HOW TO HALLOWEEN

Instructions

Things You’ll Need:

• Votive Candles
• Jack-o'-lanterns
• Paring Knives 
• Cooking Oil
• Felt-Tip Pens 
• Pumpkins
• Olive (Not Virgin!) Oil
• Chef's Knives 
• Votive Candleholders
• Pumpkin-carving Sets
• Newspaper
• Cinnamon
• Pencils

Step1

Select a fresh pumpkin in a shape that pleases you. Some folks prefer their pumpkins low and round, while others like them tall and oval-shaped.

Step2

Draw a circle or hexagon on top of the pumpkin in preparation for making an opening large enough for your hand to reach through.

Step3

 Cut through the stem end of the pumpkin along your outline with a sharp knife or pumpkin-carving tool. Use a back-and-forth slicing motion to cut through the thick, tough skin.

Step4

  Remove the stem end, which will act as a cap, making sure you scrape off any seeds or pulp.

Step5

Use a large spoon to scoop out the seeds and pulp from inside the pumpkin. Hold the spoon by its bowl to get extra leverage while scooping.

Step6

 Draw a pattern for the face on the clean pumpkin with a felt-tip pen, or scribe the lines into the skin using a pencil. Be sure to make the eyes, nose and mouth large enough; you'll have a hard time cutting out tiny features when you're using a big knife blade to saw through tough skin.

Step7

 Follow your pattern as you cut all the way through the pumpkin.

Step8

Push the cut-out features gently from the inside of the pumpkin and discard the pieces. Coat the cut edges with cooking oil to keep your jack-o'-lantern fresh longer.

Step9

 Place a votive candle inside the pumpkin to create an eerie glow. Note: Flickering lights inside the pumpkins (like the picture below) are very eye catching if you are wanting extra attention to your home, yard or haunt.

 

*WARNING*

Working with any sharp tools should always be done with adult supervision & avoid leaving buring candles unattended.                         

This is NOT your average smiley face pumpkin show that you just cut up, sit on the front porch & pop a candle inside. This is pumpkin carving to the EXTREME! Plese, do not try this at home unless you are skilled at power tool or have another arm  or finger laying around as a "Just incase." procedure. To begin, you will need much of the basics mentioned above, PLUS:

1. The Sawzall. The absolutely simplest way to decapitate the pumpkin is a sawzall. Jab the blade into the pumpkin and pull the trigger. In a matter of seconds you have the top removed. Be sure to tip the blade so that the plug is cone shaped. If you don't, you wont be able to pull it out of the pumpkin. I use a 4 inch general cutting blade. It is the same one you can use to cut through 2 x 4 's with nails embedded in them. It works great on pumpkins.

2. Jig Saw. For detailed cuts, I love the jig saw. I once used a manual pumpkin carving tool and it was exactly like a jig saw blade. I use a detailed cutting blade that is used for soft wood. You will need as long a blade as you can get. If it isn't long enough the chunks of pumpkin won't come out. Be careful with the jig saw. You will need one with variable speeds. It cuts pumpkin so well, you will be using its lowest speed. Using the jig saw is a lot like driving on ice. A little gas and the saw will keep cutting. In fact, it will keep cutting long after you take your finger off of the trigger. The pumpkin flesh gives it very little resistance.

3. Router. For some pumpkins you will want some areas to provide a little glow effect. Instead of cutting out the pumpkin, you can just carve away the skin. For this, I like to use my router. I just recently bought a router and there aren't many uses for one, but it removes the skin of a pumpkin like nobody's business. Using the router is easy. I use a 1/4" straight bit most of the time. If you really wanted to remove a ton of the skin area you might want a bigger bit, but the router cuts very quickly. The only warning for using the router is that unlike routing wood where the sawdust blows away, pumpkin flesh just churns up into a pulpy mess. It can obscure the area you are routing quite quickly.

4. Ice Cream Scoop. Once you decaptitate the pumpkin, you will need to scoop out the seed and other goop. An ice cream scoop works very well for this. I am considering sharping the edge of mine so that it cuts through the crap more quickly. One reason you need to do this is to make sure the thickness of the pumpkin flesh is thin enough that your jig saw will cut all the way through it. Be thorough when removing the fibrous gunk on the backside of the area you are going to carve and it will go very smoothly.

Tools That Do NOT  Work Well:

Some tools just don't work very well.

Big Knife - Only a hack would use a giant knife to remove the top of a pumpkin. If you don't have a sawzall handy and must use a knife to get through the thick area at the top of the pumpkin, use a boning knife. The blade is thin enough to carve a somewhat round cap. Otherwise your cap will look like a stop sign.

Dremel tool / Roto-sip - As you try to carve a straight line using a spining carving tool, it will slide through some spots and then snag a fibrous spot and jerk to one side. These two tools just don't work. Use a jig saw for carving and you'll be much happier. The in and out motion is much easier to use.

A Torch - Trying to burn a pumpkin is like trying to light a block of ice on fire. They are mostly water. A torch doesn't do much.

Circular / Miter / Radial Arm Saw - If you want to slice a pumpkin like a loaf of bologna these might work, but for anything else, forget em. If you want to take a slab off of a pumpkin to make it sit or lie flat, a cross cut hand saw will do the job in no time. Pumpkins are soft and easy to cut.

Recommended book:  EXTREME PUMPKINS by, Tom Nardone