Easy & Scary Jack-O-Lantern Faces Anyone Can Carve!

Directions

1. Make a workspace. If you haven’t done this before, this is messy. Use newspaper, paper bags, something you can spread over the area and throw away later.
2. Gather your supplies. You need a serrated knife or pumpkin carving kit, a sturdy large spoon or scooper, a marker and a candle. We love LED candles or firefly lights these days, but a lot of people still like the nostalgia of using a standard votive candle.
3. Using the great ideas below, or a pumpkin carving template, draw your design on your pumpkin. You can remove most marker with rubbing alcohol if you make a mistake. Also, draw a circle for your lid. It’s easy to get off track and to cut your lid way larger than you intended, taking up space for your design.
4. Cut the lid. Angle the knife 45 degrees inward as you cut, so that when you replace the lid, it will not fall into the pumpkin.
5. Scoop out all the seeds, and scrape out all the goop. You want the inside of the pumpkin to be clean and dry. Your pumpkin will last longer, and your candles will burn better.
6. Cut out your design.
7. Pro tip… use a craft or X-acto knife to clean up any details.
8. Make your pumpkin last by rubbing the cut edges with petroleum jelly. You can also spray the pumpkin daily with water mixed with a few drops of bleach to ward off rotting. If you live in a warm climate, clear a space in the frig for the jack-o-lantern at night.
9. Enjoy the spook!