On this fine fall Friday before Halloween, I will admit something to you: I am a pumpkin procrastinator. But based on the response I had gotten on Twitter, it sounds like I’m in good company! So if carving a spooky, funny or downright artistic jack-o-lantern is on your agenda this weekend, here are a few tips from Jim Johnson, our senior manager of creative programs; he knows a thing or two – each year, The Henry Ford’s employees and volunteers take the time to hand-carve more than 2,400 jack-o-lanterns for our Hallowe’en in Greenfield Village program!
Wow - look at all those pumpkins, just waiting to be carved for Hallowe'en in Greenfield Village!
Once you’ve selected and cleaned out your pumpkin, take some time using a dull flat tool to scrape the inner wall as thin as possible to allow for the most crisp detail.
Our employees and volunteers help prepare for carving by gutting and cleaning out the more than 800 pumpkins carved during each of the three carving sessions.
If you want to use a pattern – which can be enlarged on a copier to better fit the size of your pumpkin – firmly attach it to the pumpkin and use a small Exacto-like tool to carefully cut the pattern into the pumpkin. Then, carefully carve out the pattern with a fine knife. Jigsaw blades also work quite well, and specialty carving kits will often come with a variety of small tools for drilling and shaping.
My family and I use patterns to create fancy pumpkins at home, and we like to use votive or tea light candles to illuminate them in the traditional way. If you put your tea light inside of a wide-mouth glass pint jar, it will prevent the candle from blowing out or gutting out, if it is cold.
Another idea: Immediately after carving your jack-o-lantern, rub pumpkin pie spices (ginger, cinnamon, cloves, mace and nutmeg) into the lid of the pumpkin. Then, when the candle heats the underside of the lid, your jack-o-lantern will smell like a pumpkin pie baking in the oven.
If your pumpkin begins to dry and shrivel, soak it in your bathtub or laundry tub in cold water for several hours to refresh it – it will plump back up and look as good as new.
And when Halloween is over, you can compost your pumpkin in your garden – since they are made of mostly water, they will break down very quickly.
Happy Hallowe’en, everyone!
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