On the night of October 31 to November 1, one of the oldest holidays in the world is celebrated - Halloween. This ancient Celtic celebration has an interesting history, original traditions and funny paraphernalia. The holiday strangely combines two traditions: the honoring of evil spirits and the worship of all saints.

In the USA, Europe and Canada, on this day it is customary to dress up in costumes of evil spirits, hold masquerades, light bonfires and build jack-o'-lanterns. It is not surprising that on the approaches to the famous holiday, many people have a question: how to make a pumpkin for Halloween? Today we will try to give you comprehensive instructions on how to make a Jack-O-Lantern.

Pumpkin is the main attribute of Halloween. Celebrants, as a rule, cut out ominous faces on the ripe fruit and insert a candle inside, constructing a kind of lantern. The habit of making vegetable lamps originated in Ireland and Great Britain. Celtic monks (Druids) made them from turnips, beets, rutabaga and used them to drive out evil spirits.

Initially, this ritual had nothing to do with Halloween, but in the 19th century, North America made it the main tradition of this holiday. Only instead of these vegetables they began to use pumpkin, since it symbolizes the harvest time. Americans named the jack-o-lantern the Jack-O-Lantern and made it the official symbol of Halloween.

Jack Lantern - who is he?

Before you start making a pumpkin for Halloween, you should familiarize yourself with the legend of Jack-O-Lantern, whose soul still wanders in search of peace.

According to legend, Jack led a miserable life as a lazy farmer, drunkard and thief. Fleeing once again with stolen goods from a crowd of angry peasants, he met the devil, who announced his hour of death. But Jack did not want to die and asked the messenger of hell to delay his death a little, offering in return to discredit the sinless peasants.

The insidious agreement was that the devil was supposed to turn into a gold coin with which Jack would pay for the stolen things. The coin will then disappear and the greedy villagers will start a fight to find out who stole it. The devil liked Jack's idea. He immediately turned himself into a gold coin and climbed into the thief's pocket.

But since the stolen item was a cross, the demon instantly lost his power. Jack released him on the condition that he would not take his soul to hell.

But when he died, his soul was not accepted either in heaven or in hell. Finding his way in the pitch darkness, Jack asked the devil for a lantern, to which he threw him several smoldering coals. The thief built a lamp from a pumpkin, put coals in it and began to wander between heaven and earth in search of peace. This is how the Jack Lantern appeared, commemorated annually on the night of November 1st.

How to Make a Halloween Pumpkin: Step-by-Step Guide

To make a Jack-O-Lantern you will need the following arsenal of available tools:

• pumpkin;
• cutting board;
• knives (one long, one short with a thin, sharp blade);
• spoon;
• felt-tip pen, marker or stencil with a face;
• candle.

Attention! Try to choose the freshest pumpkin. The skin of such a fruit has not yet hardened, which means it will be easier for you to carve patterns on it.

So that the lantern can not only fulfill its purpose on the day of the holiday, but also please the eye afterwards, check the pumpkin for the presence/absence of damage and rotten areas. At the same time, its shape and size do not matter.

Let's get started. The detailed process of making the lantern is shown in the photo.

Step 1. After choosing a pumpkin, cover the table with old newspapers or oilcloth, since carving the fruit is fraught with contamination.

Step 2. On the top of the pumpkin (around the stem), draw a circle or square with a marker to indicate the future hole. Make it large enough so that you can easily remove the pulp by hand or with a large spoon.

Step 3. Armed with a long kitchen knife, cut out the marked “cap”. This process must be performed at a slight angle so that you can cover the pumpkin with the cut off top, like a lid.

Step 4. Using a sharp-edged spoon, scoop out the pulp and seeds. Particularly work on the “front” part of the vegetable. The pulp in this area should be removed and leveled with a spoon until the wall thickness reaches two centimeters.

Step 5. Before making the Halloween pumpkin's face, use a felt-tip pen to draw the outlines of the eyes, nose, and mouth with a sinister smile on the skin. The eyes and nose are drawn in the form of three triangles, and the mouth is drawn in the shape of a crescent with two fangs.

Attention! Make the features of the face large and noticeable, otherwise they will be difficult to cut out.

If you have stocked up on a stencil, attach it to the fruit with tape or glue and transfer the design onto the pumpkin with dotted lines. To do this, you can use either a knife, a needle or a thin awl. After which the template can be removed.

Step 6. Taking a short knife with a thin blade in your hands, carefully draw it along the contour of the design. You need to cut slowly so as not to spoil the future lantern. The cut pieces can be pushed inside the pumpkin, or pry with a knife and pull forward. To ensure that the contours are smooth and clear, do not forget to scrape off the flesh protruding here and there with a knife.

