Splash the Leaping Orca

From pumpkin to porch

1. 1

   Pick and prep your pumpkin

   Choose a tall, rounded pumpkin with a smooth flat area on the front big enough for the arcing whale. Cut a lid from the bottom or the back rather than the top so the stem stays intact for that natural look. Scoop the inside until the front wall is about one inch thick, scraping the carving area evenly. A thinner wall is much easier to cut and lets more light through.

2. 2

   Transfer the orca outline

   Tape your stencil flat against the front, snipping the edges so it hugs the curve without wrinkling. Use a poking tool or pushpin to dot along every line, including the belly patch and the small eye. Peel the paper and connect the dots lightly with a marker so you can see the full shape. Double check that your bridges, the thin bands of skin holding the body edges together, are marked before you cut.

3. 3

   Cut the small eye patch first

   Start with the tiny eye patch while the wall is still strong and surrounded by uncut pumpkin. Use a small detail saw or a craft blade and let an adult handle the sharp tools. Make slow, straight up-and-down cuts and gently push each piece inward to pop it out. Saving small details for when the pumpkin is sturdiest keeps the walls from tearing.

4. 4

   Open the belly and white markings

   Move to the larger belly section and any white side patches, cutting these full openings next. Work from the center of each shape outward toward your outline so you never crowd a bridge. Support the surrounding skin with your free hand as pieces release. Take your time on the curves of the fin and tail so the edges stay smooth and clean.

5. 5

   Shade the body edges

   For extra depth you could skin-peel a thin band just inside the body outline, removing only the orange skin without cutting through. This gives a soft dim glow that separates the dark orca from the untouched pumpkin around it. Use a lino gouge or the edge of a spoon and keep the depth shallow and even. Leave the main body skin untouched so it reads as the orca's black back.

6. 6

   Light it and photograph

   Drop in a battery LED, and a blue-tinted one gives the whale a deep-sea look after dark. Set the light low and toward the back so it spreads evenly through the belly cutout. Rub a little petroleum jelly on the cut edges to slow drying and keep them crisp. Photograph it on the porch at dusk when the glow shows best against the fading light.

Written with AI to match this design