How to carve a pumpkin for Halloween..

It’s a spooky season! As Halloween approaches you will have seen the supermarkets fill with large orange pumpkins ready and waiting to be turned into creepy porch decorations, lit from within by a candle or LED light. But, how do you carve a pumpkin for Halloween without it looking a complete disaster?

Back in the day (we’re talking last century, here) mums would hollow out a large swede for their child to take trick or treating, with a string loop for a handle, and a swede lid on top to prevent burns, it was a portable version of today’s grander statement. It smelled pretty revolting though, as the candle heated the lid, and goodness knows how much effort it took to carve out the centre of a solid swede. Luckily, pumpkins are already hollow, so your Halloween creativity can be set free with (almost) no hindrance.

Here’s your step-by-step guide to carving your Halloween pumpkin

You will need:

A large pumpkin
A metal spoon
A small sharp knife, ideally serrated. A large knife isn’t manoeuvreable enough, especially for more detailed designs, and you are more likely to cut yourself. OR – a pumpkin carving set These are totally worth the investment if you think you may be carving a few pumpkins over the years to come
Other useful tools include: a potato peeler, for peeling away the skin without cutting all the way through; metal cookie cutters, these can be pushed into the skin to create guides for cutting around – who doesn’t want a gingerbread man on their pumpkin?!
Tea lights – real or fake. Fake ones don’t glow too hard, so you may need a couple per pumpkin to get the glow you seek

You need to:

Cut out a disk on top and lift it away. It will need to be large enough for you to get your hand in to scoop out the seeds.
Scoop out the seeds. Now, this sounds quite straightforward, but you’ll be cursing the day if you don’t equip yourself correctly, first – those seeds are firmly attached to a slimy orange stringy mass and they don’t want to let go, and the slimy orange stringy mass is even less keen on letting go of the pumpkin. The best tool to use is a large metal spoon, with which you attack the sides and bottom of your pumpkin with great gusto. Scoop everything out and take a moment to congratulate yourself.
Next, wipe the outside of the pumpkin clean, and dry it off. Use a marker pen to draw your design. Make sure you use one that can be wiped away with a damp cloth, in case you make a mistake.

Ah, I hear you say, I am no artist, how am I supposed to draw a design? You can buy stencils online, or find free printable ones. Hobbycraft, for example, offers a set of seven templates ranging from the simple and traditional to the complex and contemporary.

Once you are satisfied with your design, start carving. Take care when carving teeth or smaller details to leave sufficient space to allow the light to shine through, and beware the rookie error of running your knife along the wrong line… You don’t want a toothless pumpkin as the result of losing your concentration for a moment.
Clean any pen marks left on your pumpkin, pop a candle in the middle, replace the lid and step back to admire your work.

If you plan on carving and displaying your pumpkin outdoors for a few days leading up to Halloween, there are a couple of things you can do to keep it from decaying too fast.

Keep it undercover – rain doesn’t suit carved pumpkins and it will soon go soft
Run some vaseline along all the cut edges. This will prevent these from drying out and curling in, keeping your design fresh and scary

Once Halloween is over, be sure to dispose of your pumpkin in your garden refuse bin. Don’t be tempted to leave it out for wildlife to nibble on. They’re not native to this country and make animals such as birds, foxes and hedgehogs very sick, potentially fatally so.

Have a happy Halloween!

Eddie – Friday 18th October 2024. (Image used from JP & Brimelow marketing team).