To obtain a clear design, you can use special tools for carving vegetables.

Step 7. Having freed the pumpkin from the cut out pieces, fix the candle in its cavity and cover the fruit with a lid. The main character of Halloween, Jack-O-Lantern, is ready!

• To make the pattern last longer, cover its contours with Vaseline or vegetable oil.
• To keep your jack-o'-lantern fresh, soak it in water for a few hours.
• Make several small holes in the lid of the fruit so that hot air flows out without frying the pumpkin from the inside.
• Before use, place candles in the freezer for 2-3 hours - the lantern will burn longer.
• To ensure that your Jack-O-Lantern not only burns, but also spreads a fragrance into the air, rub the inside of it with crushed cinnamon or nutmeg.

Attention! A cleaned and carved pumpkin will retain its decent appearance only for 3-5 days, so it is necessary to build the lantern on the day or the day before the holiday.

You can admire a variety of pumpkin ideas in the photos presented.

Paper Halloween pumpkin

You can make original crafts for the holiday not only from vegetables, but also from paper. A paper pumpkin is suitable for home decoration and as a souvenir or gift for guests. Let's look at how to make a Halloween pumpkin from colored paper quickly and easily.

To do this you will need the following tools:

• A-4 sheet of orange color;
• green A-4 sheet;
• black A-4 sheet;
• threads with a needle;
• scissors;
• pencil and ruler;
• glue.

Step 1. Using a pencil and ruler, divide an orange sheet of paper into several thin strips, approximately 1.5-2 cm wide and 15-16 cm long. Cut the sheet with scissors. If you want to make your pumpkin unusual, use a tool with a raised edge. For one craft you need 18-20 paper strips.

(Halloween) we chose in one of the previous publications. If you want a real celebration with all the paraphernalia, we definitely take a pumpkin! After all, this is the main symbol of the holiday! Where did the tradition of carving a scary face out of a pumpkin and putting a candle inside come from?

Legend has it that several centuries ago in Ireland there lived a blacksmith named Jack. He was famous not for his work, but for his drunkenness, cunning and greed. He was lazy, his best friends were a glass of ale and a bottle of whiskey, and those around him accused Jack of fraud and theft. Rumors about the thieving drunkard reached the devil himself, who decided to test how sinful this man was.

One day Jack was walking drunk along the road and saw a lying corpse. Greedy decided to check the unfortunate man's pockets in the hope of finding money or at least something valuable. Turning the body over, Jack saw the grinning face of Satan and realized that he had been fooled. Having prayed to the devil, who was about to take his soul to hell, Jack asked for his last wish: to go to the pub and drink a glass of ale. As you know, it is not customary to refuse the last wish, and Satan and the sinner went to a drinking establishment.

According to rumors, this feast took place on October 31, All Hallows' Eve, around 1750.

Having had a good time, it was time to pay, but even here Jack was not at a loss and offered the devil this option: the devil would turn into a coin with which they could pay for the party. And after the drinker leaves the establishment, Lucifer will again take his form. The evil spirit really liked this dishonest plan, so he agreed. As soon as the transformation took place, Jack put the transformed coin into his pocket, where lay a silver cross that Jack had recently picked up in the village. This proximity deprived Satan of the opportunity to reincarnate in his own form, and he found himself trapped.

Only the promise not to take Jack's soul for a year and not to cause him any trouble helped the devil to free himself.

A year later, when Lucifer came to the soul of a drunkard, Jack asked for an apple on the path, as it seemed at first glance, a completely harmless request, even funny. Jack was already old, so he asked the devil to climb a tree. As soon as he climbed onto the branches, the cunning man took the salt he had prepared in advance and drew a circle under the apple tree. The devil again found himself a hostage, and the bidding for the soul resumed.

This time, the tormented Satan promised never to take Greedy Jack's soul, after which he was released.

Soon Jack died, but he was not allowed into either hell or heaven. On the threshold of hell, Jack asked the same devil what he should do now, to which he received the answer to go back to where he came from. The drunkard began to complain that the road was too dark, there wasn’t even any light. Then the evil spirit threw him a coal, which was placed in a hollowed out turnip. Since then, the spirit, nicknamed Jack's Lantern, has been wandering the earth, symbolizing damned and restless souls.

Initially, in Ireland, the birthplace of the holiday, they used rutabaga or turnips, and pumpkin was later brought by the Americans. Before this, no one in Ireland had heard of the existence of pumpkin, but when they saw the beautiful, bright fruit, they accepted it with joy. Looks much better and easier to cut.

