Face-Off Crossed Hockey Sticks

From pumpkin to porch

1. 1

   Sketch the X and puck

   Wipe the pumpkin dry and draw both sticks in pencil so they cross a little above center. Keep the blades curving out toward the lower left and lower right, with a round puck sitting between them near the bottom. Step back and check that the X looks even before you commit. A washable marker over the pencil makes the lines easier to follow once you start cutting.

2. 2

   Choose paint or carve

   For the fastest, longest-lasting version, fill the sticks and puck with black acrylic in two coats and add white tape stripes last, just like the concept image. If you want light to show, switch to carving by treating the black areas as shading and the white stripes and puck shine as cutouts. You can also mix both, painting the shafts and carving only the stripes.

3. 3

   Peel the shaft and blades

   Using a lino or ribbon tool, skin off just the top layer of skin along each stick shaft and blade so they glow a soft orange. Peel slowly and keep the depth even, stopping at the pencil edges. Leave a thin border of untouched skin around each stick so the shapes stay crisp. Peeling instead of cutting keeps the long sticks strong and easy to control.

4. 4

   Cut the tape stripes and puck

   With a small saw, cut fully through only the narrow tape bands near the top of each shaft and the highlight lines on the puck. Make each stripe a short, self-contained slot so no long cut weakens the shell. Save these openings for after the peeling is done, and cut the puck highlights last since they sit lowest. Push scraps out gently from the inside.

5. 5

   Clean up and edge

   Trim any ragged edges with a paring knife so the stripes read as sharp rectangles. Bevel the inside of each cutout slightly, angling the cut wider toward the inside, to let more light spread. Brush away pulp and check the peeled areas for even thickness by holding a light behind them.

6. 6

   Light it and photograph

   Set a battery LED puck light inside and set the brightness so the cut stripes pop without washing out the peeled sticks. Photograph in a dim room against a plain background so the crossed-stick shape stands out. Turn the pumpkin slightly until the X looks centered through the camera. If any stripe looks dim, nudge the light closer to that side.

Written with AI to match this design