TikTok Is Shocked To Discover They've Been Carving Pumpkins Wrong Their Whole Life

Barbara Costello from “Brunch with Babs” (@brunchwithbabs) has done it again, and this time, she’s wowing TikTokers by showing them better ways to carve a pumpkin.

If you’ve never heard of Costello before, the 74-year-old mother and grandmother has 3.9 million followers on TikTok and status as “everyone’s grandmother” with her simple tips and tricks on everything from cooking to party planning to life. life.

Costello first went viral during the pandemic, when she provided comforting and calming content amid the turmoil, and she hasn’t stopped receiving love ever since. Enjoy your food writer Ali Francis even notes that Costello is his “go-to” for “uplifting” and “informative” life lessons — and his pumpkin-carving tips are up there with the best of his lessons.

“I’ve been carving my pumpkins wrong this whole time,” State Farm’s Jake (@jakefromstatefarm) commented under one of his pumpkin hacking videos.

Costello’s tips boil down to four key concepts to make pumpkin carving easier:

1. Use a hand mixer to loosen the insides of the pumpkin.

Instead of trying to remove the insides of your pumpkin by hand, Costello recommends using a hand mixer first to loosen “all those nasty strings” much more effectively.

“Omg thank you so much, I’ve always hated pumpkin guts since I was a kid,” @xoanna14xo commented.

2. Use cookie cutters and a mallet to carve shapes.

Forget carving with those little tools that take forever – Costello introduced his followers to the concept of simply placing a cookie cutter on the outside of the pumpkin, then using a soft mallet to push the cookie cutter into and through the pumpkin.

“Just pass it on,” she said.

3. Sketch the design with a red dry-erase marker.

According to Costello, using a red marker instead of a black marker will allow you to easily remove the remaining lines.

“Life changing,” noted @luckychic23.

4. Seal the cut edges with petroleum jelly.

If you’re carving shapes or faces into your pumpkin, Costello encourages you not to “waste all your work” by sealing the cut edges with a generous glob of Vaseline.

“Rub it on all open surfaces—this will keep your pumpkin moist, it won’t dry out as quickly, and it should last about one to two weeks,” she notes.

5. Cut the bottom of the pumpkin, not the top.

Finally, in a tip that has amazed many people, Costello recommends cutting the bottom of the pumpkin rather than the top to make it easier to insert a light or candle inside.

This particular hack was so shocking that it even inspired other TikTokers to do a duet with Costello.

“How old were you when you learned to cut the bottom of the pumpkin and not the top…. today years…today,” @def_lep_girl noted on Costello’s TikTok.

“lmao she has all these tips and I’m more shocked at how she cut the bottom of the pumpkin. Great idea fr,” added @janedoegm02.

Costello also recommends sprinkling the inside of your carved pumpkin with a generous dose of ground cinnamon for a “beautifully scented jack-o-lantern,” but some commenters have warned that cinnamon can actually be flammable.

FireFighterNow, a site run by a career firefighter, explains that cinnamon dust, in particular, is highly flammable and dangerous, but also adds that it is “highly unlikely” that using ground cinnamon from your firefighter eating can create enough cinnamon dust in the air. to create danger. Still, you may want to think twice before sprinkling large amounts of cinnamon if you plan to use heat or a candle in your pumpkin.

Overall, though, TikTok bows to Babs for her advice on making pumpkin carving a little more enjoyable.

“You just changed Halloween forever.” Thank you,” said @jonlatour.

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