How to Carve a Halloween Pumpkin

Classic schemes

Original ideas: how to cut and where to place a pumpkin

Glamorous ideas, in case someone finds the classic Jack-o'-lantern too scary and rude

You can also use pineapple instead of pumpkin. Your guests will be surprised!

What dishes to prepare for Halloween, how to serve snacks and drinks in the spirit of the holiday

Food served just like that is boring and uninteresting, but originally designed dishes and Halloween themed recipes will make the atmosphere even more mysterious, and your guests will be able to experience the holiday even more vividly.

Happy Halloween!

When Halloween approaches, Americans, and after them most of the English-speaking population, simply go crazy. They prepare costumes, decorate houses and, of course, make jack-o'-lanterns. In Russia, the holiday has not become so widespread, but there are still people who are not averse to celebrating All Saints Day. Especially for all those who want to decorate their home for the holiday, we will tell you how to make a pumpkin lantern in various variations.

Classic version

The easiest way to make a jack-o'-lantern is to cut an evil face on a vegetable. For this we need a table knife, a small penknife, a spoon, and a medium-sized orange beauty. Let's start production.

The first step is to cut off the top of the pumpkin. We cut it in a circle, and this must be done carefully. After all, this spare part should subsequently be in its original place. Now use a spoon to scoop out all the pulp.

The most difficult and interesting part of the work remains - to make the pumpkin lantern's eyes, nose and mouth. In the classic version, all the components of the orange beauty’s face should be close to a triangular shape. The eyes are equilateral triangles, and the nose is isosceles. The smile is also drawn in the form of this geometric figure, both the lower and the upper jaw.

After the face is drawn, we cut out the holes first with a large knife, and then with a small one we adjust the shape. All is ready. All that remains is to insert the candle and close the pumpkin with a “lid”.

Modern interpretation

Since Halloween is not celebrated in Russia, there is no tradition of carving funny faces on pumpkins in our country. But we have many craftsmen, and they often use vegetables as objects for creativity. Therefore, many craftsmen, paying tribute to tradition, carve entire works of art on pumpkins by October 31st.

You can see all kinds of trees, complex abstract compositions, as well as an entire amusement park. We'll tell you how to make a pumpkin lantern for Halloween with a modern twist.

To cut out a complex plot, in our case a carousel with horses, you need to prepare a pattern. You can print it on a printer, or you can draw it by hand. Next we transfer the drawing to the pumpkin. And here the most difficult part of the work begins. You need to cut out a lot of small details along the pencil outline. To make this easier, you need to prepare the pumpkin before work.

We do everything the same as in the classic version. Cut off the top of the pumpkin and scrape out the pulp. Now it will be convenient to cut through the horses. To make your work easier, you need to take a ripe vegetable with a soft peel. When the design is cut out, we shape it into a “hat” and attach it to our finished lantern using toothpicks. All that remains is to insert a candle and enjoy the beauty.

Pumpkin in a pumpkin

Human imagination is limitless. Today you can see jack-o'-lanterns not only in classic and modernized versions. Craftsmen make mini-compositions from vegetables of different sizes. One popular motif is pumpkin eating pumpkin. Let's figure out how to make such a creative lantern.

First, we prepare two pumpkins, cut off the tops, clean them and put the “caps” back on. To make the “hat” of a small pumpkin hold better, we pin it with toothpicks. We cut out a face full of horror on a small vegetable. To give a fear-inspiring grimace to a large pumpkin, first outline the eyes, nose and mouth with a pencil. We immediately try on a small pumpkin and trace it. Drawing teeth.

Let's start cutting. When we move to the mouth, remember that the hole should hold a small pumpkin, the hole should be slightly smaller than we drew it. It is better to expand the hole if necessary. If you still miss the size and a small pumpkin falls inside, it doesn’t matter, just attach it with toothpicks.

Creative installation

If you've already made the classic version of Jack-O-Lantern, then it's time to add a little creativity to your creativity. How to do it? You can come up with a terrifying composition that can pretty much scare your friends.

We cut out the classic version of the lantern or give the pumpkin any other face, as desired. Next we make a severed human leg. For this we need old jeans, a sock and an unnecessary shoe. We cut off one leg of the jeans and stuff it a little. Fill the sock and put it in the trousers. Well, we put shoes or boots on the improvised foot. Everything is almost ready. All that's left is to add some blood for ambiance. It can be made from ketchup or use gouache paints.

Lantern in the form of an owl

You can carve not only the now classic evil face on a pumpkin. With the same success, with a little more effort, you can get a very original lantern in the shape of an owl.

