As autumn rolls in, many of us feel the urge to decorate our homes with cozy, seasonal touches. One of the most charming and versatile decorations you can create is a wood pumpkin cutout. This simple DIY project is perfect for adding a rustic, farmhouse vibe to your home, and it’s easy enough for even beginners to tackle. Whether you use it as a door hanger, table centerpiece, or part of a fall-themed vignette, a wood pumpkin cutout is a delightful way to celebrate the season.

Materials

• Scrap wood or use oak/ walnut if wanting it to be good safe!
• Wood glue
• Clamps
• Jigsaw
• Sander
• Stain or food grade oil to seal

Instructions

STEP 1:

You can use whatever size boards you want for this project, I used a 1×12 common board. You could also use oak or walnut if you want to make this a good safe board. If you are wanting to go bigger, you will need to glue up your boards to achieve whatever size you are wanting. 

I cut my board down to 11 inches in length so I had space on either side when cutting my pumpkin. 

STEP 2:

I searched on Google  for “pumpkin clip art” and found a basic pumpkin shape that I liked. I placed it in a Word document and made it as large as I wanted (full length of page), printed it out and had an easy pumpkin template.

I placed three template on my one board and traced it. Then I took my jigsaw and cut it out.

I traced the cut out pumpkin onto the second board and cut it out with the jig saw. I tried to get these two cut outs as close to the same shape as possible! Once both were cut out and I sanded them along the edges. 

STEP 3: 

Now that I had my pumpkin shapes, I traced along the inside of one of them about 1” from the outside edge. I’m not cutting out the stem so I drew a line below it. I drilled a large hole in the middle section to get my jig saw started and cut along the line I drew. Once cut out and sanded the edges. Next, I glued this outline piece onto the bottom plate piece and clamped it. Don’t worry if your pumpkin cuts don’t line up perfect!

STEP 4: 

Once the glue was dry, I used my jigsaw to clean up the edges. An orbital sander with some 80 grit sandpaper also helps to really smooth out the edges where the top and bottom pieces meet. You are wanting to achieve as smooth of a finish as possible. 

Once I was done sanding I switched to 120 grit and sanded to really make it smooth all over. 

STEP 5: 

If you’re using oak or walnut for food purposes, use a bees wax or food safe oil to seal the wood. I’m using my tray as a candle tray so I stained mine special walnut. I plan to make a few charcuterie boards next!