Video:How to Carve the Capitol in a Pumpkin

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Transcript:How to Carve the Capitol in a Pumpkin

Hi! I'm Debbie Anderson for About.com! Carving pumpkins can be a fun way to enjoy Halloween! So today, I'm going to show you how to carve the United States Capitol Building in a pumpkin!

Supplies for How to Carve the Capitol in a Pumpkin

For this project, you will need:

• newspaper
• a large ripe pumpkin
• a permanent ink marker
• a knife
• large metal spoon
• a nail
• a candle
• masking tape
• tracing paper
• a pencil
• large photograph of the Washington D.C. Capitol Building, which can be printed from numerous sites on the Internet
• and a large bowl

Instructions for How to Carve the Capitol in a Pumpkin

First, place the pumpkin on a large piece of newspaper.Then, use your permanent ink marker to draw a circle around the stem on the top of the pumpkin. Next, make a lid for your pumpkin by using your knife to cut along the circular line at an angle so that the outer edge of the lid on the top of the pumpkin is larger than the inner edge. Then, scrape the pulp and seeds from the base of the stem-lid and place the lid to the side.

Next, use a large metal spoon to remove all of the seeds and pulp from the inside of the pumpkin and place the contents from inside the pumpkin in a large bowl as you continuously scrape out the inside of the pumpkin. Continue scraping the inside of the pumpkin until the bottom of the inside of the pumpkin is flat enough to place a small candle on the bottom, and also until the walls of the pumpkin are approximately ½ to 1 inch thick.

More Instructions for How to Carve the Capitol in a Pumpkin

Next, place a piece of tracing paper over the picture of the Washington D.C. Capitol Building. Use your pencil to trace the outline of the Capitol Building onto the tracing paper. Next, rotate the pumpkin to find the smoothest and most flat and even surface of the pumpkin. Then, secure the tracing paper with the image of the Capitol Building on it to the surface of the pumpkin with masking tape.Next, use a small nail to poke holes into the pumpkin along the lines of the outline that you just drew on the tracing paper. Continue to poke holes ever quarter of an inch along the outline until the entire outline of the Capitol Building has been etched into the surface of the pumpkin.

Carefully remove the tracing paper from the surface of the pumpkin.Then, starting at the top center of the design and working your way out and down, use your knife to gently cut along the dots that were poked into the surface of the pumpkin to carve out your image of the Capitol Building.Gently push the shape of the Capitol Building out of the pumpkin with your fingertips after you have finished carving out the design.

Finally, place a small candle in them middle of the inside of the pumpkin and then place the lid back on top of the pumpkin.

Thank you for watching! To learn more, please visit us on the web at About.com!