|
Downloadable pumpkin carving patterns
Click here for the scary face
Click here for the witch
Click here for the leaves
Carving safety
Small children should never carve pumpkins. Children can draw the face with markers; then parents can do the cutting. Under parents' supervision, children ages 5 to 10 can carve with pumpkin cutters equipped with safety bars.
Votive candles are safest for jack-o'-lanterns.
Lighted pumpkins should be placed on a sturdy table, away from curtains and other flammable objects and should never be left unattended.
Carving tips
If you pick your pumpkin off the vine, leave a 2- to-3-inch stem to help keep it fresh. If the stem breaks, the pumpkin will not keep as long. When buying a pumpkin, choose one with a stem.
Cut the top of the pumpkin off at an angle so the top won't fall in.
Notch one side for ease in fitting the top on. Cut a little hole out to let the candle's heat escape and preserve the pumpkin longer.
Draw the face on with markers before beginning to carve.
Beginners should start with big, easy shapes and simple patterns.
Rub vegetable oil or petroleum jelly onto freshly cut areas to delay aging.
Cookie cutters and other shapes create repeat designs. Try hearts all over the pumpkin, for instance.
To light the pumpkin, set a candle in melted wax in a jar lid. Or use tiny flashlights. Or put light sticks inside for a colored glow.
Alternatives to carving: stick on reflective tape cut in the shapes of eyes and mouths. Attach vegetables with toothpicks and glue for facial features (curly lettuce hair, zucchini slices pinned flat for eyes with raisins as pupils, a green bean for the mouth or white beans for teeth, a beet or a chile pepper for a nose, baby squash for ears).
Try carving two different faces on a single pumpkin - a sad face on one side, a happy face on the other, for instance.
Make a pumpkin family: Perch eyeglasses on a carrot nose for the dad, give the mom a veiled hat and earrings, pin a diaper on the baby and include a bottle or pacifier sticking out of the baby's mouth.
To help carved pumpkins last longer, keep them in the refrigerator in the daytime.
If you plan to make a pie, be sure you buy a "pie pumpkin," not a jack-o- lantern. The pie variety is smaller and sweeter.
Carving kits, from $2 to $10, are recommended for the more serious carver willing to spend time on his creation.
Don't forget to take pictures. Source: Pumpkin Carving by Edward Palmer, Sterling Publishing Co.; and The Penny Whistle Halloween Book
| 
HOME 
