7 Great Pumpkin Carving Tips

I'm the head of a non-denominational non-sectarian church & Hallows is my favorite majority-culture holiday. This year I carved a cannibal pumpkin, an alien pumpkin, and a buffalo pumpkin (horns were from dehorning of cattle at my neighbor's). In my language, wahgMU TOHkah WOHtahyapi ye, wahgMU TOHkah, na wahgMU pteh. To light them, I used round LED 'safety' lights and the "flame-like" LED lights from the dollar store. They run a long time on AAA alkaline cells, have no fire hazard, and light these carvings really nicely. To light the horns, which had no cores, I cut small holes in the buffalo squash so the light could shine up, & secured the horns with round toothpicks & garden tie wire; then used 2 LED lights since this was a big piece of art.

This year my guy wanted to do small, intricate work on his pumpkin, and was a bit worried that he might not be able to do it with the regular kitchen knives we had on hand, so I hopped into my craft supplies and pulled out a set of carving tools for making linoleum blocks for printing. They worked amazingly well! He was able to get LOTS of detail in. I would assume that woodcarving tools would work with similar awesomeness. Good luck, everyone!

Petroleum jelly on the cut edges...ewwwwww! That doesn't sound very appetizing if you plan to use the pumpkin meat later (for soup, pies, etc.). Gosh, we never threw out a pumpkin after Halloween---we ate it! I think the lemon juice sounds like a much better idea (even if all you do is put it on the compost pile afterwards). Otherwise, all I have to say is....Boo! Happy Halloween!

One more pumpkin tip that has worked for me for many years. I
put my candle into an empty jar, and the put the jar inside the
pumpkin. This keeps the candle lit, no matter how the wind blows! I
have used tealights, taper stubs and the "emergency" candles, all
to good effect. Use play-dough or clay to anchor the candle, if you
need it.Just make sure you cut the lid of your pumpkin big enough
that your jar will fit through.Happy Hallowe'en!

I have been carving pumpkins for many years and actually it is
best to cut a circle out of the bottom of the pumpkin rather than
cut off the top. It makes for an open base for a candle and the top
don't cave in, thus the pumkin lasts longer.Also if you spray your
carving with a little lemon juice it will last several days
longer.Have fun carving and have a safe and happy haloween!J.
Squires