I had two friends come and visit me last weekend. On Friday when they got in, one gave me a pumpkin. Not one to refuse gifts, I asked myself,“What am I going to do with a pumpkin?” By the time Sunday rolled around I had an answer, “I’ll carve it a la Zune.”

After spending some time looking for a Zune logo large enough to be a template. I spent time in Photoshop making it pumpkin-ready (i.e. thickening lines). After two tries, I had a template that appeared size-appropriate for my gifted pumpkin. On my initial try, the logo was too big and too thin for my pumpkin when printed in a portrait orientation. Making the logo smaller and thicker, I reprinted the logo in a landscape orientation. This orientation fit the pumpkin.

Using scissors and a box cutter, I freed my template so I could tape it to the pumpkin. For the box cutter portion I used my food prep cutting board (I washed it afterwards). I attached the paper logo of Zune to my pumpkin using scotch tape, barely covering the edges. I traced the outside and inside edges with a gel roller pen. Accounting for the curvature of the pumpkin was a little difficult. Approximating and resmooting the template helped me trace the edges. With a permanent marker, I began coloring the sections I intended to remove, after tracing the edges. With all the lines and triangles, I wanted to be sure I knew where to cut.

My initial post-template product looked partially complete. Freehand, I joined the outside edges of the Zune logo that had been covered by tape. It was at this point I realized I had to create some type of negative space around the logo itself. The interior triangles would be removed, but how would I represent outside edges of the logo?

Again, freehand, I created some edging around the logo allowing it to better stand out when carved. Could I have used a ruler? Sure. Unfortunately that would have meant stopping this journey and looking for my ruler. I was on a mission. Joining the two points on each side of the logo was difficult, but I managed.

Now the fun began, carving the pumpkin. I started by opening the top and removing the pumpkin’s innards. I grabbed a few handfuls of pulp and seed. It was not until after I finished cutting out the shapes I intended to remove that I cleaned out the remaining hanging tendrils inside the pumpkin with a spoon. I recommend doing that just after opening the top. I makes the cleaning job much easier as you are not scraping around where you have already cut into the pumpkin. When carving I moved in an inside-out fashion, meaning I started cutting the shapes closest to the center of the design and then worked my way to the edges.

You can see the residual innards through the shapes I removed. Initially, if I had taken more time cleaning the inside they would not be there. After removing the shapes, I gave the pumpkin a quick scrub with the abrasive end of a scrub sponge. I wanted to remove as much remaining ink as possible. I spent some time straightening some internal edges as I some of my cuts were in an angled fashion away from my guide line. One and a half hours later, I finished carving and started taking some photos of my new work of art. In the spirit of Halloween, I would like to present to everyone my Zune-inspired pumpkin.

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