Halloween is almost here and people all over are getting ready to carve funny faces and cool designs into their pumpkins—if they haven’t already. If you’re a fan of making jack-o’lanterns but hate the mess that comes from hollowing out a pumpkin, check out this hack from lifestyle influencer Brunch With Babs.
How To Carve Your Pumpkin With ‘No Mess And No Fuss’
Barbara Costello rose to fame with the TikTok account “Brunch With Babs,” where she gives tips and tricks on everything from how to properly load a dishwasher to which appetizer is best to have on hand for parties.
In a recent video, Costello shared her “Do’s and Don’ts of Pumpkin Carving,” saying that her advice “saves the mess and speeds up carving with no mess and no fuss.” In the clip, Costello shows viewers the process of carving a pumpkin from start to finish.
Her first tip? “Carve from [the] bottom. That way you have the stem to hold onto and you can easily slip the pumpkin right over a candle or flashlight,” she wrote in the caption. She also told viewers to “hold [the] pumpkin in your lap to carve. You will have a much steadier pumpkin to cut.”
This Simple And Unexpected Trick To Clean Out Your Pumpkin
Her next tip is one that most have definitely not heard. The messiest part of carving a pumpkin is removing the stringy “guts” of the gourd, and a lot of people name it as their least favorite part of the process. Have no fear, Babs is here with a hack!
“Use a hand mixer to clean out your pumpkin,” Costello shared. In the video, she moves the mixer around the inside of the pumpkin, stripping the strings from the sides. “Get all those strings cleaned up,” she said while demonstrating this trick. “Your mixer did the hard work of loosening all those strings.”
Don’t believe her? Jennifer Garner tested the hack on her own Instagram account and endorsed the hand mixer method.
How To Make Your Jack-O’Lantern Smell Like Pumpkin Spice
When it comes to carving a design, Costello shared two easy ways to get the perfect jack-o’lantern face: use a dry erase marker to draw your design (easy to rub away if you make a mistake), and get out your cookie cutters. Costello demonstrated how cookie cutters and a rubber mallet can be used to hammer shapes into the pumpkin.
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Now that the jack-o’lantern is complete, what comes next? “Cover all cut surfaces with Vaseline to keep the pumpkin moist after carving,” Costello said. “Pumpkins should last 1-2 weeks carved!” Sprinkle some cinnamon inside to give it a pumpkin spice scent, and voila! You’ve got the perfect pumpkin to put out for trick-or-treaters. Costello is known for her clever home hacks and tricks, so it’s no surprise she’s discovered the easiest way to carve a pumpkin!