My mom and I spent a lovely afternoon carving a pumpkin, listening to Samhain music, harvesting the last of our herbs, and making roasted pumpkin seeds! We found this big pumpkin last week:
My mom found a pentagram design online and she held a piece of paper up to her computer screen and traced it. You can print it out if you prefer.
For those not familiar with the significance of the pentagram, it has been used for thousands of years and in many religious traditions, but in Wicca it represents spirit, air, fire, water, and earth.
My mom cut out the pattern and taped it to our pumpkin. The paper got damp while my mom was cleaning out the pumpkin, so we recommend waiting to do this step until later!
I suggested she shade in the parts that needed to be cut out:
She cut a lid in the pumpkin, then cleaned it out. (The little knife from the pumpkin carving kit we got at the dollar store wasn’t sturdy enough and kept bending, and a serrated knife ended up working better):
Be sure to save the seeds so you can roast them! (Click here for my crispy roasted pumpkin seeds recipe.)
The scoop that came with the kit worked really well to scrape the walls of the pumpkin clean:
(This is when we recommend taping the design to the pumpkin so the paper doesn’t get damp.) My mom used a paring knife to score the design onto the pumpkin, then removed the rest of the paper:
She says to push out the cut out pieces from the inside of the pumpkin:
The knife from the kit worked much better when the outer layer of the pumpkin was already scored:
Here is the finished design:
It looks so pretty!
We took our Samhain pumpkin outside and placed it on our back steps:
Once it got dark, we lit a candle inside to see how it will look on Samhain night. We are very happy with how it turned out!
We wish you a Blessed Samhain!
Oh my goodness, that is beautiful! I see your talent goes beyond cooking! I think you need to publish a book-cooking and crafts!
Thank you, Julie! My mom is the really crafty one, though. She carved the pumpkin and I roasted the seeds!
I could not agree more! These recipes beg to be included in a great vegan (& gluten-free! ) cookbook. The crafts are a perfect compliment. I was so happy to find this blog. A fully vegan, fully gluten-free blog. Jackpot! And the food doesn’t taste like cardboard with a side of dust bunnies. It taste like food I would serve to my family, who all follow a standard American diet (for now). Double jackpot!
Thank you! Your comment is really welcome tonight as I have been feeling a bit stressed lately with all I have to do for the launch of The Plant Based Egg. It makes all the hard work worth it when I read comments like this!
That is SO cool! What a talented family you have! So glad I subscribed. <3
Thank you, Karmah!
Thanks for the great tutorial!
I’m so glad you like my post, Ed! My mom and I are carving this year’s pumpkins tomorrow and I’ll post those designs soon!
Pingback: 13 Ideas to Celebrate Samhain Without A Coven - Rituals, Spells & Magick
Thank you for sharing!
Pingback: 5 Family Friendly Samhain Activities - Wiccan Homestead
Thank you!
Pingback: Magick, Crafty Makes, and Me: Summer 2020 Edition | Witchcrafted Life
What a lovely article! Thank you for sharing my post!