How to carve a pumpkin

What would Halloween be without a carved pumpkin sitting on your porch or at the window looking out at all the trick or treaters? Make this Halloween special by carving your own. Take delight in the smiling faces as the trick-or-treaters enjoy or get spooked by your own creation.

Steps:

1. Pick out the nicest and healthiest looking pumpkin. Make sure that you do not buy it too long before Halloween.You may want to wash off the pumpkin so it stays healthy longer.
2. First put down newspaper on the table for easy clean-up.Then take a sharp knife and score a line about 5 inches from the top of the pumpkin right around the circumference. You can make it a jagged line if you like. You may also cut the hole in the bottom of the pumpkin, making it easier to put in and light the candle.
3. Use a large carving knife and carefully slice the top half of the pumpkin off using the scored line for guidance.
4. Carefully remove the top and set it aside.
5. Use a large spoon or a scoop and remove all of the filling and seeds. Place them into a bowl to be used later.
6. Draw a design or face on the front of your pumpkin for reference. Make it as spooky or creative as you like, but remember people not to cut out too much – the more pumpkin you remove from the face, the more likely your jack-o-lantern will cave in. Alternatively download a pumpkin carving template from the internet to use as a reference pattern.
7. Cut the shapes out using a sharp knife, carving tools, or a dremel. With a back and forth motion, use a small saw or a serrated knife to join the dots. Against remove the smaller areas first.When you are happy with the details carve around the larger pieces. Be gentle and take your time, removing the unwanted pumpkin as you go. Don’t try and slice your way through the flesh, stick to the sawing motion. Keep following the dotted outline until you have carved the entire design. Once all the pieces have been removed the spooky face will be easy to see
8. Replace the lid that you had set aside.
9. Fill the insides with tealights, candles or LEDs and watch it glow.

Tips:

• Tea Lights and votives are still a very traditional way to go, however battery powered lights are much safer with young children or high winds about. These lights often come in different colors as well and may flicker for an eerie effect!
• If using a candle inside the jack-o-lantern, light it and let it burn for a minute or two. Then take the lid off. There will be a dark spot on the bottom of the lid from the candle smoke, so you know where to cut the smoke hole.
• Line the inside of the lid with several layers of aluminum foil – fold a length of foil several times, put it on the underside of the lid, put the lid on the pumpkin and trim off the foil that protrudes. Punch a hole for the candle smoke.
• Carved pumpkins can go bad after two weeks. Carve your pumpkin only a few days before Halloween or it may start to shrivel up and cave in. If your pumpkin starts to shrivel, fill up a deep sink and soak the entire carved pumpkin for a couple hours, it will perk back up (be careful in handling & remove the candle). Or, to try to prevent shriveling, you can rub some petroleum jelly on the exposed parts right after you cut the pumpkin, but not on the inside as it could be a fire hazard if you use a flame.
• Pumpkin seeds are good to eat (like sunflower seeds) if you place them on a baking sheet, sprinkle them with a little salt, and toast them in the oven. You can also plant the seeds to grow your own pumpkins (but keep in mind that this pumpkin is probably a cross between several types, and what you get when you plant will probably not look anything like this one).
• If you carve the “lid” of the pumpkin out in a smooth line, it can be difficult to replace the lid in the same position you cut it off in. It can be helpful to carve a notch somewhere, in the back if you like, so that you can fit the lid back on easily.
• Be creative with your design. There are many places online, or in stores, where you can get creative designs for carving your pumpkin.
• A drywall jab-saw makes a great replacement for the old kitchen knife, especially for cutting off the top and any other large cuts.
• For intricate designs, a RotoZip type saw makes short and easy work of carving pumpkins. This is the saw commonly used for drywall, that looks like a small router and the blade looks like a drill but, but is designed to cut in any direction.
• Pumpkins are messy to carve and decorate. If you don’t have the patience, space or time, try using paints to decorate pumpkins or cut pieces of paper and stick them to the pumpkin.
• Don’t limit yourself to simply carving one side of your pumpkin. Wrap around designs, such as cat’s foot prints or flying bats, are perfectly acceptable. Also, carving a small design on the back of your pumpkin can add to the effect of your face or scene. For example, if you have the design of a frightened pumpkin looking over his shoulder, you can design a small ghost on the back of the pumpkin. When lit and placed before a wall, the candle light will shine through the back and cast your ghost on the wall behind your ‘frightened’ gourd!
• If a cut section of your design doesn’t easily remove the first time, run the blade around it again and then push on that section from the inside. You may also find that a toothpick stabbed into the section will help you to pull it out.
• A neat thing to do with your rind scraps is to carve eyebrows, ears, tongues, etc from the bits. Then, pin them in appropriate places on your pumpkin using toothpicks! You can also add “Mr. Potato Head” parts . Other 3D options include spanish moss, yarn or cornsilk “hair”, feathers, artificial flower stems and more!
• If using a candle to light your gourd, it is fun to lightly sprinkle the lid or inner top of your pumpkin with Pumpkin Spices. When the candle warms the pulp, a wonderful pumpkin-pie scent will fill the air!
• If you slip or mess up, try to go with it. If this doesn’t fit in with your design, there are ways to repair this. If you slip while carving your pumpkin and accidentally cut out your gourd’s “tooth” or “pupil”, you can easily reattach things like this using a toothpick. Push the toothpick halfway into the miscut area and then slid the missing piece on. Unfortunately, this missing piece will shrivel much faster than the rest of your gourd.
• Instead of cutting all the way through the pumpkin, peel off layers of the skin to different thicknesses. This will give varying amounts of light, and allow you to make much more intricate designs.

-From WikiHow.org