Thank you for writing in to ask the question about how to carve the pumpkin I showed in the Cinnamon Pumpkin Mantou recipe recently. I hope that my pumpkin carving experience, which uses simple daily cutlery to do it, will be able to help you carve your first pumpkin, too.

Easy DIY pumpkin carving with cutlery found in the kitchen; steak knife, spoon, fruit-pick. Decorate your home with it during Halloween.

As I strolled through the grocery store on my usual shopping trip, I stumbled upon a striking pumpkin nestled in a plastic tray. Its petite size and unconventional color immediately caught my eye, and I knew it was the perfect candidate for my upcoming carving project.

I have always dreamed of being able to carve a pumpkin for my home decor in October. A big orange pumpkin that you’ve seen or perhaps carved before. After many years of searching in the local markets with no luck, I can’t find any for sale here, except for those green Japanese pumpkins that I bought. I’m guessing that the skin of this Japanese pumpkin is thicker and should be harder for me to carve, but I don’t care much; I just want to carve on it.

Pumpkin carving Ideas

Since this is my very first attempt at pumpkin carving, I decided to go with a traditional Jack ‘O Lantern design to play it safe. When I didn’t have the right tools, I got creative and used simple kitchen utensils like a steak knife, spoon, melon scoop, and fruit pick. While the process wasn’t overly challenging, my fingers did get a bit sore.

Besides, if you’re interested in using stencils, here are more ideas for pumpkin carving with stencils. For those looking for a more advanced carving experience, you might want to consider pumpkin skin carving to reveal the pith.

How To Preserve Your Halloween Pumpkin

By the way, the pumpkin in the picture shown above is already about a week old, the color has changed and it is drying up and going to rot very soon. I have soaked it in the diluted bleach solution after carving to keep it staying longer but I didn’t spray the solution every day to keep it fresh and hydrated, so, it is drying up and rotting, especially under the hot and humid climate here. Never mind, I can always carve another one soon.

What’s Next:

Start crafting and share your completed handmade on Facebook and/or Instagram. Remember to tag us, @craftpassion, so that we are able to see them.
Pin it to Pinterest for a future To-Do List.
Share with your DIY groups for a craft-along event.
Browse more craft ideas to make, particularly for Halloween crafts.

How To Carve A Pumpkin With Cutlery

Yield: Jack O' Lantern Halloween Pumpkin

Active Time: 2 hours

Additional Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 3 hours

Difficulty: Avid Beginner/Intermediate

Estimated Cost: $2 - $10

I decided to carve a classic Jack ‘O Lantern look by using only simple cutlery found in my kitchens, such as a steak knife, spoon, melon scoop, and fruit-pick, hooray!!!

Enjoy carving them!

Materials

Pumpkin

Tools

Spoon and/or Melon Scoop or ice cream scoop
Steak knife
Fruit-pick or Tooth-pick
Cutting board or a safe working table.

Instructions

a. Find a decent-looking pumpkin from the market. It's best if it's symmetrical and sits well on a flat surface.
b. Clean the pumpkin if it is covered with earth or wax.
c. Cut the top of the pumpkin with a steak knife and hollow out the seeds and pulp with a melon scoop.
Scoop out the flesh with a melon scoop and spoon.
You may use a knife to slash the hard-to-scoop area, then scoop the loose pieces out.
a. Use the fruit-pick or tooth-pick to sketch out the Jack ‘O Lantern facial expression. Or, you can draft the expression on a piece of paper, stick the paper on the pumpkin, poke the outline with a fruit-pick or tooth-pick.
You can try some other carving ideas from here.
b. Pierce the steak knife into the pumpkin and saw through the outlines to form the illuminated windows for the expression.
a. Clean up the pumpkin and soak it in a diluted bleach solution (1 tsp of bleach and 1 gallon of water) for at least 1 hour.
b. Drain the water out and let it dry in an upside-down position.
c. Spray it with a slightly thicker bleach solution (1 Tbsp of bleach with 1/4 gallon of water) every day to keep it hydrated and fresh.
Obviously, I didn’t do the latter, that’s why my pumpkin rot on the 8th day and I have to throw it away. I used a toothpick to pin down the top of the pumpkin, then lit it up with a tea-light candle.
d. Keep the pumpkin seeds clean with water and coat them lightly with olive oil and salt.
e. Roast them in a lined pan and pre-heated oven of 350 degrees F for about 10 – 15 minutes or until they have turned light brown.

You may cook the fresh pumpkin flesh immediately or puree and freeze it for later use in other recipes. I made my cinnamon pumpkin mantou with this pumpkin puree.