Carving a Jack O' Lantern
By Jeanne Marie
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
United States
October 20, 2016 7:50pm CST
I plan to buy a pumpkin to carve and thinking back, I have always carved the same general face on my jack o lantern. I carve happy smiling faces, with a tooth or two, triangles for nose and eyes. Sometimes I cut a half round circle in the triangle for pupils.
The best thing is tea lights. I can't tell you how frustrated I was as a kid trying to get a candle to stand up in a wet and slimy pumpkin for a whole evening. Yes, I dug a hole and filled it with candle wax but it always tipped to one side and smoked and dripped.
That is after the hunt through the junk drawers to find an old candle. A mad desperate search! It's not easy being a kid.
Every time I set a simple tea light inside a jack o' lantern, I smile.
What kind of face do you carve?
10 people like this
9 responses
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
21 Oct 16
@Jeanniemaries Poor old Guy Fawkes gets burned every year. He must be getting pretty fed up with it by now.
1 person likes this
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
21 Oct 16
Well, I guess that is reasonable, I have never burned a Guy Fawks.
1 person likes this
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
22 Oct 16
@Asylum That must be a spectacular sight!
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
21 Oct 16
lol, i hear ya'n how rough 't t'was bein' a young'un'n bein' crafty. my momma guarded those candles like prized jewels coz the power t'was prone to goin' out...'n stayin' out fer days, lol.
i aint carved a pumpkin''n many years. me'n knives jest don't get 'long much these days. 've been thinkin' though that there's a dremel out'n one 'f the garages that i could use... might jest need to fetch me a pumpkin! could sure use the 'meat' 'n seeds :)
2 people like this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
21 Oct 16
@Jeanniemaries now ya've got my mouth waterin' yet 'gain, lol. i'm wonderin' if'n the hubs'd take the top off the pumpkin so's i could do the rest?? hmm, might ask him to fetch me a sugar pumpkin - i can smell that bread bakin' already!
1 person likes this
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
22 Oct 16
@crazyhorseladycx Sounds scrumptious!
1 person likes this
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
21 Oct 16
I do love the pumpkin seeds! I also keep and use the meat if its a sugar pumpkin
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@Letranknight2015 (52665)
• Philippines
21 Oct 16
Oh, not much with making pumpkin lanterns. we might just visit the cemetery.
2 people like this
@Juliaacv (56180)
• Canada
21 Oct 16
Your more ambitious then we are here.
We haven't carved a pumpkin since our son was little.
I remember when he was in high school once he and a girlfriend carved one out in our garage.
We don't carve them so much because we use them as part of our autumn decorations and they are out there from early October until just after Halloween-we get more bang for our buck not carving them.
1 person likes this
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
21 Oct 16
My youngest son and his wife make a evening every year, carving their own pumpkins, having cider and seeds and watching Hocus Pocus! I did a story on them once for Associated Content. I may resurrect it for my blog. I was able to save most of my stories.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (502262)
• Italy
24 Oct 16
@Jeanniemaries Almost all the ancient pagan traditions were pretty grim.
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
21 Oct 16
The tradition originated in Ireland, so thought that part might be something Europeans might do.
1 person likes this
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
23 Oct 16
@LadyDuck Wow, sounds pretty grim!
1 person likes this
@DianneN (254949)
• United States
23 Oct 16
@Jeanniemaries Honestly, no. I don't care for anything pumpkin, except pumpkin seeds.
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
23 Oct 16
Do you miss that wonderful smell? It's smells like Fall to me!
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
24 Oct 16
We haven't carved a pumpkin in years. I have my ceramic one
@Tampa_girl7 (54714)
• United States
21 Oct 16
I haven't done one in years. I would do a traditional face on it.
1 person likes this
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
21 Oct 16
I haven't done one in awhile either so I'm really looking forward to this one.
