Halloween pumpkin carving
For the Halloween festivities, we would like to present you with a beautiful inspiration for an autumnal decoration. In a total of seven steps, we will show you how to carve a typical Halloween pumpkin head yourself, what you need to do it and how to make your work of art last for a long time.
Preparation and material for pumpkin carving
Before starting, the workplace should be set up. A larger cutting board is suitable as a work surface.
You will also need a variety of knives, a pair of household scissors, a dinner spoon, a cereal bowl or dish, a towel, a black felt-tip pen, the carving template and, of course, the Halloween carving pumpkin.
Pumpkin Carving Template
You have several options when choosing a carving template: You can download suitable templates from the internet or, of course, be creative yourself.
For example, draw the eyes and nose of the face in the form of triangles on your template. You can make the mouth of the pumpkin head both scary and funny by creating individual gaps between the teeth. Then cut out your template with the ZWILLING multi-purpose scissors.
Transfer pumpkin face
In the next step, transfer the contours of the face onto the pumpkin with a water-soluble felt pen. It is best to use the carving template as a base on the desired part of the pumpkin.
If you are working with children, it is a good idea to stick the template onto the pumpkin to prevent it from slipping.
Cut open pumpkin
First remove the lid of the pumpkin. Cut about 2 cm into the shell and make the cut all around the pumpkin. We recommend using a bread knife for this. The typical serrated edge of the knife gives the lid a slight curve, so that creative accents are set. You can also choose the classic variant and cut out the pumpkin lid in a round shape.
Make sure that the lid is large enough to hold a candle later. Also leave the style as it serves as a handle when you change the candles.
Hollow out pumpkin
After you have removed the lid, you can start scooping out the pumpkin. The inside can first be "cut out" with a bread knife.
Then remove the pumpkin seeds and all the pumpkin flesh with a spoon. At the end, you should be left with a rim of about 2 cm. Make sure to remove as much of the inner pumpkin flesh as possible so that the pumpkin does not go bad so quickly. With the formation of the hollow space, the light from the candle will also shine through better later.
Carving a pumpkin face
Now the carving can begin with the help of a ZWILLING boning knife. Due to the pointed blade, the knife easily penetrates the pumpkin flesh without destroying the flesh fibres. As the surface of the pumpkin is very firm, you should only cut about 1 cm deep at first. This makes it easier to make corrections later. Final decorations can be made along the outside of the pumpkin.
Your finished Halloween pumpkin looks best in the dark, with a candle in the middle, of course.
Preserve pumpkin
It is not possible to preserve a pumpkin for a very long time. Once the pumpkin comes into contact with the air, mould is bound to form. Preserving the pumpkin with hairspray, bleach or pumpkin preservative spray does not work.
One way to prevent the pumpkin from decaying is to dry it slowly. To do this, place the pumpkin in a room with low humidity for several weeks before carving. Caution: do not dry the pumpkin in the oven. It will become shriveled on the outside if the moisture is removed too quickly!
