JustJimAZ

Last time I left off just as I added the stem/vine to the pumpkin. I did not mention that I decided to create some packing tape leaves.
This is what a pumpkin leaf looks like:


This is what mine looked like, made of packing tape and a bit of hot glue for veins:


So, yeah, I know they are not botanically correct. They are, however, distinguishable as leaves, I think.

Once attached, they look something like this:



I then cut the final eyes, nose, and mouth out of black duct tape and positioned them. Once all the features were added, I added another layer of packing tape to the "face".



At this point, I was worried that the thing was too transparent. The stufing was clearly visible within, and I was worried it would be too clear once removed. I thought it would help to add a wash of thinned orange paint to the body and some wood stain to the stem.



This was 100% unnecessary. When I pulled the stuffing out, it was translucent but not transparent. The stuffing pressed against the sides fooled me. If I do another, I will not be adding this step - although, if I had some stained glass paint lying around, I might still be tempted to paint it orange.

As it is, once I pulled the stuffing out, this is how it looked in daylight:



With a string of lights inside:



As a mask:



Not sure I like it too much as a mask. Visibility is even worse than I thought it would be. With a handler helping out, it would be doable though.

Finally, here it is sitting on top of my lamp:



So that's it.

Remember I said the whole thing cost me less than $20? Well, it was something like $18, and $3 of that was for drop cloths I did not use. Another $3-$4 was for a roll of packing tape I did not use. I did buy one of those cheap packing tape dispensers, and I used that whole roll and most of a 109 yard roll, but:

A) I ended up not using the dispenser at all once I emptied the first roll, and
B) you could probably get away with using just one roll of 109 yards.

I also only used three of the twenty clear garbage bags, so I still have tape and bags to do one more, or to make a more traditional packing tape ghost. I have enough clear bags to make another several more pumpkins.

Naturally, I still have all the paper I pulled out of the original form, too. So one could easily make two of these for about $15-$16. After that, you should only have to buy a roll of tape for the next 6 or so, if you want an army of ghostly giant Jack o Lanterns!

The end prodct as shown is lightweight, and could be easily crushed. That said, its low weight would make it easy to hang from overhead, or to put on a popup mechanism. It has enough structure to sit uprigth and not collapse under its own weight, which was a goal here.

I'd love to see what you do with it.

Happy Haunting!