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| Welcome to your nightmare. Enter if you dare... |
I saw this lite-brite pumpkin either on Martha Stewart's website or in Southern Living, I am not sure, but I thought it was so cute, I had to try it myself! I love the way it turned out!
To make this pumpkin yourself, you first need to cut out the bottom of the pumpkin. I know you normally cut off the top, but I did not want the cord from my lights to be hanging out the top. You need the hole to be pretty big because you are going to be doing a lot of work inside the pumpkin, just make sure the hole is not so big that it shows when the pumpkin is turned upright. Second, you scrape out the pulp and seeds. You'll want to scrape the "front" side of the pumpkin kind of thin, but you can give it a second scraping later if you want to be careful about making it too thin right now. Third, draw out your shape on the front side of the pumpkin with a dry-erase/washable marker or grease pencil. I did a W monogram, but I think the example I saw was a half-moon shape, so you can do anything you like. Try to keep your design spaced out, with none of the lines very close to the next because when you drill the holes, you might break through. I learned this the hard way, which you can see if you look closely. Fourth, use a power drill to make holes along the lines of your design. You could be really particular and measure these so that they are evenly spaced along your lines, but I just went for it. I used a 1/4 in. drill bit for this. Fifth, take a strand of lights and put one bulb in each hole. At this point you might realize, like I did, that you need to scrape the inside of the pumpkin a little thinner so that the bulbs can reach through. You will want to push the lights far enough in that they stick. I will be honest, this was not easy work. Because my holes were a little too close together, the wires kept getting in the way, and when I would get one bulb in, I would accidentally pull another one out. Using some needle-nose pliers might help. I used a strand of orange lights that have a flat end, but I think you could use regular white christmas tree lights as well. Finally, turn the pumpkin upright and plug your lights in! Enjoy!
To make this pumpkin yourself, you first need to cut out the bottom of the pumpkin. I know you normally cut off the top, but I did not want the cord from my lights to be hanging out the top. You need the hole to be pretty big because you are going to be doing a lot of work inside the pumpkin, just make sure the hole is not so big that it shows when the pumpkin is turned upright. Second, you scrape out the pulp and seeds. You'll want to scrape the "front" side of the pumpkin kind of thin, but you can give it a second scraping later if you want to be careful about making it too thin right now. Third, draw out your shape on the front side of the pumpkin with a dry-erase/washable marker or grease pencil. I did a W monogram, but I think the example I saw was a half-moon shape, so you can do anything you like. Try to keep your design spaced out, with none of the lines very close to the next because when you drill the holes, you might break through. I learned this the hard way, which you can see if you look closely. Fourth, use a power drill to make holes along the lines of your design. You could be really particular and measure these so that they are evenly spaced along your lines, but I just went for it. I used a 1/4 in. drill bit for this. Fifth, take a strand of lights and put one bulb in each hole. At this point you might realize, like I did, that you need to scrape the inside of the pumpkin a little thinner so that the bulbs can reach through. You will want to push the lights far enough in that they stick. I will be honest, this was not easy work. Because my holes were a little too close together, the wires kept getting in the way, and when I would get one bulb in, I would accidentally pull another one out. Using some needle-nose pliers might help. I used a strand of orange lights that have a flat end, but I think you could use regular white christmas tree lights as well. Finally, turn the pumpkin upright and plug your lights in! Enjoy!
