Instead of carving jack-o’-lanterns, have kids decorate pumpkins as their favorite Dr. Seuss characters.
75 Creative Pumpkin Carving Ideas To DIY This Halloween
As Halloween creeps closer and closer, your window of time for finding the perfect pumpkin to carve up is getting smaller. However, that shouldn’t stop you from reserving your tickets to the local pumpkin patch (and snapping some photos while y0u’re there)—or, let’s be real, driving up to your local grocery store and selecting a last-minute gourd to decorate your front stoop with. You don’t even have to carve your pumpkin to create a ghastly entryway for trick-or-treaters to approach on the spooky holiday, but if you’re a Halloween traditionalist and you’re set on carving your pumpkin, we have a few jack-o’-lantern ideas you won’t want to pass up.
The easiest way to prepare your pumpkin carving station is by setting down a layer of newspaper or plastic sheeting on your table to avoid the inevitable mess of cutting open your orange gourd. When it comes to actually carving the pumpkin, it’s best to use a serrated knife. Traditionally, a hole is cut on the top of the pumpkin, which makes sense for a more stable carving space. However, it’s easier to pull the innards out to hollow the gourd if you cut the hole on the bottom. Just be careful when balancing on the stem at the top. Keep a large bowl on hand to scoop the slimy guts into, and save the seeds for roasting as a little reward once you’re finished with your masterpiece and enjoying a frightening read.
We’d recommend drawing the face or design onto your pumpkin before carving it up so you make fewer mistakes along the way. But hey, if you do mess up, you could always incorporate the mistake into the design! Whatever style you’re going for this year, whether that’s a cute pumpkin face or a terrifying monster, use our list of 75 creative jack-o’-lanterns for pumpkin carving inspiration.
