A finely-carved and creative Jack O' Lantern is the essence of Halloween. It'll delight your family, liven up any Halloween party and thrill trick-or-treaters. The most important thing to remember when carving your pumpkin is to do it safely and have fun!

Select a pumpkin that is fairly uniform in shape, reasonably large and without obvious cuts, scrapes or bruises.

First, clean your pumpkin thoroughly with a wet rag or towel, wiping off any surface dirt.

To carve your pumpkin, first use a long, thin-bladed knife to cut out the top of the pumpkin around the stem. The hole should be large enough to allow you to scoop out the guts (the seeds and stringy membrane) by hand and with a large spoon. Generally, the size of the hole should be about two-thirds the diameter of the pumpkin. While you can cut a round circle, you might find that cutting a five or six-sided opening works the best, which is fine. As you cut out the top hole, angle the knife so that the lid and hole will be somewhat cone-shaped. This will help prevent the lid from falling into the hole later. Next, use the spoon to scrape the inside walls of the pumpkin clean.

Inspect the surface of the pumpkin to choose the best side for carving. Now, visualizing the face or image you want to carve, use your knife to carefully cut out each individual part of the face. It sometimes easier if you mark the pumpkin first, using a Crayon to draw the face onto the pumpkin's surface and then cutting through the lines you drew. When you are finished cutting, carefully push out the pieces, and remove them.

Make sure that you have scraped the bottom of the pumpkin flat, so that the candle will sit level in the pumpkin.  A candle, placed in a clear glass jar or candle holder is safer, more wind-resistant, and will actually last longer. Now, find a great location for your Jack O' Lantern and show off all your hard work!