Introduction: The Pumpkin Carriage

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Hi everyone,

This year for Halloween Marie and I decided to carve a pumpkin, and do a remake of the Cinderella carriage.

Here is what you'll find in this instructable:

  • Step 1: Materials
  • Step 2: The carriage
  • Step 3: The pumpkin carving
  • Step 4: The coachman and the horses

Step 1: Materials

Here is the list of the tools we used:

  • Some basic tools like a pair of scissors, a knife and cutting pliers
  • A foam cutter. It is very useful to cut expanded polystyrene, as it leaves smooth cuts, and does not make dust (in comparison to wood for example). And it is quite easy to make if you don't own one and want to build it (or cheap if you want to buy it).
  • A dremel for the carving.
  • A hot glue gun.

And here the material:

  • A pumpkin (of course)
  • Expanded polystyrene for the carriage.
  • Tape to cover the polystyrene. It is an "ecological tape", it is a bit rough and it fit perfectly for this project.
  • And decoration objects to complete the carriage (see Step 4)

Step 2: The Carriage

The carriage is made of expanded polystyrene and tape. Why did we use this instead of wood or other materials?

  • Because it does not require particular tools (just a foam cutter) nor specific knowledge of how to use it (just imagination and creativity).
  • Because it is cheap, both of the expanded polystyrene and the tape cost only few euros.
  • Because it is fast, and really easy to cut!
  • And because you do not need a workshop as it leaves no dust, and you can do it anywhere in your home, in your bedroom, your kitchen or your bathroom (just make sure it is well ventilated for the fumes).

What was the idea?We wanted a kind of pedestal for our pumpkin, and make it looks like a carriage; but we also wanted the pumpkin to be removable so we can use it many times.

To make the carriage, we proceeded as follow:

  1. We first designed the patterns of the wheels, and draw them on the polystyrene. We wanted spiral wheels because it reminds the Cinderella carriage, and we designed them on inkscape.
  2. Then we cut each of the four wheels with the foam cutter.
  3. Next we designed a cross to join the wheels and cut it with the foam cutter.
  4. And we cut some disks of polystyrene to place in the middle of the cross, in order to elevate the pumpkin and make the pedestal.
  5. We made the bench for the coachman, with similar spirales than the wheels.
  6. We glued everything together with hot glue.
  7. And to finish, we covered the polystyrene with tape to make it looks better. And we are quite satisfied with the result!

Step 3: The Pumpkin Carving

Here is how we carved our pumpkin. It is the first time we carve it like this, we usually make a basic pumpkin face.

What was the idea?As it is supposed to be a carriage, we needed 2 windows on each side, and we decided to add a witch and her cat instead of Cinderella.

And we made it like this:

  1. We removed the top with a knife.
  2. We got rid of the seeds and some flesh to make the edges thinner. It works great with a spoon.
  3. We choose 2 drawings that were suitable, added them in oval windows on paper, printed them, and stuck it to the pumpkin.
  4. Then with a peak we followed the lines of the drawing to make tiny holes on the pumpkin.
  5. And to finish we carved it with a dremel.

Step 4: The Coachman and the Horses

To finish, we added the coachman (a scarecrow) and the horses (two spiders). We bought all of them for few euros. And at the end we added some strings from the spiders to the coachman.