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Pumpkins
into
Jack O' Lanterns
 Think
about it, a Jack O' Lantern is literally the ultimate in
Halloween decorations. Carving pumpkins and displaying
them on Halloween
night is a true tradition enjoyed by one and all.
There's nothing like the sight of the soft flickering light
produced by a candle and the seasonally pleasant aroma
produced by the heat of the candle inside the pumpkin.
Whether
you have just one or a dozen Jack O' Lanterns on
display, it provides a clear message to everyone that
you are celebrating this wonderful and spooky holiday.
Pumpkin Carving Basics
 Carving
a pumpkin into a Jack-O'-Lantern freehand is the
traditional way of doing it, it is very easy and only
takes a few basic tools. A large spoon or ice-cream
scoop, a thin bladed knife and some newspaper will get
you started.
With a long, thin bladed knife, cut out the top of the
pumpkin a few inches out from the stem. The hole should
be large enough to allow you to scoop out the guts
(seeds and stringy membrane) by hand and with a large
spoon.
Generally, the size of the hole should be about
two-thirds the diameter of the pumpkin. While you can
cut a round circle out, you'll find that cutting a five
or six sided opening will work the best. Now use the
spoon to scrap the inside walls clean. Inspect
the surface of the pumpkin to decide the best side to
carve your face.
Now, visualize the face you want to
carve, use your knife to carefully cut out the
individual parts of the face or you can pre-marked the
pumpkin by using a Crayon to draw the face onto the
surface of the pumpkin and cut through the lines you
drew. When you are finished cutting, carefully push out
the pieces to view the final results.
Make sure that you have scrapped the bottom of the
pumpkin flat, so that the candle will sit level in the
pumpkin.
For lots of pumpkin carving information and ideas visit
the
Pumpkin Carving 101 website.
Lighting Your Jack O' Lanterns
 Long burning votive
candles, placed in clear glass candle holders like the
one shown to the right, provide the safest, brightest
and longest lasting way to illuminate your pumpkins from
the inside if you use a burning candle. Plain white candles give off
the most light and will illuminate the inside of your
Jack-O'-Lantern the best.
If you
use candles to light your pumpkins, or for any other
Halloween activity, never leave a lit candle
unsupervised. Never use a lit candle in an artificial
pumpkin. Never leave children unattended with a lit
pumpkin, candles or other source of fire or near
combustible materials.
Using
three ultra bright yellow LED's, the "Artificial Candle
Pumpkin Light" flickers just like a real candle flame,
or about as close as you can get. If you want the
traditional look of a flickering candle, but not the
hazard of a real flame, these battery powered lights are
the way to go. These lights are suitable for just about
any size pumpkin and work great to light artificial Jack
O' Lanterns.
They also
make the "Amazing Rainbow Pumpkin Light", a special
effects version of the light above that changes between
seven different colors, making for a very colorful Jack
O' Lantern. Available from PumpkinLight.com
Jack O' Lantern Display Ideas
Coming soon.
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