Digital News Writer, PEOPLE
Barbara “Babs” Costello is here to improve your spooky season.
The 73-year-old TikTok sensation and author shared a few tips with her followers on Thursday that she says will cut pumpkin carving time in half.
Costello has offered a plethora of highly useful how-tos and even adopted the nickname of "Everyone's Grandmother," which now appears on her TikTok profile.
In a new video she's calling "The Do's and Don'ts of Pumpkin Carving," Costello said to start by cutting a hole in the bottom of your pumpkin, not the top. She also advised holding the gourd on your lap to help stabilize it while you're cutting. Then, she said, break out the hand mixer.
"Get all those strings cleaned up," she said as her mixer whirred, gathering the pumpkin's mushy seeds. "Your mixer did all the hard work of loosening all those strings."
After spooning out the seeds and any remaining strings, she recommended using a red dry-erase marker to sketch out the face of your jack-o'-lantern, or use of cookie cutters and a wooden mallet to cut out the designs.
The post has gone viral, amassing 22.2 million views and more than 14.8 thousand comments in the few days since it went up.
Costello also said that smearing some Vaseline on the cut edges will keep the pumpkin looking fresh for longer.
"Don't let all your work go to waste, those kids want to enjoy your pumpkins!" she said.
For a yummy-smelling twist, Costello added one more little tip: "Sprinkle some cinnamon on the inside top of your pumpkin for a festive pumpkin spice smell when a candle is lit inside the pumpkin," she wrote in the caption for the post.
The pumpkin carving lesson is far from Costello’s first massive TikTok hit. As recently as a few weeks back, she set the social site ablaze with her tutorial on how to correctly load a dishwasher.
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She’s appeared on the Drew Barrymore Show and even released her own cookbook in April, Celebrate with Babs: Holiday Recipes & Family Traditions.
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