Why do Americans carve this particular bird on pumpkins? In Irish culture, where the holiday actually came from in the United States, the owl was considered a devilish bird. Hearing her hoot, everyone fell silent. They thought that the night hunter could harm not only small rodents, but also people.

How to carve an owl-lantern from a Halloween pumpkin? We will need a fairly large vegetable, and elongated in length. Cut off the cap and clean the pumpkin. To make it easier to draw on a vegetable, we first print a stencil. You can transfer it to the pumpkin either using carbon paper or using punctures made with an awl or a thick needle. We cut out all the holes with a small knife and remember, the more “feathers” our owl has, the more light the lantern will provide.

Lantern as a table decoration

On Halloween, it is customary to present guests with treats in a non-trivial form. So you can surprise your friends, for example, with pumpkin porridge with a rather interesting presentation. Decide for yourself how to prepare a delicious treat, but we will be happy to tell you how to make a pumpkin lantern for decoration.

This time we will not need the whole vegetable, but only its upper part. Remove the insides of half the pumpkin. Now let’s cut two round eyes and a smiley mouth into it. If desired, you can also add a neat nose. Cut out a tail from a piece of pumpkin. It may be small, but you should not make it less than 15 cm, otherwise it will be disproportionately small compared to the head. If desired, you can also cut out the fins. We put a candle on the plate, cover it with the carved muzzle, put the porridge on the dish and stick the tail and fins into it. A beautiful and original whale candlestick is ready.

During Halloween celebrations, people traditionally decorate their homes with a wide variety of pumpkins. These can be cute little crafts or huge grinning monsters. Making your own traditional Halloween decorations is easy. In addition, the vegetable can be used for decoration and decoration of the home.

Below you will find useful and practical answers to the following questions: why a pumpkin is a symbol of Halloween, how to carve it for the holiday with your own hands, how to make it beautiful and interesting.

Why pumpkin is a symbol of Halloween

Probably each of us has ever wondered what a pumpkin means for Halloween. An old Irish legend explains the origin of the modern Halloween symbol.

It tells the story of the cunning blacksmith-drinker Jack, who twice trapped Satan himself. Wanting to free himself, the deceived devil was forced to promise Jack not to interfere in his life and not to take his soul after death.

When Jack died, he could not go to heaven or hell. Both God and Satan, true to his word, closed their domains to him. In parting, the devil threw Jack a small coal so that the restless soul could use it to light his way. Jack put the coal in the pumpkin, protecting it from the rain, and went to wander the earth in anticipation of Judgment Day.

Interesting! The Halloween pumpkin is called a Jack-O-Lantern.

This is how a vegetable with a light inside became a symbol of a soul that cannot find peace after death. Thus, such a mysterious story arose.

In addition, many people traditionally associate the vegetable with the autumn harvest, and some believe that the light and an evil face scare away evil spirits, which, according to legend, cross the border between the world of the living and the dead on the night of October 31 to November 1.

Agree that this story makes you want to carve a pumpkin for Halloween even more!

What you need to make a Jack Lantern

To transform an ordinary vegetable into a magic lantern, you need to arm yourself with some tools. To create your own Halloween pumpkin with your own hands, you will need:

• orange or yellow vegetable;
• knives (preferably of different sizes and lengths);
• awl;
• marker;
• a printed template (different templates are waiting for you at the very end of the article!);
• spoon with sharp edges, scraper;
• scotch;
• scissors;
• candle, flashlight or garland.

These items will help you cut them out correctly and make the main attribute for the holiday.

To make the lantern beautiful, you need to choose the right vegetable. Pay attention to its appearance. It should be even and smooth, without dents, scratches or other defects.

When choosing live vegetables, pay attention to their shape and color. It is better that the color of the plant is uniform and the shape is correct and proportional. The pumpkin should not be rotten, its surface should be hard, without dents. You can buy a live pumpkin for Halloween in stores and markets.

By the way! The room will be even more interesting if you make both large and small lanterns for the holiday.

Note! The larger the pumpkin, the more beautiful the Halloween lantern will be, but it will take much longer to work.

On the other hand, the small surface of the pumpkin is difficult to cut out Halloween faces, so a medium size will be optimal.

How to Carve a Halloween Pumpkin

After choosing and purchasing the most beautiful pumpkin, start creating your Halloween decorations. How to carve a pumpkin for Halloween? The process will become simple and clear if you follow the step-by-step instructions.

