Pumpkin Carving Ideas

It's getting close to that time again when the costumes come out, making way for the one night of the year when ghosts and goblins roam the neighborhood streets. It is going to be a scary fun time, to make up for missing out last year. Even the supermarket was slashing prices on those huge pumpkins they just got in. What a deal! You decide to pick a couple of them up, toss them into the grocery cart, and head off to the register. When you get home, you grab your pumpkins, head on inside, and place them both on the kitchen table. Then you start wondering what sort of pumpkin carving ideas you can think to use on these plump beauties.

Pumpkin Carving Ideas

When it comes to carving a pumpkin, it is always a good idea to have a decent carving knife, a marker, and a little creativity. Often people begin by taking some time to draw an outline on the outside of the pumpkin with a marker, using it to guide their carving efforts. Two holes for the eyes, a triangle for the nose, and a sliver, moon shaped, mouth, for example, leaving enough room to draw a carving pattern so that the top can be removed. If using a large carving knife or even a smaller knife is difficult, try using an exacto knife instead. An exacto can help you make more precise cuts, staying closer to the lines you drew on the outside of the pumpkin. Once you remove the top and dig out the insides, you can insert a candle to get the classic carved pumpkin look.

More Interesting Pumpkin Carving Ideas

If the traditional look is not your forte, and you want to make things more interesting, then you may want to carve out much thinner slits for eyes, give your pumpkin two nose holes, or a jagged or square toothed mouth. If you are going for the creepy effect draw and carve in a pair of odd shaped eyes and a mouth that is not altogether symmetrical. For a more sophisticated look, give the facial features more angular cuts, and do not forget to carve out the eyebrows also. to produce a more sinister looking pumpkin, try eyes that are thin and slanted horizontally, making them curve a bit in the downward direction or slant the eyes in and down towards the center of the face with a long sharp teeth appearance in the mouth region.

Giving Your Pumpkin Character

Where carving the pumpkin is a great starting point, you can augment the character of your pumpkin by adding in additional items. For example, try to imagine a pumpkin with an eye patch and a pirate's hat. Or, replace the top of the pumpkin with a felt hat, and fix a tobacco pipe hanging from its mouth. If you carve the facial features the right way, the props will often fit where they are supposed to nicely. You might even want to carve out a couple of ear holes and add some goofy looking ears. Just be careful that if you are using a candle inside your pumpkin for lighting that you do not catch your additional props on fire. It may be safer to use some sort of light stick instead. With a little thought, you will be able to come up with all sorts of pumpkin carving ideas of your own. Having fun is what pumpkin carving is all about.