What is Halloween without a beautifully carved pumpkin sitting at your house or the gates to greet your visitors? Not to mention that Jack-O’-Lanterns are the spirit of Halloween that had been carried on for many, many generations. Tedious as it may seem to carve a pumpkin, it is still essential to have it during Halloween. With a little patience and some guidance from this post, the pumpkin will be done in no time!

First, you will need to choose the pumpkin you want to carve.

The recommended size will be a medium sized pumpkin. However, if you want to have many pumpkins all over at the spookiest corners of your house, small pumpkins will work fine too. You can light a candle inside the pumpkin to add on to the dark atmosphere.

Other than that, pumpkins are best advised to be ripe, with no dents or other forms of injuries and a very smooth surface. Another factor to take note of is what kind of Jack-O’-Lantern you have in mind? Choose the best pumpkin to fit with your design.

Secondly, you will need a cutting tool. For starters, I will advise you to use a plain boring old knife that can be found in your kitchen. It is best to work with a long, thin bladed knife and a small, thin bladed knife. And remember to always keep the knife sharp so you will not have difficulty carving the pumpkin.

The Long, Thin Bladed Knife

This can be used to cut the top hole of the pumpkin as well as large pieces of the pumpkin.

The Small, Thin Bladed Knife

Effective for carving out any details or designs you want on your pumpkin.

Other than that, a large spoon to scoop up the insides of the pumpkin and a newspaper to prevent your place from getting messy is needed too.

Let’s Start Carving!

1. Cut off the top of the pumpkin to create an opening. 2. Scoop up the insides of the pumpkin with the use of the large spoon and your hands and scrap it clean. 3. Trim the edges of the top of the pumpkin so that it will be cone shaped which will prevent the lid from sliding into the hole. 4. Think of the ideal face you want for your pumpkin before carving it with your knife. You can use a crayon to make markings on the pumpkin before carving so that you have a guide. 5. Push out the pumpkin pieces that you had cut. 6. Scrap the bottom of your pumpkin flat so that the candle can stand stability inside the pumpkin without toppling. 7. Place a lighted candle inside your pumpkin. Plain white candles give off the best effect for your completed Jack-O’-Lantern.

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