• Step 1. First you need to decide how you want to illuminate the lantern from the inside.. If you want to decorate a Halloween pumpkin with a candle, you need to make a hole on top. To do this, you need to cut a cone-shaped piece from the top so that the lid does not fall inside. If there is a garland or lantern inside, it is better to cut out the bottom.

• Step 2. Then you need to clean the Halloween pumpkin.. All contents are removed from it: seeds, pulp, inner part of the peel. To peel a Halloween pumpkin, use a knife, spoon or scraper. It is most convenient to clean with your hands; this option is suitable for those who are not afraid of getting dirty. Carefully scrape out the area where the “face” of the pumpkin will be located. This will make it easier to cut.

• Step 3: Once you've peeled your pumpkin, you'll need to take your already printed Halloween pumpkin template and tape it to the skin . Using an awl, the contour of the lantern's face is transferred with dots to the surface of the vegetable (as in the picture below). Before cutting, you can connect the dots with a marker.

• Step 4. Cut out the necessary parts using a knife. If the picture contains small elements, you can use a stationery knife. You need to carefully cut out the pumpkin so that unnecessary cuts or defects do not appear on the decoration.

Important! If you are making a lantern with children, be especially careful to ensure that none of the children injure themselves or others.

• Step 5. You can treat the inside of the Halloween pumpkin with fragrant spices(cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, rosemary, mint, star anise, lavender, sage, oregano, thyme, vanilla) or pour coffee beans, orange and tangerine peels, cinnamon sticks inside. The warmth of the candle will make Jack's pumpkin smell all over the house.

• Step 6. To make a full-fledged Jack's head out of a pumpkin, you need to add lighting at the end. The candle is placed in a pumpkin with the top cut off. The height of the candle should not be large so that the pumpkin does not bake over an open fire. For small items, tablet candles are perfect. You can make several holes in the lid so that hot air can escape.
• An alternative to a regular wax candle can be an electronic candle or flashlight.It is more convenient to place them on a flat surface, and put a pumpkin without a bottom on top. Another option -garland: regular, flashing or multi-colored. When connecting the garland to the power supply, you also need to use a vegetable without a bottom, then the wire will not be noticeable.

• Step 7: Place your Halloween lantern in a prominent place in your home., where guests and friends can admire it.

Photo of a step-by-step execution of a Halloween pumpkin:

Video: how to carve a pumpkin for Halloween.

What else can be made from vegetables?

As already noted, a pumpkin for Halloween can be a wonderful decorative item, you just need to get creative with the design. If the process involves small children who should not be given a knife, try doing a variety of interesting things. For example, a Halloween pumpkin can be funny, kind, or interesting, bright and colorful.

By the way! To make an interesting pumpkin with your own hands, you don’t have to carve it. There are many other original ideas!

How to decorate a pumpkin for Halloween? Firstly, you can simply paint the pumpkin. To do this, you need to choose a white or light yellow vegetable - this way the paint will lie more beautifully. How else can you decorate a vegetable for Halloween?

1. Paint in pastel colors.
2. Take 7 small fruits and paint them in the colors of the rainbow.
3. Make a gradient coloring.
4. Place black, white and bright orange lanterns around the house.
5. Decorate the vegetable with black and white stripes, checkered patterns or polka dots.
6. Decorate your Halloween pumpkin with colorful handprints.
7. Draw a face with paints instead of cutting it out.
8. Decorate it like a large donut with colored icing and sprinkles.
9. Cover the vegetable with fluorescent paint to make it glow at night.
10. Decorate with an ornament of cobwebs and spiders.
11. Paint an autumn landscape or still life.

These are not all the options for Halloween pumpkin crafts; you can come up with even more yourself.

Secondly, you can color your Halloween pumpkin using wax crayons. You will get a very interesting and beautiful effect when using this technique: a lot of wax crayons are laid out near the cutting itself. You can arrange them in a chaotic manner or create a gradient so that the colors flow smoothly into each other.

After this, you need to take a regular hairdryer and direct a stream of warm air onto the crayons. The wax will melt and flow down the surface of the vegetable, forming fancy rainbow smudges.

By the way! The child will love transforming a vegetable into a famous cartoon character: Nemo the fish, Jack Skellington, Mickey Mouse, Olaf the snowman, Minion and other favorite cartoon characters. A vegetable can be transformed into any bird or animal. In general, there are a lot of options for pumpkin designs for Halloween.

You can also decorate your Halloween pumpkin with various decorative elements to give it a festive look or turn it into a real work of art. The following elements are used:

• buttons of all colors and sizes;
• beads;
• ribbons;
• bows;
• lace;
• sparkles and rhinestones;
• textile;
• paper applications;
• Garlands;
• twine;
• sackcloth;
• autumn flowers.

