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DLTK's Holiday Activities for Kids
Pumpkin Carving Patterns
Well, I love letting the girls design their perfect triangular eyed and
one-tooth mouthed pumpkins but as they get older they're starting to want
fancier designs on their Halloween masterpieces. While you can
muddle through some of the simpler designs with serrated knives,
tablespoons and a small nail, you'll be well served investing in some
pumpkin carving tools if you plan on attempting some of the more detailed
designs. Pumpkin carving sets are quite easy to find at the right
time of year at your local Walmart-type store, home and garden store or
even on-line. |
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These are not intended as cut and paste paper crafts --
check out our Jack-o'-Lantern Faces
instead.
Materials:
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Pumpkin
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Printer and paper
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Spoon or pumpkin scoop
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Small nail or pumpkin poker
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Serrated knife or pumpkin saw (the more
complicated the pattern, the more you’re going to want a pumpkin
saw)
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Instructions:
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Prepare your pumpkin by:
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Cut a hole in the top for the lid. Make sure you angle the saw inwards so your lid sits on top
of the pumpkin and doesn’t just fall through
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Scoop out the seeds and strings with a spoon
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Scrape some of the flesh from the inside so your
pumpkin is about an inch thick all the way around (or at least wherever
you’ll be carving). You
can poke a straight pin
through it to estimate the thickness
Print out the pattern.
There are two types of patterns. Some, like Scooby above, require you
to cut the character out of the pumpkin. Other patterns, like Blue's Clues, use the leftover pumpkin to represent the pattern and you cut out the
background to make the character look back lit. Generally speaking,
the patterns like Blue's Clues are easier to make because there is less fine
cutting.
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Trim off excess paper
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Tape or use pins to affix the pattern to the pumpkin.
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If your pumpkin is quite lumpy, dip the paper in water
or vegetable oil (the oil will make printer ink run less, but makes the
project quite slippery).
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Smooth the pattern onto the pumpkin, affix with
pins or masking tape and let the paper dry.
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You can also make small cuts in the paper where it
bunches so it lies flat on the pumpkin. Add pins or tape to hold
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Poke holes through the pattern with a nail, push pin or
pumpkin poker. Make the holes
about 1/8th inch apart (or even closer for more complicated
patterns). This step can take
quite awhile so be patient. Just
place the pumpkin in your lap and work away at it.
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Remove the paper from the pumpkin.
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Rub flour or chalk dust all over the part where you
poked the holes so you can see them better.
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Push a nail through the pumpkin skin where you want to
start carving.
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Turn and push until it’s all the way into the
pumpkin, then remove.
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Repeat anywhere you're going to need to start
carving (eyes, nose, etc).
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You want to do all the pushing before you start
carving because it take some pressure (once you start carving, the
pumpkin becomes weaker and applying pressure may cause it to break)
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Using your nail hole as a starting point, cut the
design with your serrated knife or saw.
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start somewhere in the center of the design to keep
from putting too much pressure on areas already carved
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Use a sawing motion to cut out your design, using
very light pressure… take your time and allow the sawing to do the
work rather than applying pressure and forcing it.
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When making curves, just slightly turn the saw.
When making sharp corners, remove the saw and re-insert it at an
angle.
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To remove pieces, push them out from the inside.
For larger pieces, you may want to cut them into smaller bits and
remove them in sections.
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Once your pumpkin is all set, use a pumpkin light
(safer than a candle) or a candle in a candleholder designed for pumpkins to
light it up.
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Light the candle and place it on a piece of tinfoil
inside the pumpkin. Put the lid on. Let it sit a minute
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Remove the lid and there should be a smoke mark on
it
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Cut a vent in the lid where the smoke mark shows
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