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Ready to carve the best jack-o-lantern of your life? Simply follow these easy steps, and you could have the best pumpkin around. Make sure to get your parents help when using a knife.

If you don’t want to carve, another great idea is to paint your pumpkin. This might be a bit easier for all the younger kids out there, so get out your paints and start creating your masterpiece on your pumpkin. Make sure to put some newspaper down first!

If you’re able to carve, here’s how to do it:

1. Cut your lid by angling the blade towards the center of the pumpkin so that when you replace it, it will stay on.
2. Clean the inside of your pumpkin by scooping out all of the seeds.
3. Scrape the inside of the side you’ll be carving so that it’s about 1 inch thick. Making it thinner on the inside makes it easier to carve. To make sure it’s thin enough, push a straight pin through it, if you can see the other end of the pin, then you’re all set.
4. Draw a design on a piece of paper. Make your pumpkin face on paper first to make sure it’s exactly how you want it.
5. Tape your design onto the pumpkin, then using a straight pin or a ball point pen, poke holes along your design.
6. When you finish, remove the paper and you should see your design on the pumpkin
7. Carefully and slowly cut away your pieces starting from the center and moving out

• Make sure that your blade is always at a 90 degree angle to the pumpkin.
• Make sure that you don’t twist the blade.
• Use your fingers to push the pieces out.
• Using a Q-tip, rub Vaseline on all of the cut parts to preserve your creation longer.