I actually haven’t carved pumpkins this year yet. I’m going to wait a bit longer so that the pumpkins don’t rot before Halloween, BUT… I wrote up this tutorial last year, and I thought it would be helpful to some people who might be reading Joyful Abode this year.
Before:
The pumpkin awaits its transformation. Tools await their destiny.
Step 1: Cut a lid. Make a notch in the back, so that you can easily replace it the right way.
Mine’s bleeding!
Step 2: Remove the lid and cut off all the nasty stringy stuff.
Step 3: Scrape out all the gooey stuff from the inside. Save it so you can get the seeds for baking!
Step 4: After everything is all scraped out, tape your pattern to the pumpkin. If you are drawing it on, go ahead and do that instead. I made mine in paint and printed it out. If you like my jack-o-lantern carving template, it’s available in free stuff.
Step 5: Use a poker (a toothpick or a seam ripper would work if you don’t have one just for pumpkins) to poke holes around your pattern lines. If you drew on your pumpkin, you can skip that.
Then remove your pattern.
It’s hard to see the pokey holes, isn’t it?
Step 6: Rub flour into the holes so you can see them. Wipe off excess with a damp paper towel or sponge.
Step 7: Carve away! Start with the smallest holes, then proceed to bigger ones. This will help keep the stability of the whole thing as you cut.
Step 8:
Light with a tea light, and turn off the lights! (I rubbed cinnamon onto the underside of my lid, so that when I burn the candle the room smells yummy.)
Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a Navy wife and stay at home mom of two beautiful children. I cook simple, delicious, grain-free recipes, do crafts, decorate my home on a budget, and keep a happy household. I tandem breastfeed, babywear, cloth diaper, practice elimination communication, homebirth, and co-sleep, but I'm not a hippie.
[...] How to Carve a Pumpkin [...]
Just a couple of things I learned about pumpkin carving thru the years..
1) When cutting the lid, make sure you angle the knife INWARD slightly, don’t cut straight up and down. I did that once and the lid would fall into the pumpkin!!
2) An ice cream scooper is the best tool for scraping all the gunk from the insides.
3) An alternate idea for cutting the lid.. cut out the BOTTOM! When you’re done and ready to light it, you simply put the candle on the bottom, light it, and replace the pumpkin on top. Then you end up with a nice, clean pumkin top.
4) Don’t forget to cut a small hole on the top for a “chimney”. Sometimes if your candle is big or your pumpkin is small, you’ll start smelling a burning smell.. that’s the pumpkin burning! And I set the candle back a bit on the bottom of the pumpkin, not in the direct center, because it’s too hard to cut a chimney thru the very center of the top.
That’s such a great tutorial, I never through about using pin pricks to mark out the shape. Would you be interested in posting your how-to on Cut Out + Keep? Give me an e-mail if you are. xo