1. How to Carve a Pumpkin - Five Parts
   
   Part 1: Choosing a Pumpkin
   
   Buy a pumpkin shortly before Halloween. Although Halloween excitement can build early in October (especially for children), do not buy your pumpkin too early. Most pumpkins will be rotten beyond recovery after a week and a half to two weeks. With this in mind, buy your pumpkin about a week or less before Halloween.
   1. 
      
      Select a pumpkin from a pumpkin patch or supermarket.
      Many venues will sell carving pumpkins as Halloween approaches. Visit your local supermarket or pumpkin patch for a good offering. If you live near a farmer’s market, vendors there may also sell pumpkins. Find a location with a healthy selection of pumpkins and a range of sizes.
      • If you’re pumpkin hunting with young children, a pumpkin patch may be the most fun for them. You can find a local pumpkin patch by searching online or keeping an eye open for advertisements around the area where you live.
        
   2. 
      
      Select a healthy pumpkin.
      When you’re choosing a pumpkin, try to pick one that’s free of nicks, bruises, and cuts. Look for a sturdy stem that doesn’t feel too bendable, and for mostly consistent color all the way around. Knock or thump on the skin like you would a melon; if you hear a hollow sound, the pumpkin is ripe.
      • Look for a pumpkin with a flat base. This will make it easier to display the carved pumpkin on Halloween night.
        
      • It’s not important if the pumpkin you like is clean or dirty. Remember you can always wash the pumpkin with an old cloth when you get home.
        
   3. 
      
      Pick the size you need.
      If you’re planning on an elaborate pumpkin carving, note that a larger gourd will provide more surface space, but also takes more work to carve. Selecting a round, medium-sized pumpkin is a popular option.
      • If you have kids and simply plan on drawing faces on your pumpkins with a permanent marker, try picking up several small to medium samples for them to put different designs on.
        
   Part 2 - Tracing a Design
   
   1. 
      
      Choose a design before you start carving.
      Before you start cutting, figure out what kind of design or face you want on your pumpkin: you can carve a typical “spooky” face with a toothed grin, a haunted house, or the silhouette of a cat or a bat.
      • Many jack-o’-lantern designs are available online; try searching for more ideas. Alternatively, drop into your local library and borrow a book of carving ideas. A variety of images can be very inspirational for developing your own.
        
   2. 
      
      Choose a method for carving your pumpkin.
      While it’s conventional to hollow your pumpkin and then carve through the outer gourd into the hollow center, other methods of carving will allow your pumpkin to last longer, and involve less work with knives. A few popular carving options include:
      • Carve a traditional jack-o’-lantern. Plan to cut out eyes, a mouth, and perhaps a nose. This design is easiest for beginners.
        
      • Carve a silhouette. Pick a shape—for instance, a ghost—and carve out the “negative space” around the ghost’s shape, then carve out features like eyes or a mouth. You’ll end up with a circle of light around the dark shape, with lighted details.
        
      • Carve down to the pulp. For a daytime jack-o’-lantern that you don’t intend to light, use an x-acto knife to scratch away the pumpkin skin and reveal the pulp. Don’t carve all the way into the gourd.
        
   3. 
      
      
   1. Trace your design on the pumpkin. For traditional, silhouette and pulp carving, use a permanent marker or dry-erase marker to outline your design on the pumpkin. (Dry-erase markings can be wiped off if you mess up.) If you’d rather not draw your jack-o’-lantern design free-hand, you can find a pattern online and trace if onto your pumpkin.
      • If you’re decorating pumpkins with children, letting them draw the designs can be a fun way to include them, yet avoid having them handle sharp carving tools.
        

1. 
   
   Set up a spacious work area.
    Pumpkin carving can quickly become messy, and it’s best to keep that mess off the floor or kitchen table. Lay down some newspaper or a brown sack from your grocery store on a flat surface.[5] Lay out your tools, as well as a bowl for discarded pumpkin innards.
   • Doing this protects the floor or table surface and makes for an easy clean-up when done. Once you’re finished carving, you can bundle up the newspapers and throw the whole mess away. You can recycle the newspapers.
     
2. 
   
   Select a sharp knife.
   For effective pumpkin carving, use a serrated bread knife, a jab saw (used to cut drywall), or a purpose-made serrated knife taken from a pumpkin-carving set. If you do not have a serrated knife, or if you prefer to use a straight-edged blade, opt for a paring knife or a filet knife.[6]
   
3. 
   
   

• The lid doesn’t have to be cut in a circle. Try shaping the lid as a square, star or other shapes. Just make sure you keep the knife angled toward the center of the pumpkin as you carve the lid and opening.
  

1. 
   
   Remove the filling from the pumpkin. Use a large spoon, an ice-cream scoop, or your hands to pull all of the strands and seeds from the inside of your pumpkin. Place the seeds, pulp, and other scrapings into the large kitchen bowl that you set out earlier. Scrape the pumpkin as clean as you can, so that more light shines through your jack-o’-lantern.[8]
   • This step can be skipped if you’re simply carving down to the pulp of the pumpkin, with no intention of hollowing it out.
     
