To further our essential work in ensuring CPC staff have the important life-skills needed to succeed, we went to the Sponsored Programs office, the most Halloween-spirit group on campus, and asked for pumpkin carving tips. 

This is what they came back with. 

Hand your kids knives and get out of the way.
-Gwenn Krossa

Along the line of knives, the smaller, thinner carvers are easier to work with.
-Julia Perez 

Spread newspapers around the entire area. Pumpkin seeds can squirt a long way!
Use pencil to sketch your design on the actual pumpkin before you start carving.
Don’t try to cut design elements too closely together – they need to be spaced apart so they will be visible to passersby.  Also, if leaving only narrow bands of pumpkin between design elements can lead to collapse after a day or two, particularly if you use a candle inside the pumpkin for light (heat cooks the pumpkin, makes it soften over just a few hours).
-Julia Pierce

Buy one already carved!
-Mylissa Weymer  

I am not the expert here. I get frustrated about 10 mins in. We do however make the hole on the bottom of the pumpkin and gut it that way. Then you can set the pumpkin down on the candle and it’s on a hard, smooth surface vs putting the candle inside the pumpkin and setting the lid back on. We also wash out our pumpkins after gutting them as it helps get all the remaining seeds and gunk out, it makes for a cleaner carving. Lastly, when you are done carving, you can coat the carved part with Vaseline, it helps it last a bit longer. 
-Stephany Martin

I find it best to just wing it and see what “art” emerges.
-Darya Veach

Use a hand mixer to clean the pumpkin guts out quicker and more efficiently.
-Emily Hickman