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You are here: Home » Crafts » How to Carve Your Pumpkin for Halloween

How to Carve Your Pumpkin for Halloween

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If you aren't certain how to carve a pumpkin, we have got you covered! Learn how to carve a pumpkin, step by step, and other helpful pumpkin carving tips.

If you aren’t certain how to carve a pumpkin, we have got you covered! Below is an excerpt from the new book Easy Pumpkin Carving by craft and hobby writer Colleen Dorsey. Colleen Dorsey walks us through how to set up and carve a pumpkin, step by step, and shares her helpful pumpkin carving tips.

If you aren't certain how to carve a pumpkin, we have got you covered! Learn how to carve a pumpkin, step by step, and other helpful pumpkin carving tips.

How to Carve a Pumpkin

Here they are, the very essentials of pumpkin carving! By following these steps that you probably had down pay when you were a kid, you can get carving with any traditional pumpkin carving pattern. You’ll need a little elbow grease and a tolerance for mess to use this technique, but it’s totally worth it.

Pre-Carving Pumpkin Prep

1. Clean the Pumpkin

Prep the pumpkin first by rinsing it in cold water and using a scrub brush to remove dirt. If you want, you can spray the entire pumpkin with a mild bleach and water solution to kill mold and bacteria.

If you aren't certain how to carve a pumpkin, we have got you covered! Learn how to carve a pumpkin, step by step, and other helpful pumpkin carving tips.

2. Cut out the Lid

Use a sturdy knife to slowly and carefully carve out and remove the lid of the pumpkin, going in at an angle rather than straight down in. Alternatively, you can cut a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin, which will mean you can sit your pumpkin on top of a light rather than placing a light inside the pumpkin.

If you aren't certain how to carve a pumpkin, we have got you covered! Learn how to carve a pumpkin, step by step, and other helpful pumpkin carving tips.

3. Clean Out the Guts

Use a scoop to completely empty the inside of the pumpkin of flesh and seeds. Keep scraping away at the inner walls of the pumpkin until you only have about a 1” (2.5cm) thick pumpkin wall that is nice and smooth.

If you aren't certain how to carve a pumpkin, we have got you covered! Learn how to carve a pumpkin, step by step, and other helpful pumpkin carving tips.

4. Attach the Pattern

Transfer the pattern using your desired method. Check out Easy Pumpkin Carving for tons of patterns to choose from.

If you aren't certain how to carve a pumpkin, we have got you covered! Learn how to carve a pumpkin, step by step, and other helpful pumpkin carving tips.

Carving Tips

  • Actually carving your pumpkin is simple enough. Here are some tips to make carving easy and effective:
  • Saw steadily with a continuous up and down motion, and don’t press too hard or try to go too fast.
  • When you’re finished cutting out a standalone piece (like an eye), pop it out of the pumpkin wall with your finger, not your carving tool.
  • To cut clean, sharp corners, remove and reinsert the carving tool.
  • Carve starting from the inside of the design and working your way outward.
  • Resist the urge to put your free hand inside the pumpkin while carving. Only do so if you can clearly see where all of your hand is.
  • If you accidentally break off a part of your carving as you work, such as a protruding tooth, stick it back on with a toothpick!

Preserve Your Pumpkin!

Keep your carved pumpkin cool and out of the direct sunlight (you can even put it in the fridge). You can also coat the interior and all cut edges with petroleum jelly to help lock in the pumpkin’s natural moisture, or purchase special preservative sprays for pumpkins.

That is all the pumpkin carving tips that we have for you today, but be sure to check out Easy Pumpkin Carving for more tips and tricks as well as fun pumpkin carving ideas! 

If you aren't certain how to carve a pumpkin, we have got you covered! Learn how to carve a pumpkin, step by step, and other helpful pumpkin carving tips.

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By Jaclyn Shimmel | 09/14/2017
Filed Under: Crafts Tagged With: Halloween

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Comments

  1. Julie says

    09/15/2017 at 9:18 am

    Great tips, I’m not the greatest pumpkin carver so this is helpful!

    Reply
  2. Lauryn R says

    09/15/2017 at 12:58 pm

    These are great tips to successfully carve a pumpkin! I am not good at it all, but the kids love it so I try my best! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  3. Jamie Italiane says

    09/15/2017 at 7:26 pm

    I can’t wait to have my front step decorated with cute Jack-o-lanterns!

    Reply
  4. Ashley Miller says

    09/17/2017 at 5:45 am

    Tysm for the tips! My teenage daughters are better at it than me! Lol

    Reply
  5. Diane Hoffmaster says

    09/20/2017 at 8:22 pm

    Definitely great tips. Even my teens have a blast when we start pumpkin carving!

    Reply

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