Halloween is just around the corner and to get into the festivities many people love to carve pumpkins. Carving can be a long process; however, gathering with friends or family for this Halloween tradition turns into lots of fun. Afterwards, many people put them on their front doorsteps as a way of showing off their hard work and Halloween spirit. 

Once the seeds and guts are out of the pumpkin, making that first cut can be nerve-racking. One of the hardest parts about carving pumpkins is deciding what you want to carve. Do you want a scary face? Happy face? Jagged teeth? A random design? The opportunities are endless and sometimes overwhelming. To help shorten the process, here are a couple of options:

The jack-o’-lantern is another name for carved pumpkins and this easy design is a great one to start off with. The triangles for the eyes and nose help you understand how to use the knife. Sometimes you have to go back to try and make the shapes similar sizes, especially if you are a perfectionist! The mouth would be a little harder but leaving it simple with only a couple of teeth would make it doable. 

If you are confident, a step up in difficulty might be incorporating harder shapes. Eyes are a very important part of the pumpkin, and just changing the shape could make a large difference. Maybe make them circular? Or even try to keep the pupil a part of the eye? Now with different eyes, do you change the shape of the nose to match them? Do you want to try and make the nose look more realistic?

Lastly, there are pro carvers who do not cut through all the way. They might shave off certain parts or cut halfway to make different colors and textures. 

If you have hours on hand, this could be a new way of challenging yourself and putting yourself to the test. Patience is key and everyone has the chance of being able to make an amazing pumpkin. Which one do you think you are going to make this fall?