Tips & Tricks

Carving jack-o-lanterns can be a pain, but Halloween just wouldn’t be the same without them. Check out the pumpkin-carving hacks below to simplify this Halloween without sacrificing spookiness.

1. Ditch the Sharpie in favor of a dry erase marker for your design work. This way, you can effortlessly correct errors without leaving stubborn outlines.
2. Swap your ordinary spoon for an ice cream scoop when scooping out the pumpkin guts, as it’s far more efficient.
3. Get creative with cookie cutters to carve out simple shapes like triangles and circles.
4. To ensure you always place the “lid” on correctly, notch it in a v-shape.
5. Preserve your jack-o-lantern longer by applying petroleum jelly to the carved areas.
6. If you’re prone to burning your fingers, consider carving a hole in the pumpkin’s bottom. This allows you to set it atop a lit candle instead of struggling to lower one inside.
7. Find a printable jack-o-lantern stencil on platforms like Pinterest. Attach the stencil to your pumpkin and use thumb tacks to outline the shapes. Begin carving once the thumbtack holes have fully outlined the design.
8. To enhance the olfactory experience, sprinkle cinnamon inside your jack-o-lantern. When lit, it will emit a delightful pumpkin spice scent. While it doesn’t ease the carving process, it makes it more enjoyable.

As an added bonus, here are some novel designs to use these new techniques on:

1. Turn your pumpkin sideways to use its stem as the jack-o-lantern’s nose.
2. Add a spine-chilling element by creating a cannibal pumpkin – carve a large mouth and place a mini pumpkin inside it.
3. Don’t discard the carving scraps. Use leftover pumpkin pieces to craft a tongue or ears for your jack-o-lantern, secured with toothpicks.
4. Opt for white pumpkins to carve skull or ghost jack-o-lanterns. Alternatively, venture ahead a few holidays and use white pumpkins to craft snowmen.
5. Select pumpkins with wart-like growths to fashion witch or zombie jack-o-lanterns.
6. Create sharp-toothed faces by carving a big mouth hole and using toothpicks and candy corn. Attach the candy corn to one end of a toothpick and insert the other end into the pumpkin’s flesh. This approach suits shark pumpkins, monster pumpkins, and cannibal pumpkins. For a shark pumpkin, you can fashion a fin from leftover pumpkin shell.
7. Carve small squares into your pumpkin and outline building shapes around them with a permanent marker. When illuminated, it will resemble a miniature cityscape.
8. Elevate your pumpkin carving game by using hollowed-out pumpkins as candy bowls or flower vases.

Sources:

“12 Brilliant Hacks for Your Best Ever Halloween Pumpkin”
Nicole Harris

“13 Brilliant Pumpkin Carving Hacks You’ll Wish You Knew Last Halloween”
Real Simple

“14 Genius Last Minute Pumpkin Carving Hacks”
Kate Reid

“15 Genius Hacks for Halloween Pumpkin Carving You’ll Use from Now On”
Reader’s Digest Editors