How to carve a traditional Jack lamp from a pumpkin with your own hands for Halloween? Useful life hacks and step-by-step instructions with photos. Video clips.
- Calorie content per 100 g - kcal.
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On the night of October 31 to November 1, the world celebrates Halloween, which is becoming more and more popular every year. An integral part of the modern holiday of All Saints Day is a pumpkin decor, from which interesting vases, candlesticks, decorative lanterns, etc. are obtained. But one of the main symbols made of pumpkins is the traditional Jack's Lamp. The pulp is removed from the fruit, a terrible face is cut out, and a candle is placed inside. Legend has it that Jack lights his way with coal, hidden from the weather inside an empty pumpkin. This led to the name - Jack's lamp, and inside the pumpkin they began to attach a candle. To decorate the pumpkin in an original and unforgettable way, we offer several options for decorating a festive attribute.
How to carve a pumpkin for Halloween - essential tools
Making a pumpkin for All Saints Day with your own hands is simple, the main thing is to have everything you need at hand:
- Nice pumpkin of medium size and regular shape.
- Any sharp tools (awl, sets of sharp knives, needles).
- A large tablespoon, scraper, or spatula.
- Washable marker or stencil for drawing template.
- Candles, flashlight or garland for lighting.
Step-by-step instructions for making a traditional Jack lamp
Details will help create a festive Halloween atmosphere in the house. A step-by-step description of creating a beautiful DIY pumpkin craft for Halloween will help make the process fun and creative. Since such an element of decor is not stored for a long time, about 3-5 days, cut out a pumpkin-face or pumpkin-lantern just before the holiday. And when the pumpkin starts to wither, put it in cold water for 2-3 hours. This will revive her and extend the decoration period for a couple of days.
Choosing a drawing
Before you buy a pumpkin, choose an interesting template so that the selected drawing is guaranteed to fit on it. The classic is a carved pumpkin in the shape of a funny face, which does not have to be scary. Halloween pumpkin crafts can be cute and good-natured, bloodthirsty and with smirks, smiles, hats, glasses … It all depends on your imagination. You can draw the drawing yourself on paper, with which you can then transfer it to a pumpkin. Or print your favorite pattern on the Internet. And if you are an artist, you can draw a face directly on the pumpkin. When choosing a pattern, it is important to consider that sharp corners are easier to cut on a pumpkin than rounded ones.
Choosing a pumpkin
To make the pumpkin pleasing to the eye for a longer time, choose it without damage and rotting places. Take the fruit that is beautiful, proportional and bright orange in color. Usually pumpkin is used in a round shape with thin walls. Although if a different pattern is chosen, an oval and other shape of the fruit will do. The main thing, when choosing, remember that you need the most beautiful pumpkin. After all, it will be a decoration and a decor item that everyone will pay attention to, so even the smallest flaw will be noticeable.
Preparing the pumpkin
Rinse the pumpkin with cold running water and dry with a paper towel. Use a sharp knife to cut off the top with a cone so that the lid does not fall inside. Hold it at an angle to create a tapered cut. Make a few holes in the pumpkin lid so that the hot air comes out and does not fry the pulp.
Then scrub the "insides" with a tablespoon, although it is more convenient to remove the seeds and pulp with your hands. If the walls of the fruit are thick, from the side where you will cut it, remove the excess pulp with a spoon, then it will be easier to cut the pattern. The optimal size of the wall thickness should be 2-3 cm.
Transferring the drawing to the pumpkin
Attach the pattern template to the pumpkin on the side with the thinnest walls and glue it with tape. Transfer the drawing along the contour of the drawing, make holes on the pumpkin with a needle or an awl along the contour of the drawing. Also, a drawing from a template to a pumpkin can be transferred using carbon paper.
Cut out the pumpkin
Connect the small holes made with an awl with a marker. It is important that it washes easily and does not leave marks. And to make the marker fit better, wipe the surface of the pumpkin with a sponge dipped in alcohol.
Using a sharp knife, cut out the pattern along the clear lines of the stuffed pattern. To make the carved pattern pleasing to the eye longer, grease the edges of the slices with Vaseline. This will keep them from drying out and curling. Depending on what you will use for lighting (a candle or a jar / glass with flashlights), cut a hole of the appropriate size at the bottom of the pumpkin near the handle. You can also use a drill to carve a pumpkin.
If you wish, you can rub the pumpkin inside with ground cinnamon or nutmeg, then the lantern will not only shine brightly, but also smell fragrant.
Add light
When the pumpkin is carved, light it up. You can put a flashlight inside or install a candle. It is important to choose the dimensions of the lighting device so that the candle fire or flashlight does not reach the top and sides of the pumpkin. To make the candles inside the fruit burn longer, put them in the freezer for a couple of hours.
The brightest lighting will be obtained with the help of an electric garland - wrap it around the can, which you insert into the pumpkin. Since the garland is connected to electricity, there should be a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin so that the cord is not visible.
The final stage
Then, in the finished pumpkin, turn on the flashlight or light a candle. Close it with the cut out lid and enjoy the work done. It is important that the lid does not fall inside the "head", and the burning candle flame does not come into contact with it.
Finally, you can give the pumpkin a spooky look by using wooden toothpicks to create eyelashes and teeth. And in order not to fight with every tooth, just insert a plastic jaw into the pumpkin. Then the decoration, even with the lights off, will look bright and frightening.
Other cool Halloween pumpkin decor ideas
The classic pumpkin decoration is Jack's lantern. But on a festive theme, variations are possible. You can decorate a pumpkin on All Saints Day with other frightening and interesting thematic drawings.
Pumpkin - basket
To serve the table with a pumpkin "basket", fill the peeled fruit from the pulp with seeds with ice and bottles of alcohol. Or use other options for decorating pumpkins with autumn compositions.
Pumpkin vase
Prepare a pumpkin for a vase like a Jack-Lantern, i.e. cut off the top, clean out the pulp and place the dried flowers. Or decorate such a vase with fresh flowers. To do this, do not scrub the pulp completely. Place a jar or glass vase in the middle of the pumpkin, the diameter and size of the peeled pumpkin. Pour water into the container and place fresh flowers in the depression formed in the pumpkin.
Designer pumpkin
Creative people and artists by nature, can decorate the pumpkin with "designer" painting. To do this, use paints, hot melt glue, lace, beads, dry leaves and other beautiful things that will turn the pumpkin into a masterpiece.
