Corner Spider on a Glowing Web Pumpkin

From pumpkin to porch

1. 1

   Clean and open the pumpkin

   Pick a tall pumpkin with a wide, fairly flat front so the web has room to spread. An adult should cut a lid from the bottom or back rather than the top, which keeps the carved face uninterrupted. Scoop the inside until the front wall is about one inch thick and smooth. A thinner wall makes the spoke lines and spider far easier to cut cleanly.

2. 2

   Transfer the web and spider pattern

   Tape your stencil flat against the front and mark the center hub, then poke the spoke lines and the concentric web threads with a pin or transfer tool. Add the small round spider in the lower-right corner. Take your time getting the spokes evenly spaced around the hub, since any wobble shows once it is lit. Step back and check the whole layout before you pick up a blade.

3. 3

   Cut the spokes as guide lines first

   Using a fine saw, cut each long spoke line from the hub outward as a thin straight slit. Do not widen them yet, just establish every spoke so the structure is mapped out. Cutting all the spokes before removing any material keeps the hub fully supported. This is the step that protects the delicate center from breaking.

4. 4

   Remove the wedge sections between spokes

   Now open up the pie-shaped gaps between the spokes, cutting fully through so those sections glow bright. Work one wedge at a time and leave the narrow rind lines of the web threads standing as the dark structure. Cut the smallest inner wedges near the hub last, since those bits are the most fragile. Support each piece with a finger as it releases so it does not tear a neighbor.

5. 5

   Carve the corner spider

   Cut the little spider as its own small silhouette shape in the lower-right corner. Keep the eight legs and round body as connected cutouts rather than separate slivers so nothing snaps off. If you want the eyes darker, peel just the skin there instead of cutting through. Save this small detail for near the end so the big web cuts do not stress it.

6. 6

   Light it and photograph

   Drop in a battery LED light, never a candle, since the open web sections and thin bridges are flammable near an open flame. Set the pumpkin outside at dusk so the warm glow reads against a fading sky. A dab of petroleum jelly on the cut edges slows drying and keeps the crisp lines sharp for a day or two. Shoot from straight on to capture the full radial pattern.