Hard Butterfly Pumpkin with Connected Rind Wing Veins

From pumpkin to porch

1. 1

   Prep and mark a flat-faced pumpkin

   Scoop to one inch of wall thickness. Tape the stencil firmly to the flattest section of the face and pin-punch all the vein lines, window boundaries, dot positions, and rim outline. Remove the template and trace each element with a marker before the pin holes close.

2. 2

   Cut the largest interior wing windows

   Saw the largest aperture within each wing first, keeping the surrounding veins and body intact. Removing the largest waste pieces early gives better visibility for the remaining detail cuts. Keep each vein at least three quarters of an inch wide at its narrowest.

3. 3

   Cut the smaller interior windows

   Working from large to small, cut each remaining wing window. Confirm that every vein connects back to either the central body or the outer rim at both ends; a vein loose at one end will eventually break under its own weight.

4. 4

   Add the lower wing dot apertures

   Cut the six separate dot apertures along the lower wings using a small drill bit or detail blade. Space them evenly and keep a margin of at least half an inch between each dot and the nearest vein edge.

5. 5

   Back-carve the outer wing rim

   Using a linoleum cutter or V-gouge, scoop the shallow sections of the outer wing rim to about a third of the wall thickness. These thinned areas will glow softly and provide a gentle halo around the whole design. Adults should handle this step with firm, controlled pressure.

6. 6

   Light and display

   Place a bright LED inside and position on a stone garden wall at night. The vein pattern projects as intersecting light lines onto the wall behind the pumpkin. Apply petroleum jelly to all cut and scooped edges.

Written with AI to match this design