Tips For Carving The Perfect Halloween Pumpkin
Everyone enjoys jack-o-lanterns at Halloween, but it can be frustrating to carve one. If you haven’t done very many of them, it’s best to start out with a simple design. The traditional jig-jog smile and triangle eyes and nose are pretty easy for anyone to do.
There are kits that come with patterns, but some of them are a bit labor intensive. There are special pumpkin carving tools, including small saws, that make it much easier and safer, especially for children. It is best to use a sharp knife, as a dull knife is harder to control. Only let older children use knives with supervision. Be sure to always cut away from you so if the knife does slip you are less likely to have an accident.
One of the biggest things to remember is to not carve your pumpkin too soon or it will be mush before Halloween. When you cut the top of the pumpkin, be sure to cut at an angle so the top doesn’t fall in. Using an ice cream scoop makes easy work of cleaning out the pulp and seeds. Once it’s cleaned out, you are ready to start working on your pumpkin creation.
Draw out a design on paper first to see if you like your idea. Then, draw it on the pumpkin with a non-permanent marker so you can make changes if you don’t like the way it comes out on the pumpkin. Be sure to make the openings large enough to let air circulate for the candle. However, battery powered candles are also a good idea, especially if there are going to be young children around. If you do decide to use a normal candle, make sure it isn’t too tall for the pumpkin and it has a level place on which to sit inside.
Start carving in the middle of your design and work your way out. This way you have more surface area around where you are cutting. You don’t have to take whole sections out at once so cut in small segments. Carefully poke the cut out segments straight out as you go.
To help your pumpkin last longer, seal the exposed edges to keep it from drying out. If it’s going to get cold enough to frost, bring the jack-o-lantern inside for the night. By day, keep it out of direct sunlight.
An alternative to actually carving the pumpkin is to scrape out a design, without cutting all the way through. By taking away part of the darker orange, leaving the lighter color showing you allow your creative work to last longer. Younger children could also paint or cut out shapes from construction paper to decorate the pumpkin. To attach the pieces use straight pins. This also gives the little ones something to do while older children and adults are using the knives.
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