On a Halloween pumpkin you can: use markers to draw funny and kind faces, write funny inscriptions on the peel, and use the vegetable itself as a beautiful vase or basket for flowers and sweets. To make a basket, you need to carefully cut out the handle, and if you cut out doors and windows instead, you will get a cute little house.

How to Preserve a Pumpkin for Halloween

Many people wonder how long Halloween pumpkins last. Typically within 3-5 days. However, the holiday atmosphere usually reigns in the house not one, but several days - before and after the holiday. Therefore, it’s nice if you manage to keep the Halloween lantern for as long as possible, because it is a very beautiful and interesting decoration that is pleasant to admire.

1. Initially, choose a beautiful and undamaged vegetable.
2. Remove as much pulp as possible from the vegetable: the more pulp, the faster it will spoil.
3. If the fruit begins to deteriorate, it should be placed in cold water for several hours.
4. To preserve such a decorative item, it needs to be treated Place incisions with Vaseline.
5. You need to start making a Jack-o'-lantern for Halloween 1 (maximum 2) days before the holiday, so the vegetable will definitely not have time to spoil.

Now you know how to cut out a Halloween vegetable with your own hands and create an original decoration for All Saints' Day. A Halloween beauty is not only a beautiful and unusual piece of furniture, it is also a wonderful opportunity to show your creativity, bring the most unusual ideas to life and spend some time with loved ones.

Video: DIY Halloween pumpkin.

DIY Halloween pumpkin photos for inspiration and new ideas

Halloween is a very interesting holiday that gives both adults and children the opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of fantasy and creativity. Therefore, you have to choose whether to make a scary and terrible pumpkin for Halloween or a beautiful, cute and funny one. Below you can look at pictures of various Halloween options and get inspired or get ideas for yourself.

Pictures of beautiful Halloween pumpkins

The photo below is a great example of how a Halloween lantern can be very fun and interesting.

Cute Halloween smiles will put you in a great mood and decorate absolutely any room.

Pictures of the scariest pumpkins for Halloween

A terrible and gloomy Halloween lantern that eats its smaller brother.

And here’s what an evil and non-standard Halloween lantern can be like:

Stencils and face templates

It is much more convenient to cut out a Halloween vegetable using a stencil. The finished drawing will help you do this most accurately and beautifully. You can cut out festive attributes for Halloween using ready-made stencils or ones that you have drawn yourself.

Below you can choose your favorite Halloween pumpkin stencil and print it on your printer:

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What is a Jack Lantern and how to make one. What can you carve from a pumpkin for Halloween? Tips, step-by-step guidance, interesting ideas.

The content of the article:

Halloween pumpkin is the most common decorative element, which is very popular in the USA, Canada, England, Ireland, and France. In Eastern Europe, where the majority of the population is Orthodox Christians, the tradition of using it on this holiday, as well as its celebration itself, is not widespread. But every year it is gradually gaining momentum, and therefore it is important to find out in advance how to cut out the well-known Jack-O-Lantern and many other figures from this vegetable, accessible to all of us.

What is a Jack-O-Lantern

This is the main symbol of Halloween, also known as the Jack-O-lantern. It represents a face made from a pumpkin, which grinned terribly. Eyes, nose, mouth are cut out in it, sometimes even teeth are formed for plausibility. It is believed that this important attribute of the holiday drives away evil spirits. It is usually installed on the threshold of the house. A candle is inserted inside or electric lighting is provided.

The British were the first to make Jack-o'-lanterns, using turnips or rutabaga to make them. It acquired its modern appearance only at the beginning of the 19th century, receiving its name at the same time. It took about 30 years for people to begin to associate it with All Saints' Day. Around 1900, Americans suggested making this decoration from pumpkin, for whom this vegetable was cheaper and more accessible.

This attribute was called that for a reason. They say that once upon a time there lived a miser, Jack, who was able to double-cross the devil himself. As a reward for this, he promised him not to lay claim to his body and soul.

It all started with the fact that this simple drinker once invited the “dark side” to sip a little wine in a tavern. When the time came to pay the bill, the prudent Irishman turned to the devil with a request to take the form of a coin. He, without thinking twice, agreed, after which he ended up in Jack’s pocket next to the silver cross. As a result, he was unable to regain his image and decided to take on his original appearance in exchange for a promise not to touch the Irishman for a year and not to take his soul after his departure from this world.

