Carving the Pumpkin to Suit the Mood

Halloween and pumpkins just seem to go together. They are the start of our holiday season and a good rowdy time for kids and adults to run wild and dress up. It's a time for mom and dad, aunts and uncles and grandparents to spend time with the kids. It's time to choose a great pumpkin right out of a local field and carve faces of fright or laughter for all who roam the night.

First you have to choose the right pumpkin for your carving. There are several kinds such as Chioggia, jarrahdale or Orange smoothie. If you don't know the names it's ok. Any farmer can lend a hand and help you choose the right pumpkin for carving or for face painting. If you choose a pumpkin for face painting that can lay on it's side the stem makes a great nose to work with.

Before you start always lay newspaper on the surface you'll be working on. This makes for an easier clean up when finished. You'll need a long knife or plastic carving tools now available at department stores just for carving pumpkins. Choose an ice cream scoop or large spoon to clean the inside to the shell.

Outline a face on the pumpkin shell with a pencil so you know what you want. Begin the carving by slanting the angle of the carve with the wider part of the hole on the inside. This will allow for a more open look or more frightening reflection of candle light at night time. Carve your opening in the top portion of the pumpkin at an angle so it does not fall through when placed back on top. If you happen to carve a straight in lid and it fall through you can rescue your effort with tin foil laid over the open and the lid pushed down gently. Form the foil into wild electric hair or a foil hat for your jack o'lanturn.

You can give your pumpkin it's personality with the eyes. Round open eyes will show surprise and fright while slanted, sharpe and squinty eyes will show evil. Add high eyebrows for surprise and inward slanted eye brows to help with an evil image. Carve a small mouth so your pumpkin has stability and won't cave in too soon. You can add teeth with pieces of bones, sticks or even funny false teeth from the toy department. You can add a nose by painting it on, using a stick or craving two small nostrils for light to show from.

Added touches to your pumpkin can be black glitter, foil collars and hats, spray paint in metallic colors or just about anything you can find that won't burn if you are using a candle. If your pumpkin is for viewing without a candle then feel free to use clothing, jewelry, false teeth, fake eyeballs in the mouth and any other monster adornment you can find. Have fun and happy Halloween.