Pumpkin Cottage

We carved pumpkins as a family for the first time in years! It used to be a family tradition, for the 13 years we lived on a cul-de-sac and got over 400 trick-or-treaters every year. But then we moved and now we don’t even get one visitor on Halloween night.

This weekend, though, our carving mojo came back and we decided to spend a whole day making some pumpkins for our stone wall. I had an idea for a pumpkin cottage and it literally took me all day. Not that it was hard to make, just a lot of trial and error. And finding twigs and all the other materials. Let me tell you and show you how I made it…

Carve a pumpkin to look like a charming cottage, with a twig door and moss window boxes.

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Supplies needed to make a pumpkin cottage:

~ Pumpkins (medium to big are actually easier to carve)

~ Butcher knife

~ Carving tools (many grocery stores carry carving sets like this – make sure they are sturdy!)

~ Twigs & hot glue gun for door

~ Moss for the window boxes

~ Candles (we used electric this year because wax candles were so expensive. I ordered these and so far so good. They come with a remote which really helps. I used 2 candles per pumpkin)

Carving a pumpkin out from the bottom

How to carve a pumpkin:

1. Cut open the bottom. We like to do it this way so that the stem isn’t disrupted, which actually makes the pumpkins last longer.

Roasting pumpkin seeds.

2. Scrape out the insides. Save the seeds to roast later! This part is yucky (to me), it feels like guts. Which it is. My husband does this part! He then scrapes the side that I’m going to carve more than the rest so the layer is a little thinner to cut through.

drawing out the details of the pumpkin cottage on the pumpkin before cutting

How to make a pumpkin cottage:

1. Start by drawing your idea on paper.

2. Using a washable marker, sketch onto your pumpkin. I erased a lot, and also erased as I went, moving windows around and changing door shapes. You just need a wet paper towel to wipe off the marker.

Carving windows in the pumpkin cottage

3. Cut the windows, then cut little wedges (slanting the little cutting tool to make a “V”) for the molding.

Making the twig door for the pumpkin cottage

4. Make a door from twigs using a hot glue gun. I used a bead for the door handle. I actually made the door first then held it up and traced around it to make a shape slightly bigger than the door.

5. Cut out the door shape.

Carving out the windows for the pumpkin cottage

Cutting a windowsill in the pumpkin to stuff the moss inside

6. I thought a lot about how to make the window boxes, and decided to cut all the way through and stuff the moss in the crevasse. This seemed like the best way for it to stay in place for a few weeks.

Using a carving tool to making holes in the sides of the door to secure a stick to hang the door on