Crafts & Hobbies

Halloween Pumpkin Carving Tips and Projects

A Jack-o’-Lantern is what every kid wants for Halloween. Before you start out to carve a jack-o’-lantern out of a pumpkin for your kid, read the following tips to ensure that you get the best results for your effort. Pumpkin-carving and scraping are tough jobs and you wouldn’t want an effort wasted.

Halloween Pumpkin Carving Tips and Projects
Photo by Monstera Production

Tips:

1. Buy your pumpkin fairly early. If you wait until just before Halloween, there won’t be any good ones left.

2. You can store your un-carved pumpkin in a cool, dark place for almost two months.

3. Once a pumpkin is carved, it will last only up to 4 days. So do not carve it until a day or two before Halloween.

4. If you are not making a Jack-o’-Lantern and just carving the pumpkin, choose a pumpkin which has a strong and sturdy stem so that you can easily lift it.

5. Before you start carving, decide upon what kind of face you want to have. You can practice on paper first.

6. The larger you make the eyes, nose and mouth, the easier they will be to cut, and the more they will shine through the jack-o’-lantern.

7. Don’t draw the mouth and the teeth too close to the bottom or they will be hard to see.

8. Don’t put the eyes, nose and mouth too close or your pumpkin will collapse.

Projects:

Now that you are ready to start carving, follow our step-by-step instructions for making a Jack-O’-Lantern.