10 Jack o’lantern Tips!

Most pumpkin-carvers have made a simple jack o’ lantern with triangle eyes and nose plus a jagged smile. But this year, how about something different — maybe a creative scene etched onto the pumpkin skin or a wicked smile that will scare the trick-or-treaters. You don’t need to spend all October creating a design either, because there are tons of great templates available.

1. Start with the basics: Martha Stewart and Pumpkin Carving 101 have excellent, photo-filled guides for carving a jack o’ lantern.
2. Collect the right tools for a carving fantastic pumpkin. Knives, melon ballers, electric drills, and other hardware can produce elaborate results.  Remember that children should always be supervised around sharp objects.
3. Search for pumpkin-carving patterns on the Web and print out free stencils.
4. Making a complex design? Color-code the different parts with dry-erase markers. The colors wipe off easily.
5. Take a look at unusual jack o’ lanterns online for inspiration. A huge creation like this millipede isn’t that hard — it just requires a lot of pumpkins for the body, one carved pumpkin for the head, and a bunch of carrots for the legs.
6. Light the lantern creatively. The pumpkin head below is more dramatic with extra candles, and those tiki jack o’ lanterns light up a walkway like flaming torches. Make sure not to leave lighted flames unattended.
7. Keep the jack o’ lantern’s grin from drying out or turning brown by spreading petroleum jelly on the cut edges. Pumpkin Masters recommends spraying or dousing the pumpkin in water mixed with a little bit of bleach to prevent mold.
8. As you carve, don’t throw anything away! The pumpkin seeds, meat, and rinds can all be used.  Toast the seeds, and try some of these nine pumpkin recipes for everything from cheesecake to ravioli.
9. Photograph your masterpiece. To get good nighttime photos with a digital camera, you need to adjust the ISO setting and exposure time. Also, don’t use the flash, take pictures at dusk, and use a tripod.
10. And when the jack o’ lantern has finished its turn on the porch, send it to the compost pile.