Fire-Breathing Pumpkin

In this Instructable, I'll show you how to make a fire breathing pumpkin where the eyes/nose/mouth explode out of the pumpkin.

(1) Pumpkin

(1) Carving knife of your choice

(1) Grill lighter with long barrel

Duct Tape (optional)

Drill with 3/8" bit

Aerosol Hairspray (Aqua Net works best)

Safety Glasses (not shown)

Carve your pumpkin the way you typically would. Simple shapes work better. Try to keep all the cut out pieces as full pieces. We will be putting them back into their respective holes after you're done carving. When cutting, try to angle the cuts toward the center of the piece (see diagram above). This will allow the pieces to come out easier.

Use the drill and 3/8" bit to drill a hole in the back of the pumpkin. This will allow you to stick the lighter in through the back side.

Put the cut pieces back into their respective holes and put the pumpkin on a sturdy surface. You'll want to do this outside or in your garage. You'll want to point the face of the pumpkin away from any people or breakable objects. The pieces will fly pretty fast.

Get the hairspray ready. Aqua Net works best but any aerosol hairspray will do.

***Put on your safety glasses***

Open the top of the pumpkin and spray the hairspray into the pumpkin for 2-3 seconds. Put the lid back on and hold it down. I would recommend using duct tape to tape the lid on and wrap duct tape around the pumpkin to hold the lid down (I lost some hand hairs because some fire came out the top). Once the top is down, put the lighter into the back side hole and pull the trigger. Boom!

For the best results, get a video from a 45 degree angle. Enjoy!