' stencil

'Witches' Brew' from 'Great Pumpkins'

Some of our Jack-o'-lanterns are below:

Our version of 'Witches' Brew'

Our version of 'Witches' Brew', lit up

Some more of our jack-o'-lanterns (original designs)

For instructions on how to make 'Witches' Brew', click the jump below:

Books: Great Pumpkins - Crafty Carving for Halloween

A few years ago, a friend of mine gave me 'Great Pumpkins: Crafty Carving for Halloween', by Peter Cole (with Jessica Hurley). It's a very useful and fun 80-page instructional book that takes you through getting creative with your ghoulish gourds!

25 amazing Jack-o'-lantern ideas are featured and each one has a stunning photograph by Kate Kunath, description, "you will need" list and guide on how to make it. Also, stencils for some of the designs featured are included and all of the pages are made from thick, glossy paper, which enables you to have the book next to you whilst you carve. Handy!

For photos of some of the fantastic creations, click the jump below↓