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Lifestyle

How to Carve a Pumpkin

This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at American chapter.

I have amazing memories of my family sitting at the kitchen table carving pumpkins together. Apple cider to drink, roasted pumpkin seeds to make and jack-o-lanterns to carve.

While I’m no expert on carving pumpkins, here is how my family has always done it: 

What you’ll need:

pumpkin
Faith Branch

 A good pumpkin, a stencil, scissors (if you want to cut out your design), tape, a bowl and a pumpkin carving kit.  

1. Cut a whole at the top of pumpkin

pumpkin
Faith Branch

#SpoonTip: Make sure you cut a hole big enough for you to scoop out the insides (I made this mistake with this pumpkin, it was difficult to use the scooper).

2. Scoop out the insides of the pumpkins

pumpkin coffee tea
Faith Branch

But make sure that you save the seeds for this recipe. 

3. Tape your design onto the pumpkin

pumpkin tea
Faith Branch

If this is your first time carving a pumpkin then choose a design without a lot of curves. But if you are feeling adventurous, choose something like the Spoon logo. 

4. Use a carving knife from the carving kit and poke holes around the stencil 

pumpkin tea cake
Faith Branch

This will make sure you are following the design when carving. 

Here’s what your pumpkin should look like after you’ve poked holes for the entire design. 

pumpkin vegetable pasture
Faith Branch

5. Start carving your pumpkin. 

pumpkin vegetable gourd
Faith Branch

#SpoonTip: Take out small sections of the pumpkin as you go along to help protect the parts of the design that you want to keep intact (like the Spoon in this instance).

pumpkin pasture gourd
Faith Branch

6. Voilà, your pumpkin is finished

pumpkin squash gourd
Faith Branch

All you need now is a candle and then your pumpkin will be ready for all the Instagram photos. 

Kara is a writer and photographer for Spoon University. She is a rising senior at American University studying PR, French and Literature. She is obsessed with anything Disney, coffee/tea and movies. Other than Spoon, she is also a part of Alpha Phi Omega, a community service fraternity on campus. She can't wait to share her favorite D.C. restaurants, best recipes and other food related stories.