How to Carve a Jack-O-Lantern
By Audra Caldwell | Leave A Comment

Here is a step by step instruction guide to get your all your little pumpkins smiling instantly!

How to carve a pumpkin:

Choose pumpkins that are smooth, blemish free, have a moist stem, not brown and dried, and sound hollow when thumped.
Wipe any dirt and debri from your pumpkin with a damp paper towel.
Make a circular cut in the bottom of your pumpkin large enough for you to get hands and scoops through easily! Cutting in the bottom keeps the top and stem pretty and keep you from having to mess with those shorty stems that you can’t ever get a hold of.
Use a large spoon, scoop, and yes your hands to dig out the “pumpkin guts”. Place them in a bowl so you can pull out and roast the seeds later.
Decide on a pattern or face shape for your jack o lantern and draw it on a piece of paper and cut out the pattern to make a stencil.
Tape the paper to your pumpkin and to ensure a perfect face. For times sake and the fact that my 3 & 4 year olds were helping we kept our face pretty simple!
Trace around the outlines of your stencil with a marker or lightly puncture the outline with the tip of a knife or sharpened pencil.
Adults! Use carving tools(recommended for small detailed patterns) or sharp kitchen knife to carve your pumpkin.
When you are finished, smear a thin layer of petroleum jelly on the exposed parts(inside and edges) of the pumpkin to keep it from drying out and decaying quite as quickly!
Place a tealight(we used LED) in your desired display spot and set your pumpkin over it!
Have fun looking at the toothy grin smiling back at you!