Creating Our Own Finding Dory Pumpkin, Halloween Tips and Free Printables #findingdorybluray #findingdory

Halloween is one of our favorite holidays, the activities, the cooler weather and let’s not forget the flavors. There isn’t much about fall and Halloween we don’t like – but we don’t usually have time to get pumpkin carving in with our schedules. I was treated to a special pumpkin carving class with Disney Master Carver Joseph Yakovetic for the upcoming at home release of Finding Dory on Blu-Ray.

If you’ve ever seen some of Joseph Yakovetic’s work it’s absolutely stunning. So the thought of him teaching 25 bloggers how to make our own Finding Dory pumpkin art in a couple hours was a bit daunting. But Yakovetic was patient and helped walk us through the process step by step. We were given pumpkins, tools and even a Finding Dory plush to help us through the process. I had to have Hank, I just love his cranky demeanor.

We weren’t actually carving pumpkins, we were carving and etching them into artwork. Something I had never done before! But the process is relatively easy. We were given a sheet of graphic paper, and a pattern and told to trace over the pattern on top. The result was an outline of the drawing on the pumpkin, and really a lot easier than using the puncture wheel you usually get in kits.

With a black marker, trace over the outlines you drew on your pumpkin, and you will start to see your artwork come to life on your pumpkin. The black lines eventually will be cut away and light will grow through them.

At home, I would probably skip this step – but we continued to make sure our pumpkins looked like Dory. We added yellow paint to her fins, blue to her body and mauve to her eyes and tongue. Even when our pumpkin is not lit – Dory will be there smiling as people go by our house.

The first few parts were a little tricky, but now came the harder part (for beginners that is). We used sculpting tools to go around the outside of Dory and then to remove deeper layers of the flesh of the pumpkin. The parts we removed will show up a different brightness once back lit. It just matters how deep you score or how much you remove.

That is all we did with our pumpkins in our class. But in true Disney fashion, the pumpkins we started arrived at our doorstep the day after we came home. With a little more work we cleaned out our pumpkins and were rewarded with an adorable Finding Dory pumpkin for our porch.

During our class, Joseph Yakovetic gave us a few tips for pumpkin carving that would be great for everyone at home to know about:

1. Don’t cut the stem off the top of your pumpkin, this actually makes your pumpkin go bad quicker. Instead, cut through the back and create a door. Not only will your pumpkin last longer, but it’ll be easier to light.
2. Don’t let your pumpkin sit directly on the pavement, instead use a trivet and keep it elevated. Bring it in each night to keep them nicer longer.
3. And finally, use an old CD to clean out your pumpkin. The larger surface area and curve makes cleaning out pumpkins quick and easy. Yakovetic says he can clean a pumpkin with this method in only 30 seconds!

Find out more about Joseph Yakovetic and his role as Master Pumpkin Carver for Disney! Check out Joseph make a Dory pumpkin below:

Ready to have some fun creating your own Finding Dory Halloween event? Check out the great printable activities from Disney. Just click the image and save the file to print whenever you want.

Find more information about Finding Dory home release:

The summer blockbuster hit, Disney•Pixar’s Finding Dory, swims home just in time for the holidays on Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere (DMA) on Oct. 25 and on Blu-ray 3D™, Blu-ray, DVD and On-Demand on Nov. 15.Viewers can watch Dory’s hilarious and heartwarming quest to find her family and continue the underwater adventure with hours of immersive bonus features.

The film’s playful and plentiful bonus offerings include “Piper,” the theatrical short film starring an irresistible sandpiper hatchling; an all-new mini short featuring interviews with Dory’s pals from the Marine Life Institute; a behind-the-scenes look at the most challenging character Pixar has ever created; never-before-seen deleted scenes, including a digital exclusive featuring the Tank Gang from “Finding Nemo” who make it their mission to get Marlin and Nemo to the Marine Life Institute; and much, much more.

Finding Dory will be released on Digital HD on October 25th and Blu-Ray and DVD on November 15th, preorder your copy now! Visit the official FINDING DORY website,Facebook,Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Tumbler.