Tips For Carving Your Pumpkin

Carving pumpkins is a fun filled fall activity that will leave you with a glowing piece of décor, delicious snack, and lots of memories. Don’t over complicate things. Carving pumpkins should be a fun way to celebrate fall and Halloween. So, when you’re ready, roll up your sleeves and use these incredible pumpkin carving tips to get the most out of your festive gourd!

Tools

A lot of folks think that you need fancy tools to make a fancy pumpkin, but it is quite the opposite. A simple kit, under $10, should work for any classic jack-o-lantern. If you feel like getting into more detailed designs, you may want to have paring knives, linoleum cutters and precision blades on hand. Lemon zesters and cheese graters can also help add texture. If you plan on making more of an art piece, you should also grab a scrubber sponge to smooth out any surfaces.

Gourds

Whether you travel to a pumpkin patch, grocery store, or your very own garden, picking your orange veggie is so important. People tend to go for the most round and smooth looking pumpkins, but don’t be scared to grab a gourd with more interesting visuals like warts or lumps. If you have a pattern you want to cut into your pumpkin, be sure to bring it with you and see how it will fit. The most important thing to remember when choosing a gourd is to look for a sturdy stem and firm exterior.

Open from the Bottom

This hack strays from the traditional ‘cut the top’ like a lid, but we recommend cutting from the bottom. Here’s why: when you cut from the bottom, it takes a significant amount of seeds and pumpkin guts out with it. Cleaning out the pumpkin is mostly done at that point. Wipe down the outside of the gourd after you are finished with the inside. Add a candle or battery-operated light if you wish.

You might also like: Easy DIY Halloween Treats

Trace a Design

Make sure the exterior of your pumpkin is cleaned off before you start to trace. After it is clean, use sewing paper to create a pattern or design onto the pumpkin. Trace the design from the paper to sewing paper. Use masking tape to attach the traced design onto your jack-o-lantern to-be. Trace the design with a ballpoint pen. Once you finish tracing, you are ready to start carving, but remember to be patient!