2. 
   
   
   1. Carve your design. Use a gentle back and forth motion to cut into the pumpkin, and take your time. Make sure to cut precisely along the design that you’ve traced on the pumpkin’s surface. Draw the knife back and forth, while maintaining a steady downward pressure. Keep following your pattern until you’ve carved out the entire design.[9]
      • If a cut section of your design doesn’t remove easily the first time, run the blade around it again and then push on that section from the inside. You may also find that a toothpick stabbed into the section will help you to pull it out.
        
      • Use caution when wielding a knife. Cut away from yourself; never pull the knife up towards yourself through the pumpkin.
        
3. Part 4 Lighting and Displaying Your Carved Pumpkin
   
   1. 
      
      
4. Light your pumpkin with a candle or tea light. Traditionally, jack-o’-lanterns are lit with candlesticks or tea lights. [10] If you choose to illuminate your carved pumpkin with candles, do not leave them lit overnight or if you’re away from the house.
   • Ventilate as needed. If you do choose to use a real candle, make sure your carving will provide the flame with enough oxygen to keep burning. If you’ve cut several large holes in your pumpkin, you should be fine. If not, consider cutting a small vent in the lid, or remove the lid entirely.
     
5. 
   .Light your pumpkin with a LED light. If you’d prefer not to illuminate your jack-o’-lantern with a lit candle, you can substitute an artificial light source for the same effect. Flashlights and flickering LEDs are popular modern options.[11]
   • LED and other artificial lights are safer (less likely to start a fire) and can burn all night, unlike tea lights.
     
6. 
   
   Display the pumpkin in a safe area.
   If you’re using a candle in your pumpkin, place it in an area away from flammable items. For instance, don’t place it near a hay bale or scarecrow; those items could light on fire if your pumpkin gets jostled or knocked over. Additionally, take care that a trick-or-treaters’ dangling costume won’t get caught by the candle’s flame.
   • If you’re using a candle to light your pumpkin and placing it on anything wooden, place a dinner plate down first, to catch wax and avoid setting wooden porches, tables, or stairs on fire.
     

(2018-10-22, 12:00 PM)Mimo Wrote: Mm chỉnh phần 1 màu mè cho đẹp mà nó hỏng nghe lời...thôi kê...

Mm làm thì hơi khác ở chổ:

- Cắt lid trước, clean ruột bên trong xong rồi mới carve...thấy dễ hơn, I dont know???

(2018-10-22, 12:57 PM)DesertFlower Wrote: DF cũng nghĩ cách Mimo nói dễ hơn

Mình clean ruột là cái hôt phải không Mimo ?

DF sợ clean hết ruột thì nó èo ọp, sụp luôn 

(2018-10-22, 01:15 PM)Mimo Wrote: Phải clean luôn mấy sợi ở trong đó chij DF.
Nhưng cào nhẹ thôi, chứ làm mạnh là cái phần vỏ bị mỏng đi sẽ không đều và dễ sụp...nhưng làm gần ngày Halloween cũng không sao.
Có một cái sẽ sụp là nếu cắt cái lid ở đáy, có năm sao Mm nghĩ có làm vì dễ để đèn cầy hơn...nhưng đó là sai lầm


Mm nghĩ họ chỉ carve trước cũng có lý vì trái bí cứng cõi hơn nhưng Mm thấy clean trước thì dễ carve hơn vì dễ cầm và thấy bên trong, coi vậy chứ trái bí ở đây dầy lắm :sunflower_1f33b:

(2018-10-22, 01:23 PM)DesertFlower Wrote: Vậy dùng muỗng cạo hết dây dợ và hột, đừng cạo thịt trái bi 

Chắc cạo xong chị cất tủ lạnh, cho nó khỏi mềm, ngày nào mới chưng trước cửa được vậy ?  :face-with-tears-of-joy4:

(2018-10-22, 01:30 PM)caothang Wrote: không đăng cách làm cho sớm làm cạo mỏng quá nó xụm bà chè , đem đi nấu canh , giờ lấy gì đem đi thi ?

:full-moon-with-face4:

(2018-10-24, 12:01 PM)Mimo Wrote: Mm thấy cây dao nhọn ở web "how to" ở trên thấy nguy hiểm quá  

Nếu có thể mua ở Target, WM, Michaels or local stores cũng có bán cở 4-5d thôi.

Trong đó thì có cây nhọn nhọn nho nhỏ vậy chứ mà "chiến đấu" vì make mấy các lỗ dot dot trước theo cái hình rồi cắt dễ hơn.

Thường họ đi kèm theo mấy các mẫu hình nữa... 

(2018-10-26, 05:38 PM)SugarBabe Wrote: Bô dao này good đó chị....

(2018-10-30, 03:25 PM)Mimo Wrote: Cẩn thận với mấy cái dao tỉa nha ACE.

Mm mới làm thấy để nguyên pumpkin , carve trước (Còn cuống dễ cầm), clean gut sau.... :rose4: