Your costume is picked out. The house is hauntingly decked out. And now with the big day approaching, it’s time to get carving! This year, why not take your jack-o’-lantern to the next level and turn that enormous, orange gourd into a work of art?
Halloween Alley carries a variety of pumpkin carving tools for your family’s pumpkin carving night. Here’s a few pro tips to amp up your finished product.
Plan Out a Theme
How cool do coordinating jack-o’-lanterns look? As a family, pick a theme to work with — characters from a movie, cutting style, etc. Will your pumpkins all feature cut-outs as well as engraving? Details like these not only make your jack-o’-lanterns ripe for the ‘gram, but a memorable experience for visiting trick-or-treaters as well.
Scoop and Scrape
Clean that pumpkin out good! Use your scoop to get as much out of that thing as you can, then scrape the walls until they are about an inch thick. The best way to know you’ve reached the right thickness is to use inch-long dressmaker pins and carefully poke them through the pumpkin. Keeping a uniform one-inch thickness all the way around will greatly reduce your carving time.
Draw It Out
Put your design down on paper first, then use a thin, pointed tool like a pin to poke through the paper into the pumpkin, following your outline. You can then trace it out in permanent marker.
You can also draw your design freehand directly onto your pumpkin. Once you’ve got your design down, use a washable marker to sketch it out. When you’re satisfied with the layout, grab a permanent marker and trace it out again.
Don’t Carve too Soon
With pumpkins, you’ve got a two to three day window in which it will look great while carved. So don’t cut into it too soon! Once carved, keep it in a cool, dry place. When displaying, use LED lighting, as lighting that give off heat will quickly rot your pumpkin.
Odd shape? Awesome!
Oddly shaped pumpkin? No problem — it’s just an opportunity to get even more creative! From oblong to lopsided, these fun shapes provide a wonderfully unique canvas for your artwork. Plan out a design that efficiently uses the surface shape of your pumpkin. Whether you’ve got a more portrait or landscape shaped pumpkin surface, you can create an outstanding piece.
Mixed Media
The creativity doesn’t have to be limited to simply carving. Enhance your jack-o’-lantern with decorations, paint, and other fun add-ons to give it character.
You’ll find great kits for creating an awesome jack-o’-lantern at your local Halloween Alley store!
Halloween Alley is proud to be 100% Canadian owned and operated. Our staff at our many store locations across Canada would be happy to help you find the perfect costumes, accessories and decorations to make this Halloween one for the books.
