After you've visited your local pumpkin patch and found the perfect pumpkin, you'll want to hunker down and get started on a DIY project. But this year, skip the traditional carving, and option for drilling — yes drilling!
Our visual styling team (who helped create our gorgeous October cover!) is giving you step-by-step guidelines on how to drill a pumpkin to create a truly unique jack-o'-lantern. It's a popular DIY to try for Halloween, but you can easily leave 'em up for Thanksgiving as these pumpkins will serve as stand-out pieces for your holiday decor.
After you're done drilling and have added your finishing touches, you'll be thrilled to display your masterpiece on your front porch. Trust us, even if you're not an expert at arts and crafts, you'll be in good hands with this easy-to-follow guide.
Looking for something a little more kid-friendly? Check out our painted pumpkin and no-carve pumpkin ideas!
Materials:
- Pumpkin (faux or real)
- Pumpkin carving kit or serrated knife
- Toothpick or crafting awl
- Electric drill
- Drill bits in a few different sizes
- Pattern templates
- Small LED light
What You'll Need
Step-by-step instructions on pumpkin drilling:
Step 1: Cut a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin. (If using a faux pumpkin, cut off the faux pumpkin stem and hot glue on a real pumpkin stem.)
Step 2: Print out a pattern template (the one we used is here) or make your own by drawing a pattern on the pumpkin with different size dots.
Step 3: Lay your template onto the pumpkin and poke small holes using the toothpick or awl to indicate where the holes need to be according to the template.
Step 4: Drill holes with a coordinating size drill bit according to the template sizes (we used 2 different width drill bits).
Step 5: Put a light inside your pumpkin and see the patterns glow!
