- December 4, 2025
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Winter Garden brothers Diego and Colton Abreu remember the years they were carving pumpkins on the table in their backyard.
They were sure to make the cuts near the stumps at an angle so the stumps could serve as a topper and not fall to the bottom.
They remember the moist fibrous, stringy guts of the pumpkins flying everywhere despite their attempts to keep the space clean and the thwack the chunks they were pulling from the pumpkin made as they placed the guts in a bag for disposal.
It seemed endless trying to scrape every last strand out of the pumpkin using an ice cream scooper before they could start with the real fun: carving.
But after about two hours, they remember being able to put a small light inside and see the smile of their classic jack-o’-lanterns start to glow.
Pumpkin-carving has become a family tradition for the Abreu family, but now, the pumpkins not only serve as Halloween and fall décor on the family’s porch but also as part of Oakland Nature Preserve’s Pumpkin Glow.
The pumpkin fun continues as the family hits one of the trails at Oakland Nature Preserve on a scavenger hunt for their pumpkins.
The boys have been successful in finding their pumpkins lighting the trail for the past two years, and their Halloween festivities will continue this year.
Diego, now 11, Colton, now 12, and their mother, Jennifer Abreu, are all about the fall and spooky season. From the moment someone steps on their driveway, someone can see pumpkins with various faces, scarecrows and hay bales resting beautifully on the front porch for a fall welcome.
Step inside, and the fall décor continues adding a warmth to the home that emanates pumpkin spice and everything nice as there is a mixture of pumpkins and fall leaves perfectly aligned on the walls with family photos.
As much as their love for the season comes out in their home, it pales in comparison to the amount of fall activities they attend.
“It’s just trying to make memories with the family and just enjoy the season,” Jennifer said. “We’ve done all the (Halloween events) at the parks, like Legoland, SeaWorld, Disney, but (Oakland Nature Preserve’s Pumpkin Glow) was just as much fun, and it was right here in our backyard.”
ONP’s Pumpkin Glow has become part of the tradition for the Abreus, as well as Beverly Velazquez. They all have been participating for three years.
Growing up in Puerto Rico, Velazquez didn’t have the eerie haunts of Halloween, because it is not as celebrated on the island. She had to live out her ghostly dreams in the scary movies and TV shows. Since moving to Florida, she’s immersed herself into the Halloween spirit each year.
This year, she plans to carve pumpkins with her boyfriend, making a memory for both of them. She said she wants to have a Halloween movie playing, baked fall treats for munching on and the golden gleam of autumn lighting her apartment to make the epitome of a fall experience while doing the classic fall activity of carving.
“It’ll be a good quality-time experience that I’m really looking forward to,” Velazquez said.
The Abreus and Velazquez can’t wait to hit the trail and find their pumpkins.
“It’s been so much fun that we now have people from St. Cloud and Palm Coast come over for that weekend to just go on the trail with us and find the pumpkins,” Jennifer said. “It keeps growing. Every year, I feel like more and more people come with us.”
Although the hunt for their pumpkins and finally finding theirs is what sparks excitement, the carvers also take notice of the impressive carving of other pumpkins. Besides the jack-o’-lanterns, pumpkins are made to look like various TV and movie characters. There are detailed scenes carved inside a pumpkin to look like a terrarium. Pumpkins range from silly to horrific but in a good way.
Pumpkin carving can be an art form.
Whether it’s a classic jack-o’-lantern or a well-known movie or TV character or a scenic display that’s almost unbelievable to see on a pumpkin, there are countless designs to choose from as the limit is your imagination.
Every choice made in the process can lead to different results. But every step along the way makes a memorable experience.
1. Pick your design
Beverly Velazquez scours Pinterest and YouTube looking for the perfect pumpkin design. She takes her skills and experience into account but also likes to challenge herself. When she made the “My Neighbor Totoro” pumpkins for her first Pumpkin Glow, she felt she bit off more than she could chew, but seeing the finished pumpkins left her amazed.
2. Pick your pumpkin
Diego and Colton Abreu used to carve real pumpkins, but after participating in the Pumpkin Glow with real pumpkins three years ago, they changed their minds. With the Florida heat not giving fall vibes, the pumpkins deteriorated rapidly. The easy solution: craft pumpkins.
