Eli, though only a year and a half and, though we don't own a television,[foot]We judiciously watch Sesame Street clips on the computer.[/foot] is a big fan of Elmo.[foot]Elmo has some sort of reality distortion field for kids.[/foot] So, I decided to carve Elmo into our pumpkin this year for Halloween. Here's the step by step:

1. Draw Elmo

   First I sketched Elmo.[foot]And yes, that is reused computer paper used for the sketch.[/foot] [caption id="attachment_258" align="aligncenter" width="518" caption="Step 1: Sketch Elmo"][/caption]

2. Convert to Stencil

   Then I scanned the sketch in to Illustrator and created a grayscale stencil. [caption id="attachment_259" align="aligncenter" width="518" caption="Step 2: Convert into Stencil"][/caption]

3. Carve Elmo into a Pumpkin

   I transfered the stencil to the pumpkin using a nail as a punch. Then I cut out the black areas and removed the skin and thinned the flesh for the gray areas.[caption id="attachment_261" align="aligncenter" width="518" caption="Step 3: Carve Elmo into a Pumpkin"][/caption] Download the stencil (PDF), if you like.