How to carve a pumpkin for Halloween?

Halloween Is a holiday of American origin, but now it is celebrated in most other countries. And its most famous attribute is a pumpkin lamp. Jack's pumpkin is traditionally carved on the eve of the celebration. Jack is a drunkard who twice managed to deceive the Devil and after death did not go to heaven or hell. Since then, he has been forced to wander the earth, lighting his path with a smoldering coal. Usually the face on the pumpkin is depicted with an intimidating smile and empty eye sockets. There are several ways to create a holiday attribute.

Before starting the cutting process, you need to prepare everything you need. First you need to choose a pumpkin. There are certain requirements for the vegetable to be used.

1. The first thing to do is decide on the shape of the pumpkin. It is traditionally recommended to choose a round one, as it resembles a head in shape and is more stable. But it is not forbidden to use oblong pumpkin as well. The only complication that can arise in this case is that the long pumpkin is less stable.

2. The pumpkin must be undamaged and orange in color.

3. The vegetable should be thoroughly washed and dried with a paper towel.

In addition, the necessary tools should be prepared. These include: knives of different sizes (3-4 pieces are enough), a large spoon, any container or garbage bag for waste. You will also need a felt-tip pen and stencils to transfer the drawing.

The sketch itself can be printed from the Internet or purchased from a store. The choice of face is also highly individual. The main condition is that Jack's head must terrify those around him. EIf you decide to use a template, you will additionally need scissors, tape and a needle.

Regardless of the chosen pattern, the pumpkin carving process remains the same in all cases. First you need to cut off the top of the pumpkin as shown in the picture. If you have doubts about the correctness of actions, you can first draw a circle in the right place, and only then cut off the top of the head using one of the knives. It is noteworthy that the cut off part should not be thrown away, since it will be used as a lid in the future. The only manipulation that should be carried out with this part is to remove all the available pulp from it.

Now you need to arm yourself with a spoon and carefully peel all the pulp of the vegetable. All waste can be put into a prepared container. You don't have to throw them away as they can be used for cooking.

When all the insides have been cleaned out, the inside of the pumpkin can be blotted with paper towels in order to get rid of the existing moisture. You can even wash the vegetable. The pumpkin making workshop is pretty simple.... But for children and for the first time, to make it easy, it is recommended to choose simple stencils.

At this stage, you need to use the selected stencil. Use scissors to cut out the stencil. Then it must be fixed on the pumpkin with tape. There are two important points here:

1. the pumpkin should be located with the cut part up;

2. the stencil on the surface of the vegetable must be placed as evenly as possible so that the face does not turn out to be crooked.

Using a felt-tip pen, you need to outline the stencil, and thus transfer your face to the pumpkin. To get crisper lines, you can trace the drawing again. When everything is ready, you can move on to the most interesting thing - cutting out the face.

Using knives of different sizes (depending on the part to be cut out), it is necessary to cut out the face a little. It is important to act clearly and accurately. There are two important points here too:

1. the main thing is not to get injured when making crafts;

2. you need to act carefully so as not to make unnecessary cuts.

All existing irregularities at the final stage must be cleaned up using the smallest knife. All pumpkin carving for Halloween should be as accurate as possible.

An important point! For children, it is better to choose small pumpkins. And also all work should be carried out under the supervision of adults.

But in order for Jack's head to take on a finished look, one cutting is not enough. It is necessary to add light elements step by step. In order for the carved parts to glow, it is necessary to place a light source inside the head. The ideal option would be to use a real candle, but in this case, many rules and conditions must be observed.

• The candle should not be very long. It is best to choose a short candle.

• It must have a metal support for the melted paraffin to drain off.

• It is necessary to light a candle with a long match. And this should be done exactly at the moment when the candle is already inside the pumpkin.

If you do not want to use a regular paraffin candle with fire, as well as for children, it is better to use an artificial lamp. Of course, you should choose options that run on a rechargeable battery or batteries.The color emitted by the lamp is best to choose red, so that the creation looks not only beautiful, but also mesmerizing.

DIY pumpkin for Halloween is ready. Now all that remains is to close the head with a lid and put it on the windowsill or in any other chosen place. It is noteworthy that it is correct to put the pumpkin on the windowsill facing the glass so that others can see it. The finished pumpkin should look something like this.

Choosing the right pumpkin to create Jack's head and decorating it beautifully is not enough. For the preservation of the vegetable in proper condition, it is recommended to use useful tips.

1. A vegetable suitable for creating a festive attribute should be as fresh as possible. You can check the quality not only visually (absence of rot and other defects), but also by touch. Fresh squash is pretty tough. A flabby vegetable will not work, since it has an unpresentable appearance, and it will not be particularly convenient to cut a face out of a semi-soft pumpkin.

2. If the pumpkin was purchased the day before or several days before, then it must be stored in a dark and cool place. A refrigerator would be an ideal option. But at the same time, you need to protect the vegetable from the effects of low temperatures, otherwise it will soften.

3. You can also save the pumpkin on the windowsill. The main condition is the absence of exposure to direct sunlight.

4. If there is a desire to cut out complex and unusual patterns, then it is best to stock up on several pumpkins, since the required result may not work the first time.

5. For carving a face on a pumpkin, you need to choose thin and sharp tools.

6. The skin of the vegetable should not be too thick as it is very difficult to cut.

7. And it is also not recommended to clean the insides of the vegetable as thinly as possible, since the surface of the pumpkin can break with the slightest careless movement.

If all conditions are met, then Jack's head will delight its owners from several hours to several days. It is noteworthy that those specimens in which artificial lighting is used will last longer. But, in fairness, it should be noted that the heads with real candles look the most attractive, since the light inside them flickers like a smoldering ember.

A detailed workshop on carving a pumpkin for Halloween is presented in the following video.