Top Ten Tips for Turning a Pumpkin into a Jack-o-Lantern
1. Create your design on paper first. Sketch until you achieve the look you’re after. Save that piece of paper. You’re going to need it later.2. Pick a pumpkin with a shape and color that works best with your sketch. A warty skin and round orange shape may be perfect for a witch face design. A ghost face may work best with a tall, slender white variety.
3. Spread newspaper over the table where you’re working for easy clean-up.
4. Assemble your tools. You can purchase a carving kit, or you can create your own with kitchen utensils. You’ll need a big metal spoon for scooping and scraping out seeds and membrane, a grapefruit knife for carving curves, a nut pick for piercing an outline of your design on the pumpkin, a medium sized butcher knife for cutting the top, and a serrated steak knife for cutting straight lines.
5. Tape your design onto the pumpkin, then use the nut pick to punch the design into the pumpkin. This method works much better than trying to draw on a rippled surface.
6. After the design is pierced into the pumpkin’s flesh, cut the top. If you’re using a real votive candle, make certain to cut a 3” by 4”slot into the back of your pumpkin below where the top sits for air flow, so that your candle flame doesn’t fizzle out due to lack of oxygen.
7. Using the big metal spoon and your hands, scoop out the seeds and membranes and set them on your newspaper.
8. Carve the design following the punched outline. A sawing motion works best. Place your discarded wall pieces with the seed mess. When you’re done, roll up all the mess in the newspaper and throw it in the trash.
9. With your spoon, scrape a flat surface on the bottom center of your pumpkin interior where you will place your votive candle.
10. Use a long fireplace match or a fireplace lighter to light the votive wick inside the pumpkin so you don’t burn your fingers. Sit back and admire your work.
What do you usually carve? A traditional Jack-o-lantern face or something unique?
Labels: jack-o-lanterns
posted by Mo H @ 11:47 AM
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