
Product test
Homemade candles – testing Rico Design’s wax moulds
by Pia Seidel
Carving Halloween pumpkins is horrifying enough for people like me who struggle with arts and crafts. Luckily, I found a set that simplifies the creative process. Using it, even I became a Michelangelo of pumpkin art.
For English subtitles, click the gear icon, «Subtitles/CC» and «Auto-translate».
Now, I’m facing my inner fears and innate handicraft struggles while trying to craft an acceptable pumpkin with a carving set.
The 23-piece set consists mainly of moulds, allowing you to prick out eyes, a nose and mouth from the pumpkin rind. There’s also a very blunt saw, a spoon for hollowing out the veg and a plastic hammer used to smack the moulds deeper.
As I bought a pumpkin that was deliberately grown for Halloween, its wall is so thin I can easily cut out the lid with the blunt saw. I hardly have to scoop out any pulp either. After that, I use a spoon to remove the seeds and whatever else is in the pumpkin.
Then I can simply place the moulds for its eyes, nose and mouth and hammer them in. Removing these shapes is trickier, but with a little more hammering and patience I can do it and end up with an almost perfect Halloween pumpkin within a few minutes.
Since the set comes with 20 shapes, it’s perfect for families with several kids or a children’s Halloween party. The tools are so blunt that no child will hurt themselves… To anyone who’s watched the video above, that was just an Oscar-worthy special effect that’d make even Stan Winston blush. I still have my left index finger.
If the set had a few more tools for custom designs and less plastic on the handles, it’d be perfect. Still, it’s ideal party fun that would’ve taken my «Räbeliechtli» to a whole new level. A pity it didn’t exist in my day.
Pro
Contra
When I flew the family nest over 15 years ago, I suddenly had to cook for myself. But it wasn’t long until this necessity became a virtue. Today, rattling those pots and pans is a fundamental part of my life. I’m a true foodie and devour everything from junk food to star-awarded cuisine. Literally. I eat way too fast.
Plenty of people in German-speaking Switzerland are familiar with the «Räbeliechtli» tradition. Kids hollow out white turnips and carve motifs into them, carrying them through the streets as lanterns in a parade. My lantern was always the ugliest, and that wasn’t my only trauma related to those parades. One time, a friend accidentally pushed me into the barbed wire of a sheep meadow during one. The solemn parade turned into a bloody horror movie. You can still see the scar above my left eye.




Ariel Universal+
72 Washing cycles, Washing powder