The second time the young man asked the devil to climb the tree for fruit, and when he did this, the cunning Jack drew a cross on its trunk, for which he received 10 years of cloudless life. But it wasn’t to be, he died very soon and, without going to heaven or hell, he wandered the Earth with a turnip, into which he put a piece of smoldering coal that illuminated his path, which is where the name Jack’s Lantern came from.

Features of choosing a pumpkin for Halloween crafts

The pumpkin should be ripe, but not overripe. The richer its color, the brighter the lamp will be. Green, grey, black and yellow vegetables are not suitable; you should look for orange varieties.

The optimal shape is round or slightly oval, extended to the side or upward. The ideal variety would be “Rossiyanka”, “Altai”, “Almond”, “Smile”.

Since you will have to draw eyes, a nose and a mouth on the surface of the pumpkin for carving, it is best if it is relatively smooth, without sharp relief.

It is very important that the tail of the vegetable is not cut off, which can be used as a nose or “hair”.

The peel should be dense, but not very thick, otherwise it will be difficult to cut something out. Ideally, you need a pumpkin from this year, not from last year, which has been in the basement for many months.

You shouldn’t take it too big; a kilogram will be enough; a suitable height is about 15 cm, diameter is about 20 cm.

How to cut a face from a pumpkin

To do this, you will need a black felt-tip pen or marker, a sharp knife and a stencil if you want to make everything proportional.

First of all, wash and dry the pumpkin well, then cut off the top part along with the stem. If you want to use it as a nose, then turn the vegetable on its side. After this, you need to scrape out most of the pulp with a spoon (if you plan to make teeth, then you need to leave it at the bottom) and remove all the seeds. The inner surface should end up smooth.

Detailed instructions for creating a Jack-o'-lantern:

• Find it on the Internet or prepare a stencil yourself on a clean sheet of thin paper. To do this, use dotted lines to outline the places where the eyes will be located. The optimal shape is triangular or star-shaped, the width is approximately 3 cm. They can be located at different angles.
• Draw a mouth on paper, about 3.5 cm away from the eyes. Make it at a large angle, turning the corners on the sides sharply up and bringing them almost to the eyes. Let all the edges be smooth, leaving only a small tooth at the bottom right in the center.
• Between the eyes and mouth, draw a nose in the shape of a triangle, pointing upward.
• Using scissors, cut the stencil along the dotted lines to create empty spaces in the eyes, mouth, and nose.
• Now grease the pumpkin with damp soap, glue the sample to it, smooth it out and outline the prepared voids with a marker.
• Remove the paper and using a knife with a thin blade, carefully cut out the eyes, nose, and mouth in turn, not forgetting to make one tooth in the center from the pulp.
• Wipe the “face” with a rag, insert a candle inside, light it and cover the head with the previously cut top and stem.

Note! It is not necessary to use a stencil for carving a pumpkin; it is only needed by those who are doing it for the first time and are not confident in their abilities.

What else can you carve from a pumpkin?

Animals, cartoon characters, various figures, people and even vehicles - this is what will help create a festive atmosphere on All Saints' Day! You can make both large and small crafts, from which you can organize a whole “puppet theater”. Any shape of cutouts is allowed - triangles, ovals, circles, diamonds, stars. The layered depressions, in which the edges of the pulp are visible, look very interesting.

How to properly cut an owl from a pumpkin

To implement this idea, you will need a medium-sized gray or pale yellow pumpkin, white acrylic paint, a gel pen, a knife with a sharp blade, a regular sponge and a drill with the thinnest drill bit. Creating an owl will take about an hour of slow work.

Step-by-step instructions include the following steps:

1. First of all, carefully cut off the cap along with the stem.
2. Peel the vegetable from seeds and pulp.
3. Use a pen to outline the places where you are going to make the eyes, then shade them.
4. Outline them with an oval, using an uneven, curving line, stepping back from the left almost to the very edge of the pumpkin, about 1.5 cm on top, about 2 cm on the bottom, and on the right the distance should be minimal, no more than 0.3 cm.
5. Place a bold tick above your eyes, so that it almost reaches your pupils. Mark where the nose will be by drawing a diamond shape. Draw three small circles on the sides of the eyes.
6. Using a drill, make holes in the pupils that were previously shaded with a pen. Then carefully clean them of any remaining pulp. Now use a knife to cut off the peel, starting from the line marked below and ending at the very eye. This must be done in such a way that a slight slope is eventually formed.
7. Cut out the nose and eyebrows, shaped like a daw. Shape the mouth by making 5-6 indentations in the lower part in the form of soaring birds, arranged in two rows. Cut out pre-drawn circles on the sides.
8. Dip a sponge into white acrylic paint and go over the entire surface of the pumpkin, avoiding the inner surface of the eyes.

