This is the Halloween pumpkin you get for $750, and how to extend its life

[Liberal_in_LA]

?uuid=37dc79e4-7e41-11e5-8e56-0015c588e0f6

?uuid=4a655ff0-7e6d-11e5-9e40-0015c588e0f6


?uuid=046a0460-7e6d-11e5-9f66-0015c588e0f6

This is the Halloween pumpkin you get for $750

Elaborate pumpkins for Halloween, weddings and more
Maniac Pumpkin Carvers

This version of Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night” masterpiece, carved by Brooklyn-based Maniac Pumpkin Carvers, costs about $750, while the Walking Dead image on the right is a touch cheaper.


Not surprisingly, this is a crazy busy time for artist Marc Evan, a co-founder of Maniac Pumpkin Carvers along with fellow artist Chris Soria, and their crew of 10 main carvers. Evan said he’s “lost count” of how many pumpkins the company has already carved this fall, as he spoke to MarketWatch on his way back from picking up lights for another 100 pumpkins.


“As artists, we love to push the boundaries of what can be done with a pumpkin,” he said. “We really have a blast trying to achieve what no one has achieved before.”

But these carvers differ from your Do-it-yourself efforts in some other ways. For one, they don’t cut off the top of the pumpkin. That would be a surefire way to speed up its decay. Instead, they create a hole in the back for a light bulb (no candle).

---
The pumpkin could last just three days or longer. But there are tricks to extending the shelf life of your masterpiece. Plastic wrap and ice baths can help. Leave the stem on. Accept the fact that it will rot eventually.

Tom Nardone, a Michigan-based pumpkin carver who runs the Extreme Pumpkins website, said on his website that spraying the surfaces and insides with a bathroom cleaner that contains bleach might help in your efforts to preserve your creation.

If you want to be extreme, try pickling your pumpkin by submerging it in a vat of white vinegar, Nardone recommended on his website.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-the-halloween-pumpkin-you-get-for-750-2015-10-29?Link=obnetwork

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. I've got a hell of a lot better use for $750 than buying an artsy pumpkin.

Conspicuous consumption at its finest.