1. Most people don’t need much help with picking the perfect pumpkin—buy your pumpkin a week or two before Halloween to get the greatest selection, but don’t carve it until a day or two before the Big Event. Watch out for signs of rot! Notice any scars the pumpkin has. Some can add the perfect element to your design. Others, well…. Pick your pumpkins based on what you plan to carve on them. If you will be using a stencil to carve your pumpkin, select a pumpkin that is large enough and as close to the same shape as the pattern. Also note how solid the stem is. Is about to fall off? Has it fallen off already? Do you need a stem?
2. Paint your pumpkins different colors. Use flat, latex paint. Black works especially well. Hold some paint back to touch up your pumpkins after carving them.
3. Carving your pumpkin Clean your pumpkin thoroughly with a wet rag or towel. If you draw a design on the pumpkin before you carve it, use a red, orange or yellow marker. This’ll be harder to see when you’re carving, and harder to see once you’re finished too! If you want to use a black marker, use one that’s washable so you can easily remove any leftover marks.
To carve your pumpkin, first use a long, thin-bladed knife to cut out the top of the pumpkin around the stem. The hole should be large enough to allow you to scoop out the guts. A hole with five or six-sides works best. As you cut this, angle the knife to keep the lid from falling in. Use your hand or a spoon to scrape the inside walls of the pumpkin clean. Make sure that you have scraped the bottom of the pumpkin flat. If you’re going to light it with a candle, it will sit level in the pumpkin. A candle, placed in a clear glass jar or candle holder is safer, more wind-resistant and will last longer. An alternative method of carving your pumpkin is to carve it out from the bottom. Lay the pumpkin on its side after cutting out a hole from the bottom. Scrape the insides clean, then either sit it on top of a light bulb or candle. You might also use a colored light bulb for a unique effect.
If you want to make perfectly round holes in your carving, try a length of pipe with thin sides. If you can find one with one end cut at an angle, it’ll work even better. Simply place the end where you want your hole to be and tap the pipe with a hammer or mallet. Voila! The perfect hole. You can use metal cookie cutters to create other fun shapes. Closely supervise all pumpkin carving—a large percentage of Halloween injuries occur here. Find a great location for your jack-o-lantern and show off your hard work!
4. When carving a face into your pumpkin, carve the eyes in such a way that you can insert glass marbles. These will reflect the light from inside the pumpkin and throw shadows that add a perfectly spooky touch to the season! Another interesting touch here is to carve some number of eyes other than the traditional two—one large eye sometimes makes a very nice design. Three can work well too with certain pumpkins.
5. Choose a design for your pumpkins that reflects who your family is: instead of carving a face, why not carve the first letter of your family’s last name into your pumpkin, a family crest if you have one or a pet’s name?
6. Use smaller pumpkins as candle holders: carve out several miniature pumpkins where the stem would be and insert tall candles there, then carve designs into the skins of these pumpkins.
7. To get more light from your pumpkin, start with an uncarved pumpkin, cut out a hole in the bottom that’ll be big enough to fit your hand in and clean out the pumpkin. Drill evenly-spaced holes across the pumpkin, in lines, facial shapes, random designs or other interesting configurations. Put a string of 50 white Christmas lights inside the pumpkin and push the bulbs, one at a time, out of each hole. Plug in and enjoy!
8. Make pumpkin seeds. Remove all the seeds from your pumpkin Wash them well with cold water. Remove as much of the pumpkin’s stringy insides as possible Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Pat seeds dry Mix about two tablespoons of vegetable oil with your seeds until they’re all covered; add salt to taste Spread seeds out on a baking sheet in a single layer Bake for ten to 15 minutes, until the seeds are golden brown.