9 Awesome Pumpkin Carving Hacks to Try This Fall

Whether your goal is to be the spookiest house on the block or you merely want a jack-o'-lantern to display on your front porch, one thing is certain: Carving Halloween pumpkins is no simple task. It's a messy job, sure, but let's not forget that it is also slightly risky with all of the knife-wielding. Then, there's the concern that your pumpkin masterpiece may rot within a matter of days.

Coming up with the best pumpkin-carving ideas to make your Halloween decorations stand out only adds to the challenge. No worries, though — you don't need to take to TikTok or HGTV because we've rounded up our most clever pumpkin-carving hacks to ensure you end up with a perfectly carved pumpkin that lasts until Halloween.

Grab your power drill to create beautiful pumpkin lanterns. Use drill bits of varying sizes to create different hole shapes, like our pretty polka dot pattern. Flowers, spiderwebs, or geometric shapes are also fun ideas — the design choices are endless, really.

Not just for baking, cookie cutters can also do all of the carving work for you. Simply hammer them through the pumpkin using a rubber mallet. Then, press through the center to punch out the shape. This is such an easy and fast way to create fun shapes without pumpkin-carving stencils or a knife!

Coat the inside lid of the pumpkin with a light dusting of cinnamon and blot the excess with a paper towel. Then, place a lit candle inside the bottom of your pumpkin and put the cinnamon-coated lid back on top. It smells just like pumpkin spice!

Candles may be lovely, but on those autumn nights when the wind is howling, they're also prone to getting blown out. For windproof lighting, place LED lights inside a glass jar and watch that jack-o'-lantern glow steadily throughout the night.

Use a dry-erase marker instead of a permanent marker to create goof-free designs. If you mess up or change your mind, it's as easy as wiping off the ink with a damp paper towel and starting over.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of pumpkin carving is spending all of that time and effort to create an Insta-worthy jack-o'-lantern only to have it shrivel up or grow mold a few days later. Solution? Coat the carved edges with petroleum jelly to keep your pumpkin fresher for longer.

Simply crack a glow stick to activate the liquid and place it inside a pumpkin for a spooky effect. We love the blue moon look the glow stick created inside our werewolf design, but you can experiment with other colors, like green for a ghoulish look or red for a menacing glow.

Especially if you live in a warm climate, periodically refrigerating your pumpkin inside a plastic bag can help extend its life. Just pop it in there during the high heat of the day or whenever you don't mind taking it out of its display.

Know those little packets of silica gel that you find inside brand-new purses and shoeboxes? They are also useful for preserving your Halloween jack-o'-lantern! Drop a few inside your pumpkin to help stave off the growth of mold.