75 of the spookiest carving ideas for your pumpkins this Halloween
Pumpkin carving is one of the multiple opportunities we have to attempt being crafty at Halloween. First, there's the DIY house party decorations (even if they're for no one but yourself) which involves turning bin bags into spiders' webs and plastic gloves into ice sculptures. Then there's the chance to brush up on your art skills by turning your hand at pumpkin painting. And who could forget the Halloween cocktails? Basically just an opportunity to drink a lot of booze while making witchy concoctions.
So, if you’re looking for some crafty inspo this October 31st, (and you want your pumpkins to look the best, ofc) look no further than our round-up of 75 carving ideas. From the simple - aka classic cat whiskers - to the bold - aka a Stranger Things Vecna attempt, there’s a design for literally *everyone*. Oh, and there are even ideas that involve multiple pumpkins and extra props to dig your teeth into, as well.
But before you start pulling out the spooky props, we've added a few tips on how to actually, y'know, open a pumpkin, scoop its guts out and the best way to carve it.
How to hollow out a pumpkin
This is always the least fun bit of pumpkin carving, and often the messiest. So if you've got a group of mates coming round, it may be easier to prep all the pumpkins before hand and then you can just get on with the fun carving bit later.
First things first you need a *sharp* knife (or sometimes a bread knife works wonders) to cut the bottom of the pumpkin off, as this will make it easier to carve later as it's now a flat surface. You can also take the top off too if you want and make sure to keep this to the side for later.
Then when it comes to the actual hollowing and removing all of the pumpkin insides, initially we use our hands or a spoon to scoop out the flesh at the top, and then one of the best ways we've found to clear out the rest quickly is to use an electric hand mixer on a low speed and carefully move the mixer around the inside of the pumpkin to pull out the last stringy and difficult to pull out parts of the pumpkin. There are also a number of special kits you can find online if you don't have an electric mixer to hand.
Also remember to keep the pumpkin seeds aside and roast them in the oven for a delicious crunchy topping on autumnal soups.
Then use a scooping spoon to get the walls of the pumpkin down to around a quarter of an inch thick. Any thicker and it will be difficult to carve, which brings us to...
How to carve a pumpkin
Before you even pick up a carving tool, we'd recommend stencilling your design (selected from the ones below) on the outer surface of the pumpkin.
Either stick it on with paper or draw it on directly, and then make little holes along the lines of the design to make it easier to carve into. Then pick up your sharp knife and begin carving away slowly, starting from the centre outwards. Make sure you don't ever rest your arm on the pumpkin while carving.
You can also use tools similar to biscuit cutters that have predesigned stencil shapes that you press firmly into the pumpkin in order to get your desired design.
Happy haunting...
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