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Alice in Wonderland has transcended the media to inspire everything from music, movies, games, and even festivals. The underlying themes of Alice in Wonderland have subtle hints of horror accentuated by that feeling of getting lost in an unknown land.
I imagine encountering strange creatures would be terrifying – regardless of how quirky they appear to be. But that slight trepidation gives way to deliver us the inspiration of Alice in Wonderland pumpkin carvings that you can try out on your own during Halloween.
So, if you want this Halloween to have a flare from Wonderland, keep reading.
There is something unnerving about the Cheshire cat. The perplexing, philosophical conversations it has with Alice are iconic in their own right, but they aren't anything compared to that ghastly grin.
If you’ve delved into the Alice in Wonderland books, you know that in the end, that ghastly grin is all that remains – leaving Alice, and us, a bit terrified.
That's what makes a Cheshire cat the perfect Halloween carving.
Evoking the less silly and more wicked flavor of the famous feline—pumpkins modeled on the sinister side of the Cheshire Cat are an obvious top contender at carving time.
The complexity of this design is moderate—the teeth can certainly be tricky and demand some skill. Go wild with the whiskers and remember you can do no wrong with the “fluffy fur”. Here is a Cheshire Cat pumpkin carving that captures the creepy grin in all its glory with a full image roster.
The best part about these creepy designs are their inexhaustible variations—all while remaining identifiable as ever. For example, if you want to save yourself the fine detail work of carving individual fangs, you could try carving a single jagged opening for the same grinning effect. You can carve more at the center of the upper lip and create the iconic cat face shape.
The ears on either side of the eyes don’t look bad either. The best part of this design is that it doesn’t betray the true spirit of Halloween. It just makes your Jack-o-Lantern a bit furrier.
Here is another Cheshire cat for you. But it has way more layers and design. Inspired by Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, carving this cat on the pumpkin would take some time. It emphasizes not just the grin – but also the feral nature of the character – as if it is hiding something from you, but you don't want to ask because that would be a waste of time.
Suppose you want to take a quirkier spin on the Cheshire cat—why not put a Disney spin on it? Keep in mind, we're not talking about the "now" Disney that might spring to mind, but the Disney from the middle of the 20th century when the producers weren't afraid to showcase the dark, grotesque undertones of the Alice in Wonderland novels. Do you know that this movie was originally supposed to release in 1938 but was pushed back due to World War 2?
This quirky Cheshire cat is perfect if you want your Halloween pumpkin to be a bit more animated and expressive.
Putting this design to your pumpkin is easy. You can either draw this freehand on a dry pumpkinor take a printout on the paper, put it on the pumpkin, and outline the design using shallow cuts before letting the carving begin.
Click to check out the Tim Burton style Cheshire Cat pumpkin template.
If you’re willing to roll up your sleeves to create an intricate Alice in Wonderland design properly, you will need more than just one pumpkin.
Here is the complete Cheshire Cat inspired by the animated Disney rendition of the fancy feline.
The animated Disney version requires deft hands, and perhaps more than two of them. But the best part is that you won't need to hollow out your pumpkin to get the right effect.
Just hold your knife like you would a paintbrush, and slice away (softly) on the surface of the pumpkin until the exact pattern starts to emerge. For sculpting around the wider surface – like the mouth of this cat – don't be afraid to use a pumpkin peeler. When beginning to work on the body, try to peel the skin off in one smooth and slow motion to use that skin as a tail.
The Cheshire cat is the lowest-hanging fruit of Alice in Wonderland's pumpkin carvings. The design is more obvious for the lack of a better word— due perhaps to his already Pumpkin-ish physique. However, what about the characters that aren’t as rotund?
Who can forget the nuanced – quirky – and almost child-like portrayal of Mad Hatter by Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland? This is one of the more intricate designs for Alice in Wonderland-based pumpkin carvings we have come across. You must be extremely careful about skin layers underneath to accentuate lighting effects.
Creating it would be extremely laborious unless you are a passionate carver. However, if you're able to pull it off, your house will look extra Halloween-y on the day.
This is one of the most inventive and yet somehow the most minimalist pumpkin carving for Alice in Wonderland. The never-contradicting, always-together Tweedle brothers are the perfect Alice in Wonderland Carving. The only problem is that you'd have four pumpkins to get the full effect.
As you can see, carving them can be very easy. You won't need to worry about the imperfections either, as their crooked smiles would give them more character.
Red Queen’s inflated head makes the perfect design to carve onto a pumpkin. However, it would be a bit obvious. Here is a design by artist Jim L who used Dremel 300 to etch the full body of Red Queen on the pumpkin as an entry to the pumpkin carving contest. They went further to modify the carving depth to make the lighting effects more pronounced.
This list could not be complete without providing a pattern that will let you celebrate the symbol of Alyss Heart, Hatter Madigan, and all your favorite Looking Glass Wars characters. Carefully carve away the rind inside the black outline, then with a sharp tool gently extract the suit symbols to allow the light to shine through. The various intensities of glow coming from inside your gourd will brighten any home during the spooky season.
I hope you enjoyed looking at these nuanced, quirky designs inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Are there more? Of course, we have put merely a step into the rabbit hole, and as we go deeper, the designs get more intricate and whimsical.
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