Brookhaven House and Car Pumpkin on Garage Bench

Prep the pumpkin

Cut the lid from the back and scoop to a consistent 2 cm wall. Select a pumpkin with a wider-than-tall face so both the house footprint and the car can fit side by side without crowding. Mark the rough horizontal base line of the house on the carving face in pencil before transferring the stencil.

Transfer the stencil with care

Pin-transfer the house outline, car silhouette, window and door positions, and lettering areas. Mark the base connection points of the house and the wheel connection points of the car with colored pencil before removing the stencil. Separate the cut-through marks from the shallow-etch marks visually.

Cut the window and door apertures first

Carve each window opening as a clean square or rectangular through-cut while the rind around the house is still fully intact. Follow with the door opening at the base of the house. These are the largest and most important openings, and cutting them first ensures the structure is stable throughout the rest of the process.

Cut the house outline and base

Cut the outer house silhouette, leaving the flat base attached to the lower rind. The house should read as a retained shape against a lighter or darker background section, so decide whether the surrounding area will be left as solid rind or cut away to glow behind the house.

Cut the car shape

Carve the car silhouette, connecting it at the lower rind through its wheel positions. Keep each wheel connection at least 1 cm wide. The car is smaller and simpler than the house, so approach it last when your eye is calibrated to the design's overall proportions.

Etch the lettering and light the carving

Use a small gouge to shallow-etch the title lettering in the sky area above the house. Remove only the outer skin layer. Place a warm LED inside and check that the lettering glows softly while the windows glow brightly; the light level difference creates a pleasing depth hierarchy.