Halloween Pumpkins, Jack-o-Lanterns

Halloween Pumpkins

Spooky Tree and Ghost

Carving a jack-o-lantern does not require the purchasing of a carving kit or templates, all it takes is a good paring knife (or even pocket knife), paper, pen, and imagination. One can easily create a really cool pattern or scene for Halloween inspired by the great outdoors, using cookie cutters, or simply using some imagination. Just cut off the top or bottom of the pumpkin, gut it, run a spoon along the sides to make sure no guts are hanging, and start carving (tip: To help the pumpkin last throughout the season, wipe with a lightly damp towel, dry, and after it is dried, rub wax over it in a thin layer. This can also be done after carving, but it worked great before hand as well).

Leaves

Halloween is not always about ghosts and spooks, it is also a time to celebrate harvest and changing of seasons and pace. Using leaf shaped cookie cutters or stencils, trace patterns around a gutted pumpkin. Carve out the shapes. Using a permanent marker, trace around the leaves in red, purple, and brown. Place a candle or light inside the pumpkin and enjoy the glow. This is a great idea for a center piece at a harvest celebration.

Spooky Tree

 Draw a tree on a piece of plain white paper, making spooky looking branches or vines at the bottom of the tree. Add some bats flying beside it. For a more spooky tree:

•  Draw a large circle. 
• Draw the trunk and a branch reaching to the end of the circle on each side of the tree (like hands).
•  Make a mean face on the tree and some triangles above the face (making the head of the tree look spiky).
•  Crave the face first.
• Carve between the head and arm and the triangles second.
• Crave the bottom part last.

Ghosts

This can be done in a variety of ways, using stencils, cookie cutters, or paper and pen. A favorite is cutting out traditional ghosts that look like they are moving in one direction and placing a moon with simple bird slits in the sky. One could also do the BOO face, carve a big oval mouth with two round eyes or trace ghosts in random spots around the pumpkin, or get several pumpkins and carve Pac-Man on the first, and ghosts from the famous game on the others, make it look like he is chasing them. 

Hope this inspires some ideas for Halloween jack-o-lanterns and Happy Fall!!!