| You can carve some truly beautiful and
artistic pumpkins freehand, but if you want to create really detailed carvings you'll want
to use a stencil. And all you'll need is a couple of extra tools to cut out the patterns.
Below is step by step photo-tutorial on how to carve
your pumpkins from a stencil. The pattern we choose is an example of a very simple design,
but you can do just about anything. Use your imagination and they'll come to life! |
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| A Carving Saw
is essential for carving fine, detailed areas, but can be used for the entire
Jack-O-Lantern. A Transfer Tool is used to transfer your
designs onto the face of the pumpkin.
Carving Stencils can be
drawn either freehand onto paper or use your computer to make your pattern. |
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| Prepare the pumpkin as you would for basic
carving, i.e. cut out the top hole and gut the pumpkin out. Select the paper stencil you
want to use and trim the excess paper from it with scissors. Be sure to leave at least a
1/2 inch border for the tape to go on.
Attach
the stencil to the face of the pumpkin with tape. Top first, then the bottom and lastly
the sides. You may have to crease the stencil to tape the corners, if so, try to make the
creases where the pattern will be distorted the least.
|
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| Using the Transfer Tool,
press the pointed tip into and through the design lines on the paper stencil spaced about
a 1/8 of an inch apart. Complex and thin designs might require the dots to be a little
closer together. The tip of the
Transfer Tool should be pushed in just enough to go through the paper and
the outer skin of the pumpkin, not all the way through the pumpkin. |
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| It's very important that you take your time
when transferring the pattern from the stencil. Remember, you're making guide lines for
sawing later. Before removing the stencil, look it over very carefully to make sure that
all the lines have been transferred clearly.
Once the paper stencil is removed you'll see the outline of the
stencils pattern marked on the face of the pumpkin via little dots. Once
you remove the stencil be sure to save it in case you need to refer to it while carving. |
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| Using the Carving Saw, push
the tip of the saw-blade into a pattern hole and saw through the design lines with short
back-and-forth motions. Basically, you're playing "connect the dots".
It's important to remember that these are
"saws", not knives. The saw is not used in the same way as a knife. You never
cut with it, you saw with it. Take your time and follow the pattern edges carefully. |
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| Always align the saw blade to make the cuts
straight into the pumpkin. When making sharp corners, remove the saw and re-insert it at
the new angle. To make removal
of the pieces easier you can cut them into smaller section while still in the pumpkin.
Then carefully push out all of the cut pieces
with your finger or an un-sharpened pencil. |
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| Once you've removed all of the cut pieces,
carefully trim the inside edges of the pumpkin of any excess flesh with the Carving Saw or
a small knife. We like to carve the excess off at about a 45 degree angle. This allows
more light to come through, showing your design to it's fullest.
Remove any cut pieces that have fallen inside the
pumpkin from your carving. Coat the edges with petroleum jelly. (See our
pumpkin
preserving page) |
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| Your finished pumpkin should look like the
one on the right. The silhouette, in this case a cat, should be clearly visible. When
picking a design to use, make sure that it will be clear when finished. We tried a tomb
stone with hands clawing up, it looked cool but you couldn't tell what the hands were
until you looked at it for a while. Adding a lit candle to it made it a bit easier to
figure out. You're all set to
add a candle to your Jack 'O Lantern!
For more
information visit the Tools of the Trade and
Making Your Own
Stencils pages in this section. |
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