How to beautifully carve a carriage from a pumpkin

It is best to use a gray pumpkin, which looks very impressive. It should be small, maximum 12 cm in diameter. You will also need wire, PVA glue, plasticine, several A4 sheets, gold foil, and white paint. In addition, you should prepare a sharp knife.

Next steps:

• First, make the wheels by twisting the wire into a ring with a diameter of about 4 cm (4 of them will be needed). Next, secure the “spokes” inside, making them from the same material and using glue for fastening. Cover the top of the wheel with black plasticine. Then dilute PVA glue in half with water and use it to cover the wire with a thin layer of white paper pulp. Let the workpiece dry and paint it with golden paint. Connect two wheels to each other using a skewer or toothpick without fixing them.
• Now work on the pumpkin by cutting off the top and cutting out three windows in it, like in a carriage, partially removing the pulp from inside. Then paint it with white paint and let it dry. After that, between the windows, make a layer of silver glitter from the very top to the bottom. Repeat the same around the entire perimeter of the craft. Next, below and on the “roof”, draw any patterns with golden paint.
• At this point you need to attach the wheels to the carriage, simply thread a skewer with one of them into the bottom of the pumpkin and attach a second pair on the other side. To prevent them from scattering, secure them with wire.
• Remove the hat you cut off earlier, insert a candle inside the carriage and return it to its place.

This homemade decoration can be used as a candlestick to decorate a holiday table or the home in general.

We cut out a little man from a pumpkin with our own hands

To create such a decor, it is better to choose an oval-shaped pumpkin and a pale color. You will need white acrylic paint, a brush, super glue and various fabric accessories - a hat, mustache, glasses.

Follow the following pattern:

1. Paint the pumpkin with white paint and let it dry.
2. Using a pen, draw two eyes with pupils, cut off the skin literally 0.3 cm along this contour, cover the pupil with black paint and the white with white paint.
3. Glue a piece of fabric onto your face as a nose, or you can simply cut out a triangle.
4. Draw the lips, make a depression along their outlines, without affecting the flesh too much, and glue red plasticine on top so that it looks voluminous against the background. If it doesn't stick well, use super glue.
5. Place a felt mustache on your face, paper or plastic glasses without clips, and place a hat on your head.

If desired, you can attach an artificial sunflower to the hat, and use black fabric instead of plasticine to create lips.

Interesting pumpkin crafts for Halloween

A Jack-o'-lantern, a carriage, a merry man - these are not all the interesting pumpkin crafts. In order to get a beautiful decor, you don’t even have to cut it out. You can, for example, glue together vegetables of different sizes and create a cute bear. It is best to make his ears, eyes and nose from squash.

Another interesting option is to attach a green Italian snake pumpkin to an orange one, from which you need to remove the pulp. After this, you should cut out the eyes, mouth and nose in the latter. To prevent the vegetables from falling apart, connect them with thick wire, passing it along the bottom edge. Finally, you can cut off the top of the “head” and insert a burning candle inside.

A turtle made from a pumpkin will look no less beautiful in the house. To create it, cut the smallest round or oval pumpkin in half. Then place the soft part on the table and attach half an unpeeled potato with the cut side to the side using a wire. Using skewers, fix 4 carrot slices in the pumpkin pulp, which will serve as “paws”. Make eyes from black peppercorns by gluing them to the potatoes.

A full-length cheerful man will also help create a festive atmosphere. It is made from two pumpkins, the first, which is smaller, will become the head, and the second - the body. To prevent the structure from falling apart, they need to be connected using metal or wooden blades, inserted inside. Then cut out the eyes in the shape of a triangle or an oval on the face, coloring them, if you wish, with white and black colors to give the image a realistic look. Don't forget to make an incision in the mouth and nose area. Put a hat on your head, tie a scarf around your neck, insert knitting needles on each side, on which you need to fasten one potato at a time (these will be hands). Glue a strip of fabric or paper to the body, along which buttons are glued or sewn.

The simplest craft is an ordinary pumpkin vase for flowers. To do this, you just need to cut off the top, remove all the pulp and seeds, dry it and fill it with fragrant field daisies, pansies, etc.

To make the crafts as impressive as possible, you need to use various decor - felt accessories, sparkles, sequins, beads, paper, paint and other materials.

How to carve a pumpkin for Halloween - watch the video:

It would be great to complement the Jack-O-Lantern with the other pumpkin decorations discussed in the article. Thus, you will be able to experience for yourself how interesting and mysterious a holiday Halloween is. In any case, once a year you can safely allow yourself to get creative a little!