The tradition of carving jack-o'-lanterns arrived in America with the Irish in the 1840s, and carving Jack's lopsided grin is now one of Halloween's most celebrated activities. If you're tired of making the same designs every year, perhaps it's time for a change.
This year, think about upgrading your technique and tools and creating more interesting designs. How about a haunting scene? Or a crescent moon? Your pumpkin is full of possibilities--not all of them spooky. Hugh McMahon, an artist and professional pumpkin-carver, explains how to use a collection of tools to carve your special creation.
Jack-o'-lanterns look haunting displayed inside or out. I like to line my walkways with illuminated pumpkins to guide trick-or-treaters straight to the goodies. Add spook to a holiday table by arranging clusters of small, carved pumpkins. When searching for the great pumpkin, don't forget to consider their cousins, squashes and gourds. They too come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes and present interesting carving alternatives. Carve intricate designs on gourds using a collection of tools and stack them on top of each other, secured with toothpicks, to create fabulously eerie arrangements.
Before you begin carving the perfect pumpkin, consider the following: inspiration and design, carving tools and techniques, lighting options.
INSPIRATION
Anything can inspire your pumpkin's final look. Keep an eye out for vintage Halloween memorabilia and collectibles at tag sales, or gather ideas from the rows of holiday books available at your local library. Geometric shapes, stars, moons, swirls and spirals are all perfect alternatives to the usual holiday images. Try making templates--photocopy a design and enlarge or reduce it to the proper size, then tape it to the pumpkin. Or, simply draw your own design freehand.
LIGHTING
No carved pumpkin would be complete without proper illumination. Instead of candles, use strings of holiday lights or a small flashlight fitted with a low-wattage bulb--they provide a safe source for illuminating Jack.
TOOLS
When thinking about the proper tools, anything goes--just make sure to use them with care. Think beyond the usual kitchen knife and spoon. Look around your house for everyday items that can be of help. Search the tool box for various saws and scrapers, and look in the kitchen drawers for melon ballers to clean out the pumpkin. Here are some tools that might be helpful:
Swiss Chip Knife:
Refine your design with this sharp and precise tool that is best used to clean up rough edges or to cut sharp corners. The knife provides precise, beautiful lines for a twisted grin and is excellent for special effects, like beveling round eyes on a pumpkin, so the thin yellow membrane glows as your creation stares back at you.
X-Acto or Craft Knife:
These knives are available in varying sizes that can be fitted with different types of blades, but they are also quite useful for carving designs in pumpkins.
Linoleum Cutter:
This tool's v-shaped blades are perfect for cutting grooves and spirals. To make spirals, first cut a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin that is large enough to put your hand through. Clean out the pulp and seeds. Cut grooves using one of the v-shaped blades, then use a melon baller to pare from the inside, so the wall is as thin as possible. To widen the grooves, repeat this step until they reach the desired size.
Hole Cutters:
These tools come in various shapes and sizes and make decorative tools. Create a charming polka-dot pumpkin by using the rough side of the round hole cutters. Square hole cutters are perfect for creating lacy designs, reminiscent of fine doilies. Smaller round hole cutters are particularly useful for carving tight, intricate designs into solid pumpkin skins.
Keyhole Saw:
This saw replaces the traditional kitchen knife that most people use when carving pumpkins. The saw's serrated edge is perfect for neatly cutting holes in the top or bottom of pumpkins, or when making big cuts to launch a design. It is an essential tool when working with tough pumpkin skins or with hard-as-rock gourds.
SOURCES
Assorted tools
Available from art-supply, kitchen-supply and craft stores.
Michael Vyskocil - Michael Vyskocil has been a feature writer for Recipes on Suite101.com since 2006. He currently serves as the Topic Editor for Recipes.
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