You've carved out your Halloween pumpkin less than 24 hours ago and it's already showing visible signs of aging. The edges are drying and curling inwards, while the rest of the pumpkin is beginning to soften. Read on to prevent this!

If you want your pumpkin creation to last for a maximum of 7 days, you may get by with a simple lathering of vaseline. Spread the vaseline all on the insides of the pumpkin and the fresh cut edges.

Alternatively, you can use hair spray to keep your pumpkin looking its best for about a week. Hairspray is what professional pumpkin carvers tend to use.

Of course there's always the option of a product called Pumpkin Fresh. Pumpkin Fresh is nontoxic, biodegradable and quite effective at inhibiting mold growth. You will need to spray your pumpkin everyday with this solution, as per the directions on the bottle. You can expect your pumpkin to last upto 2 weeks with minimal aging and rotting.

Now, the above mentioned product (Pumpkin Fresh) might be a little pricey for some of us. If this is the case, soaking your pumpkin overnight in a solution of bleach and water works just as well. You can play around with the ratio of bleach to water, but the ideal seems to be 1 tsp. of bleach per gallon of water. Use this same solution daily on your pumpkin, as a hydrating spray. The bleach acts as an antimicrobial, effectively stopping mold from forming.

If you're pretty confident about being able to control the temperature and location of your pumpkin, and you're not too worried about it shriceling up a bit, you can always opt for the "Doing Nothing" strategy. Simply keep your pumpkin in a dry place, with no exposure to rain, snow, heat or freezing temperatures. If done properly, your pumpkin can last for upto 14 days with only minimal rot and some molding.