Halloween is almost upon us. Have you started unpacking your Halloween decorations to decorate your home? Do you want to make your own pumpkin carving? Today let me show you some simple instructions to carve a traditional Jack-o'-lantern.

万圣节快到了，你开始准备装饰你的屋子了吗？你想自己动手刻一盏南瓜灯吗？今天来跟我一起学做一盏传统样式的南瓜灯吧！

Carving a pumpkin into a Jack-O'-Lantern freehand is very easy and only takes a few basic tools. A large spoon or ice-cream scoop, a thin bladed knife and some newspaper will get you started.

刻一个没有提手的南瓜灯其实非常简单，只需要一些基础的工具。你需要准备一把大勺子或者一个冰激凌铲，一把薄刃的刀子和一些报纸就可以开始啦。

With a long, thin bladed knife, cut out the top of the pumpkin a few inches out from the stem. The hole should be large enough to allow you to scoop out the guts (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 out, you'll find that cutting a five or six sided opening will work the best. 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. Now use the spoon to scrap the inside walls clean.

先用薄刃的长刀从南瓜顶部切去几英寸，切出的洞必须足够你可以用勺子把里面的种子和纤维膜等杂物挖出来。一般来说，这个洞的直径大约为南瓜直径的三分之二左右。建议你挖成五边或者六边形，这样比较简单。注意切下去的时候刀子斜插进去，这样就会切成一个锥形的盖子，免得盖子掉进南瓜肚子里面去。

Inspect the surface of the pumpkin to decide the best side to carve your face. Now, visualizing the face you want to carve, use your knife to carefully cut out the individual parts of the face or you can pre-marked the pumpkin by using a Crayon to draw the face onto the surface of the pumpkin and cut through the lines you drew. When you are finished cutting, carefully push out the pieces to view the final results.

观察南瓜表皮，选好刻脸的一面。你可以先用蜡笔在表皮上画出图案，然后沿着画线刻出来。敲掉无用的部分，看看最终样子。

Make sure that you have scrapped the bottom of the pumpkin flat, so that the candle will sit level in the pumpkin. We prefer the traditional use of candles to illuminate our Jack-O'-Lanterns. A Votive candle, placed in a clear glass candle holder is safer and will actually last longer. Also, plain white candles give off the most light and will illuminate the inside of your Jack-O'-Lantern the best.

一定记得把南瓜的底部削平，好让蜡烛能够坐进去。还是推荐使用传统的蜡烛来点亮南瓜灯。在玻璃灯盏中放上蜡烛可以让它燃烧得更久，也更安全。纯白色的蜡烛点亮之后光更亮，效果也最好。

A simple Jack-O'-Lantern may not satisfy you. If you need a unique pattern of a pumpkin light to make you stand out among all the Jack-O'-Lanterns, try to download some free but interesting patterns here. You can print them and stick it on the pumpkin to begin the carving.

嫌传统的南瓜灯不够出位？你可以点击这里下载更多的南瓜灯图案哦。把它们打印出来贴在南瓜上，就可以开始雕刻啦。