Friday, November 03, 2006
Flaming Pumpkins of Death
As far as decorations go, Halloween is one of my more favorite holidays. I don't really even consider it a holiday so much so as an event. It's great to see the kids dressed up, even better when the adults join in the fun. 2 years ago we had quite an exhibit, with a fog machine, strobe light, misc. decorations, and lets not forget the glow sticks. There was so much fog pouring out of the garage, the neighbors thought the hosue was on fire.
Unfortunately, the fog machine didn't hold up for the following year and we had to think of something else. I started looking for pumpkin carving ideas, templates, that sort of thing. That's when I came across Extreme Pumpkins. And the thing that really caught my eye was the jack-o-lantern with a three foot high flame shooting out the top of it's head.
I stared in awe, wondering how it was possible. No simple candle could produce a flame of such magnitude. Luckily for me, there was a little tutorial that explained how the whole thing was done.
So, ignoring the warnings and disbelief of my wife and my father, I proceeded to soak a roll of toilet paper in kerosene while I started to carve my pumpkin.
Once the pumpkin was ready and it was time for the trick-or-treaters to start coming 'round, I placed the kerosene soaked TP into the empty cavity of my pumpkin and produced a spark, which lit that sucker like you wouldn't believe. It was awesome.
This year, not really being the creative type, I decided we would relive the flaming pumpkin and give the folks in Salisbury something they hadn't seen before.
And my buddy got in on the action as well. Starting off, we had 2 carved pumpkins, 7 rolls of toilet paper, kerosene, and a box of matches.
But by the time we were done, we had gone through a family pack of toilet paper, a roll of paper towels, all of the kerosene, half a container of canola oil, and a can of paint thinner. ( for the record, the canola oil burns really well, but doesn't provide the appropriate height of flame that we were looking for, and the paint thinner was awesome! giving even bigger flammage than the kerosene)
You can check out the pictures by clicking on one in the Flickr box to the right. ¶ 5:58 PM
Unfortunately, the fog machine didn't hold up for the following year and we had to think of something else. I started looking for pumpkin carving ideas, templates, that sort of thing. That's when I came across Extreme Pumpkins. And the thing that really caught my eye was the jack-o-lantern with a three foot high flame shooting out the top of it's head.
I stared in awe, wondering how it was possible. No simple candle could produce a flame of such magnitude. Luckily for me, there was a little tutorial that explained how the whole thing was done.
So, ignoring the warnings and disbelief of my wife and my father, I proceeded to soak a roll of toilet paper in kerosene while I started to carve my pumpkin.
Once the pumpkin was ready and it was time for the trick-or-treaters to start coming 'round, I placed the kerosene soaked TP into the empty cavity of my pumpkin and produced a spark, which lit that sucker like you wouldn't believe. It was awesome.
This year, not really being the creative type, I decided we would relive the flaming pumpkin and give the folks in Salisbury something they hadn't seen before.
And my buddy got in on the action as well. Starting off, we had 2 carved pumpkins, 7 rolls of toilet paper, kerosene, and a box of matches.
But by the time we were done, we had gone through a family pack of toilet paper, a roll of paper towels, all of the kerosene, half a container of canola oil, and a can of paint thinner. ( for the record, the canola oil burns really well, but doesn't provide the appropriate height of flame that we were looking for, and the paint thinner was awesome! giving even bigger flammage than the kerosene)
You can check out the pictures by clicking on one in the Flickr box to the right. ¶ 5:58 PM