The boys’ mother, Jennifer Abreu, said the craft pumpkins will last year-to-year, so the family can add them to a collection and the boys can see how they’ve progressed in their carving skills as they grow older.
“It is definitely easier to carve on a foam pumpkin,” Diego said. “It’s not as thick and hard to cut through, but it also leads to more mistakes, because it’s so easy to cut through, you might veer off by accident easily.”
While Diego chose a large oblong craft pumpkin this year, Colton decided on a small plump one. Each pumpkin offered enough space for their creative freedom when it comes to making a jack-o’-lantern.
Need a splash of color? Colton said craft pumpkins come in a few colors besides orange, but even if you pick an orange pumpkin — real or faux — there’s nothing a little spray paint can’t do to add color.
Velazquez sticks with real pumpkins, but she waits to carve until the day or two before the Pumpkin Glow, knowing how gross a pumpkin can get in Florida, almost creating its own horror scene.
She said when choosing a pumpkin, people need to take into consideration what they’re trying to carve. The first year she participated in the Pumpkin Glow, she found three pumpkins that perfectly measured up for the vision she had to bring the Ghibli Totoro characters to life.
To make carving easier, she recommended choosing a pumpkin that has a side that is more flat because it’s harder to carve straight lines into a curved object.
3. Carving out the top or bottom and cleaning the inside
No matter whether it’s the top of the pumpkin or bottom, there needs to be a place for you to be able to enter the pumpkin to put a candle inside.
The Abreus have carved out the bottom of the pumpkin before, but Diego recommends the top so you don’t have to balance the pumpkin on its stump while working with it.
But no matter where you decide, Velazquez and the Abreus said cutting at an angle is a must. Without that angle, the portion you carve from the top will simply fall to the bottom of your pumpkin each time.
Velazquez recommends putting a disposable cover under your pumpkin for easy cleanup. She said scraping the inside of the pumpkin so almost all the fibers are taken out is crucial. The fewer the fibers, the easier the carve, and the brighter the pumpkin will glow once lit.
4. Outline (Optional)
While the Abreu brothers like to outline their jack-o’-lantern faces on the pumpkin in marker before starting to carve, Velazquez carves freehand.
Diego used an orange marker to design the eyes, nose and mouth of his jack-o’-lantern so it could more easily blend in with the pumpkin in case he couldn’t carve exactly on the lines. Colton used a black marker so he could see the design more clearly while carving, knowing he would be able to wipe the marker off after he was done.
5. Carve
This is where the real fun begins.
The tools used are dealer’s choice. This year, the Abreus experimented with a Dremel. Diego discovered the Dremel wasn’t the best tool to carve out the stump, because it couldn’t get deep enough. He ended up using a standard carving tool and brute strength. But when it came to the details of their jack-o’-lanterns, the Dremel helped provide a smoother finish than the carving saw.
The boys spent about an hour drilling and sawing the eyes, nose and mouth, with the occasional tooth, into their pumpkins. The jack-o’-lanterns had as big of smiles as the boys did as they looked at their finished products.
Velazquez said the standard carving kit that can be purchased at any store is suitable.
Doing everything freehand means Velazquez goes with the flow. She looks at a photo on her phone of what she hopes her pumpkin will look like in the end and uses as much precision as she can with every poke, carve and shave.
Velazquez said if you’re shaving your pumpkin, you might need to shave more than you think, so the light can more easily shine through the pumpkin.
Various tools and methods can be used to accomplish certain styles and techniques. When Velazquez was making the eyeballs for her goofy pumpkins last year, she used a melon baller to scoop out exact circles in the pumpkin for the eye sockets. Then she used the melon baller again on potatoes to create eyes and teeth. She used purple sweet potatoes to create the iris of the eyes. She used lemon juice on the potatoes to ensure they didn’t oxidize so they would last longer and still be environmentally friendly.
On her Totoro pumpkins, she used the natural resources available to her to elevate the design of her pumpkins. She went outside, picked up sticks and used them to attach the pumpkin chunks carved to look like ears to the rest of the pumpkin.
“It’s all trial and error,” she said.
6. Visit Oakland Nature Preserve to see all the pumpkins!
While looking for your pumpkin, take time to see the dozens of others lining the trail.
And when you find yours, take a moment to celebrate your accomplishments of not only finding your pumpkin but also the success of carving it.
