How to Carve a Pumpkin for Halloween Pumpkin Carving Tips and Instructions

Then, scrape the inside of the pumpkin with your spoon to remove any soft tissue and prevent rotting. Now, cut out your design with the knife using an up and down motion along each line you drew. Finally, set a candle or light inside of your carved pumpkin and put the top back on.

And we like the Homemory Flameless LED Tea Light Candles to light it up. Light one or two small tea lights and set them on the bottom of your pumpkin. Put the lid back on your pumpkin to light up your design so it’s visible. Just make sure to blow the tea lights out at the end of the night so they don’t stay lit or cause a fire. A pumpkin carving kit usually comes with a sharp tool you can use to poke holes. Once you're done carving your design, you'll want to see how it shines by lighting the pumpkin up!

You can use a serrated knife from your kitchen or the largest serrated tool in a pumpkin carving kit. Draw a circle with about a 2 in (5.1 cm) radius from the stem with a washable marker. Tilt the blade at a 45-degree angle toward the stem and push it into the pumpkin.

Start by washing the seeds thoroughly; then, grind them in a food processor KrazyKidz until they are smooth. That’s right, early jack-o-lanterns were carved from root vegetables. Unbeknownst to the ancient Celts, their fall tradition of Samhain and of keeping evil spirits at bay would evolve throughout the centuries. Samhain morphed into Halloween, and the myth of Stingy Jack and the use of jack-o’-lanterns to scare off his evil spirit arose. But unlike the spooky-yet-cute jack-o’-lanterns we’re familiar with today, the earliest jack-o’-lanterns appeared quite macabre. With crudely-cut eyes and mouths, their faces seemed fully capable of truly frightening both the living and the dead.

Cutting at an angle prevents the lid from falling inside of your pumpkin. Cover your workspace in newspapers or a large garbage bag. Work on a clean, hard surface, such as a dining table or the kitchen floor. Put down a layer of newspapers or cut open a large garbage bag to unfold it into a large tarp to catch any spills or messes you make.