The black base will give the jack-o’-lantern a weathered look. But If you want to replicate the weathered, rustic look of the pumpkins in the photos, you’ll have to go through a two-step process. You can paint your jack-o’-lanterns using whatever colors, techniques, or patterns you like. This will allow you to make longer, smoother cuts, and reduces or eliminates the need to cut yourself space to turn around in, which leaves ugly, jagged edges behind.Ĩ.
Put one hole in each corner of the design elements (eyes, nose, mouth, at the tips of teeth), so that you can cut from hole to hole along the line, and then back the other way as needed.
The placement of these holes can make the difference between an easy path for your saw and a hard one. A 3/8-inch drill bit worked for my blades.
HAPPY JACK O LANTERN 2 TEETH SERIES
Next, drill a series of holes in the design large enough for the saw blade to fit into. Make sure that the face is oriented so the opening in the back panel is at the bottom. First, draw your design on the front of the box. The process with a jigsaw is pretty easy and took about 10 minutes. The holes make it easier to carve the faces into the jack-o’-lantern. If I’d done it before assembling the box, I would have had to find (or build) a place to cut while clamping the board down to my bench, which seemed like a lot of unnecessary effort. I used a jigsaw to carve out the face, and the box shape created a stable platform for me to cut on that was deep enough for the saw blade to move up and down in. If you’re aiming for a more polished, pristine look, then by all means-keep sanding.Ħ. Second, I’m aiming for a weathered look, which means holes, marks, and scratches fit the aesthetic beautifully. First, you’ll be painting your box bright orange which will hide a lot of those imperfections. I didn’t try to remove any pits, scratches, or imperfections in the wood, for two reasons. This also helps make cutting the face with a jigsaw easier, as the saw won’t get hung up on the lips. The priority is to flush the edges with the faces to hide some of the seams. I use 120-grit sandpaper on my orbital sander. Once the glue has dried, it’s time to sand. This is where you will screw the stem of the hat or the eye bolt to hang it.ĥ. Clamp or brad nail the two boards together while the glue dries.Ĭontinue by drilling a small pilot hole in the center of the assembled piece. Glue the 6- by 5-inch board flat on top of the 8- by 7-inch board, roughly centered. If you have, make sure the bottom of your design aligns with the tea light opening.Ĥ. If you haven’t carved your design yet, the top and bottom probably don’t matter at this point in the process. This board is shorter than the others to create an opening where you can slip the tea light into the box when it’s fully assembled, so you’ll need to position this board at the top of the box, not the bottom. The nailer is just faster, particularly if you’re making more than one box at a time.Ĭontinue by installing the back of the box in the same way. If you don’t have a brad nailer, you can use clamps for this step. These three simple boxes will turn into spooky jack-o’-lanterns. Then repeat the process with the other side. Drive brad nails through the sideboard into the edge of the front board to hold the two together while the glue dries. Make sure the edge is flush with the face. Assemble the four sides of the box by smearing wood glue on one long edge of the front board, and pressing one of the two side boards against it. Carve whatever symbols speak to your favorite seasons or holidays, and you’ll have decorations to keep your home festive all year round.ģ. There’s also no reason these boxes have to be limited to Halloween. We also got to tromp through the woods together searching for the perfect stick to make the stems from. My children are only seven and I don’t trust them with a jigsaw yet, but they still helped assemble the boxes and tops. This is a relatively straightforward build that still provides plenty of opportunities to flex your creativity.Īnd regardless of the age and dexterity of the people living with you at home, you can make this project a family affair-I built three in my first batch, and had each of my kids and my wife design the faces. To avoid the stench of a decomposing piece of fruit on my porch, this year I made jack-o’-lanterns out of wood. Unfortunately, many animals find pumpkins delicious, and if by the end of the season, yours has not turned into a rodent’s dinner, it will at least be rotten and destroyed. And if there’s one ornament that screams that Halloween season is here, it’s a jack-o’-lantern.
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