Glow Glider the Stingray

From pumpkin to porch

1. 1

   Prep the pumpkin and open the back

   Pick a large pumpkin with a wide, fairly flat front panel so the ray body has room to spread. Have an adult cut a lid in the back rather than the top, then scoop the inside until the front wall is about one inch thick. A thinner wall makes both the silhouette and the little spots much easier to cut cleanly. Dry the inside with paper towel so your pattern will stick.

2. 2

   Transfer the ray pattern

   Tape your stingray stencil flat against the front and poke through the outline with a pin or a transfer wheel. Mark the outer diamond body, the two swept wingtips, the tail, and every spot location as a small dot. Peel the paper and connect any faint outline marks with a washable marker. Double check the wingtips stay connected to the body so nothing floats free.

3. 3

   Drill the spots from the center out

   Using a small round drill bit or an apple corer, punch the spots starting near the middle of the body and working outward toward the edges. Keeping surrounding wall intact gives the tool something stable to bite into, so holes stay round and the wall does not crack. Go slow and let the bit do the work rather than forcing it. Clear each plug of pumpkin before moving to the next dot.

4. 4

   Cut the body silhouette

   With the spots done, switch to a fine carving saw and cut the outer diamond outline and the wingtip edges. Save these larger openings for last so the wall stays rigid while you drill. Leave thin uncut bridges where the tail crosses over itself and where wingtips meet the body so those slender parts stay supported. Cut the tail as a narrow channel rather than a wide gap to keep it strong.

5. 5

   Shade the eyes and refine

   For the two little eyes and any fine surface lines, peel just the skin instead of cutting through so they glow soft and dim. Clean up any ragged spot edges with the tip of your knife. Rub a thin coat of petroleum jelly on all cut edges to slow drying and keep the spots from shriveling. Wipe away leftover marker lines.

6. 6

   Light it and photograph

   Set a bright battery LED inside, warm white or amber, and settle the pumpkin on a flat porch step. Test in the dark and add a second LED if the wingtips look dim. Shoot at dusk with no flash so the spots read like scattered bioluminescence. Keep the lid slightly cracked or add a vent hole at the back for airflow.

Written with AI to match this design