1. Condition orange clay (I used about 1/2 package) and roll it through the pasta machine to the second thickest setting. Use a cookie cutter or round template to cut out a large circle (mine was 4.25" in diameter).
2. Place a burned-out light bulb in the center of the orange circle. Evenly push the clay up around the bulb.
3. Use a toothpick or similar tool to texture the pumpkin (optional).
4. Trim the top edge to make it more even. The way I do this is to bring a 2.25" diameter cookie cutter down over the top of the light bulb, using it to mark an even cutting line around the top. I then use my clay blade to trim along that line.
5. Bake the pumpkin on the light bulb. Since I want my pumpkin to have a flat bottom to sit on, I baked it just like this. If you wanted a rounded bottom, you could put the light bulb's stem in a trimmed-down toilet paper roll, giving enough support to bake the pumpkin portion in the air. Note: I did not have any trouble baking my light bulb at clay temperatures -- but if you're concerned, you may want to bake the light bulb uncovered first to make sure there are no problems. And of course you should always keep an eye on odd things you put in the oven!
6. Remove the pumpkin from the light bulb. There are two ways to do this.
   • You can place the pumpkin & bulb in a paper bag, then use a hammer or other tool to smash the light bulb, rolling the pumpkin portion around enough to crush any bulb remaining inside it. Be sure to take all the necessary precautions if you do this, and carefully brush out all the glass shards before continuing.
   • OR, if you're not into intentionally breaking things, you can use a craft knife to cut a slit down the back side of the pumpkin. You only need to go about 3/4 of the way down, then carefully slide the pumpkin off the light bulb. Use super glue (I prefer Loctite Control Gel) to fix the slit. This method has the added benefit of allowing you to re-use the bulb for the next pumpkin.
7. Use a craft knife to trim any remaining uneven top edges. Then carve a face in the pumpkin.

HAT

1. To make a hat, start with a cut-down toilet paper roll. I spread a little TLS on the cardboard first, to help the clay adhere better. Cover the roll with a long, thin strip of clay, smoothing the seam where the clay meets.
2. Trim the top and bottom edges with a clay blade.
3. Cut out a circular brim for the hat, making sure that it's large enough to fit on top of the pumpkin's head. I used a 3" circle template for mine.
4. Spread a little TLS along the bottom edge of the tube section, then press it firmly into the brim. Bake and allow to cool.
5. Spread some TLS around the open edge of the hat. Use the hat as a template to cut the top piece from a thin clay sheet. Smooth these together and bake again.

VARIATIONS

• Try hats of different sizes & shapes. The "straw" hat was baked on a metal cookie cutter (which I removed after baking). Consider trying a witch's hat, chef's hat, or baseball cap.
• Try adding a sheet of glow-in-the-dark clay behind the face cutout (thanks to fellow guild member Cassy & soon-to-be-guild-member Nance for this idea). To help the somewhat transparent glow-in-the-dark clay really pop, try using a sheet of white behind it (thanks to Penni Jo for that tip!)
• Try a tiny LED light inside to imitate a candle. Or cut a hole in the bottom so you can feed a Christmas-light sized light through.

1. Roll your orange clay out into a large sheet. I rolled mine to the third thickest setting on my pasta machine. Print a pumpkin template (here's mine) and trace around it with a knife, or cut out a pumpkin shape freehand.
2. Texture (if you want) by pressing the texture sheet onto the clay and pressing it in with a brayer or your fingers. Add a stem (I used a leftover piece of stem from my previous pumpkin post).
3. Use a small straw (coffee stirrers work well) to punch mouth, nose, and eye holes in your pumpkin. You'll want to make sure the hole is big enough that your brad fits through. Carefully consider the hole placement -- if you plan to make large noses, for example, you'll want to leave plenty of room between the nose & mouth holes. (I wish I'd left a little more room between these holes on mine.)
4. Use a toothpick (or the blunt edge of a cookie cutter, or anything else you have handy!) to add a few curved lines to the pumpkin.

5. This is where things get fun. Start making faces -- pumpkin faces, that is! You can use your brad's head as a guide, making sure your pieces are big enough to hide its top. For pieces you want to be relatively flat, I recommend cutting them out & baking them, then gluing them onto the brads with super glue.

   For pieces that are more 3-D (like eyeballs or larger noses), you can build and bake them straight on the brad.

   Create several eyes, noses & mouths for your pumpkin.

6. Bake according to your manufacturer's recommendations. Once everything has cooled, start attaching the brads with super glue. I sanded the tops of my brads a bit first, to roughen them up, then applied a dot of glue to both the brad and the clay piece. I tried to line up my brads so that the legs would be opening to the sides, instead of up & down. This makes it a little easier to keep the brads from running into each other on the back (& from showing around the edges) -- but it's not mandatory. You can always use scissors or wire cutters to snip the legs if there's a problem.
7. Use super glue to attach magnet(s). Don't use really thin magnets -- you don't want your refrigerator getting scratches from the brads. I used two magnets and put them on the outer edges so they didn't get in the way of the brads.
8. Now it's time to play -- er, I mean, test that all the combinations fit together. If you find that your nose is too big, you can always make a smaller one! (Not that easy in real life, eh?)

1. Mix & condition your clay. Premo's orange is a nice pumpkin color right out of the package, but I added a pinch of brown and white to mine to get a softer shade. You'll want to condition a 3/4" - 1" ball of orange for each pumpkin.

   You'll also need a little green-ish clay for the stems. I used equal parts green, brown & white for my stem -- but plain old green would work fine too.

2. Start with the stem. (You were expecting me to start with the pumpkin, weren't you? Nope. We're starting with the stem, & I'll tell you why in a minute.)

   There's a couple of ways to make a stem. If you have a clay gun, use the pictured disc to extrude a long green snake. (I like to add a couple of extra indentions on the sides.) If you don't have a clay gun, roll your clay into a long snake & use your toothpick to add some texture to it.

   Once you have a long thin stem log, you're ready to put it in the oven. Don't cut it to size yet! Let this bake according to the manufacturer's directions while you start working on the pumpkin.

   The reason I recommend baking the stem first is to make it easier to push it into the pumpkin later without distorting it. Plus it works especially well if you're making multiple pumpkins -- you can bake one long (1-2") stem and slice off a piece for each pumpkin. BUT if you're short on time -- or just don't want to mess with two baking cycles -- you can skip this bake and set your stem aside for now.
3. Shape your pumpkin. Roll your clay into a pumpkin shape. Pumpkins come in all sorts of shapes, so anything goes here!
4. Add lines. Press the tip of your toothpick into the center of the top, then roll the toothpick straight down, pressing against the side. Repeat all around the pumpkin. You might want to study a real pumpkin or pumpkin photo first to make your lines more realistic. To me, the lines look like fabric, gathered at the top. They're deeper close to the stem, then fade out as they get further away.
5. Add the stem. Use a sharp blade to cut through your stem log. Then press the stem into the top of the pumpkin. If you're using a baked stem, you'll notice that just pressing the baked clay into the unbaked pumpkin creates a nice, realistic indention. You'll also be able to press the stem in without worrying about distorting it. If you're using an unbaked stem, though, you can always fix distortions by re-shaping it once it's in place.
6. Bake.