Every kid loves Halloween, dressing up in a costume and going door to door receiving free candy which lasts for months!!! Not only did I enjoy going door to door for candy, I loved carving a pumpkin. I would always draw out my ideas trying to create a jack o'lantern which looked awesome, but wasn't that hard to carve. When I was younger I would only assist in cleaning out the pumpkin, my older brother was the one who actually carved the pumpkin.
I put this website together to document my carving experience and to assist others who wish to carve artistic jack o'lanterns. Have fun carving and have a Happy Halloween!!
This isn't rocket science, but there are a few things you should look out for when purchasing your pumpkins for carving. The pumpkin should be smooth, this will make carving a lot easier, if the ridges of the pumpkin are too deep it will make it harder to not only transfer the pattern but to carve it as well. Check the pumpkins surface for any signs of rotting, this is usually visible by discoloured patches or soft spots on the pumpkin. I prefer pumpkins with stems, they look nicer, but don't lift up your pumpkin by the stem, or you may break it and drop your pumpkin! Look out for sales prior to Halloween, I picked up a few pumpkins two weeks before Halloween for two dollars a piece.
The following is a list of tools and supplies which you will need to start carving your first jack o'lantern, this is not an exhaustive list by any means.
- Spoons of varying sizes
- Bowls
- Newspapers and/or plastic bags
- Knives - jagged carving knives are best
- Dremel
- Safety Glasses
- Apron
- Marker
- Poker
- Pins
I am pretty sure everyone knows the steps required in order to carve a jack o'lantern but I thought I would include them here anyways. (Click images to enlarge)
- Mark area on top of pumpkin to cut out hole
- Cut out hole - cut on an angle so the lid does not fall in!
- Clean the inside of the pumpkin, separating the junk from the seeds
- Transfer pattern to pumpkin by poking on design
- Cut out design, starting with the smallest areas first
When transferring the pattern to the pumpkin, you don't have to make deep marks on the pumpkin, but place your marks close to each other; this will ease the carving of the pattern.
Taping your pattern to the pumpkin works better than using pins. If you do use pins, put them in an area that is going to be carved out.
When using the dremel, make sure you carve the pumpkin in an area that is easy to clean up, it makes quite a mess!!
You can use the dremel to drill holes along the edge of your pattern, and then use a knife or the dremel to connect the holes and cut out the pattern, or you can cut along the pattern using a knife, getting it deeper with every pass. I used the second method, and had the most success this way.
To preserve the carved pumpkins keep them in a bucket of cold water.
Use google to search for free patterns, and print as "fit to page".
It doesn't hurt to have a few band-aids close by.
I thought using the dremel would make the carving a lot easier, but it didn't. I didn't operate the dremel at its highest speed since I wanted control when carving, but it didn't cut through the pumpkin as easy as I thought it would. It will take a few hours to carve a good looking jack o'lantern, don't rush, it will only make things worse, and always remember to have fun!
Below are the pumpkins I carved this year. I didnt use the dremel for the tree design or the New Jersey Devils logo. As you can see I needed toothpicks to support parts of the logo. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to either.
