Jack-o-lantern refers to pumpkins that are carved into a frightening or comical face and lit by a candle inside. Placign a jack-o-lantern on the doorstep to a house after dark on Halloween is one of the most prominent symbols of Halloween.
It is an age-old Irish tradition at the first place, as it made it easy to carry a light. Why people calls the halloween pumpkins all started with a man called Jack-o-Lantern from a bedtime parable told by Irish parents to their children. But the harmless carving of pumpkins were first associated with Halloween celebration in North America. Every year, pumpkin farmers sell wagon loads of their wares to the eager families. People put them on their doorways to scare away tricksters or simply to join into the spirit of the holiday
It’s not hard to make your own cute Jack-o-lantern back home.
The first thing you should do is to select the right pumpkin. There are five steps in picking a pumpkin.
Step1, the size is important and should be considered. The pumpkin should be big enough for you to carve eyes, nose and a mouth on.
Step2, tap the pumpkin to see if it’s dry with a hard shell. If it isn’t entirely solid, it’s rotting.
Step3, check the shape of the pumpkin. Do you want a moon-faced or a tall, thin one?
Step4, wash the dirt off the pumpkin.
Step5, find the best and nicest side of the pumpkin that have no scar and would make the best face.
With the above steps done, you can move to carving the pumpkin.
Step1, the features on the pumpkin needs to be marked out with a pen or pencil. I’ll recommend using soft eye brow pencil, which make the work of drawing on the smooth hard pumpkin shell easier. Bear in mind the trick of drawing the features slightly smaller then you actually want them to be.
Step2, cut the top of the pumpkin off to make the work of discarding all the seeds, clinging tissue and sticky interior of the pumpkin easier. Make sure the inside face is clean.
Step3, carve the face.