How to Carve a Pumpkin: 6 Steps to Create a Jack-o'-Lantern

Place your candle into your pumpkin before lighting. If you don't want to use votives, try Christmas lights, especially those that blink for a spooky appearance. Or, save yourself the stress and go with battery-operated votives instead.

We think making Christmas crafts as a group is a great way to enhance holiday cheer. All of these projects are simple enough for any beginner crafter to try, which makes them fun for loved ones of all ages. Turn a set of stockings into an advent calendar with special treats as you count down to Christmas.

Use an up-and-down sawing or rocking motion to cut through the skin. Start by making rough cuts to remove large sections and go back to clean up the edges. Follow our pumpkin carving tips to look like a pro when carving your next Jack-o’-Lantern.

Carving jack-o-lanterns is a popular Halloween tradition. Some like to carve scary faces, others carve silly faces and the more artistic among us carve incredible depictions of movie scenes or characters from popular Halloween and horror movies. Close-up of a jack-o'-lantern carved for Halloween night. If you find these issues as you carve, you may want to try carving another pumpkin. You can also paint your pumpkins instead of carving them, which averts the need to peer inside. Instead of candles—which make the inside of the pumpkin hot—use a battery-operated tea light that flickers or a glow stick.

Cutting at an angle prevents the KrazyKidz lid from falling inside of your pumpkin. Cover your workspace in newspapers or a large garbage bag. Work on a clean, hard surface, such as a dining table or the kitchen floor. Put down a layer of newspapers or cut open a large garbage bag to unfold it into a large tarp to catch any spills or messes you make.