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How to Carve Your Address into a Pumpkin with a Hot Knife

September 9, 2013 · By Diane Henkler · 19 Comments

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Pumpim with house address carved on it

How to carve a foam pumpkin with your house address using a hot knife that you can place on your front steps or porch on Halloween night. 

I love pumpkins; they are one of my favorite things.   Their bright orange color is so warm and cheery.  I usually don’t carve pumpkins until the end of October to greet the Trick-or-Treaters for Halloween, but this year, I received a few foam pumpkins from Michaels to personalize.  Since they are foam pumpkins – they will last forever.

Last week, I showed you how I carved one of the pumpkins into a Pumpkin Purse.  I also carved one into a Pumpkin Candy Jar. Today I want to show you how I carved the largest pumpkin with a hot knife.

Carve a street address into a Pumpkin

I carved my house number into the foam pumpkin and then placed it on a bed of leaves on an urn.  It is a nice way to decorate the outside of your house for the season that you will be able to reuse for years.

Carve a Pumpkin with an address using a hot knife

You can’t place a lit candle in foam pumpkins, but you can use the battery operated tea-lights or candles to add a night time glow.

How To Carve a House Address Number into a Pumpkin with a Hot Knife

Foam-Pumpkins-at-Michaels

supplies needed:

To find free fonts to use for the numbers, check out my favorite free fonts: Free Fonts | Free Fonts 2 | Free Fonts 3

  • Foam Pumpkin
  • Hot Knife – Sold at craft stores or here
  • Computer printout of your address numbers.  I fit my numbers into a 6” wide and 4 1/4” tall  square.  I used the font Georgia
  • Needle
  • Tape

Carving-pumpkins-street-address-numbers

  1. Create your address on your word processor and print out.  Center the number printout on the front of the pumpkin.  Secure on pumpkin with tape.

2. Use the tip of a needle to punch holes right along the outer edges of the numbers.

How-to-carve-numbers-in-a-Pumpkin

3. Remove the paper to reveal the outline of each number.

Hot-Knife-Foam-Carving-Tool

4. Plug in hot knife and let it get hot. It will take a few minutes.  Once heated, place the tip of the hot knife along one number to start cutting following the dotted lines.

How-to-Carve-a-Foam-Pumpkin-with-a-Hot-Knife-tool

This photo shows the angle the hot knife goes into the pumpkin.

Pumpkin Carving With a Hot Knife Tips:

The hot knife comes with a metal stand. Use masking tape to secure the stand to a protected work surface. (I tape it to a rubber mat I have on my work table.) This way it won’t move when you place the hot hot knife to rest on it.

How to carve a pumpkin with a hot knife

Carefully screw in the knife blade. Do not touch the knife blade or metal parts when the knife it heated. It gets hot.

Do not apply excess pressure to the hot knife point. Let the heat from the tool do the cutting.

The tight curves in a design are the hardest to cut. If you have a piece of foam board, practice on that before you start to carve your pumpkin.

  • Use long fluid motions for straight lines.
  • Draw the knife out so only the tip is in the pumpkin as you go around curved areas.
  • Bring the blade all the way out and place back in to cut around corners.
  • Once numbers or your design is cut out, use a nail file or piece of sandpaper to smooth the cut edges on the pumpkin.

How-to-Carve-a-Pumpkin

For more outdoor Fall decorating ideas, check out the Fall Ya’all Link Party over at Southern Hospitality.

Fall decorating ideas using pumpkins. Carve your house address in a fake pumpkin using this easy to use tool.

 

Pumpkin-Carving-Ideas-using-a-Hot-Knife-and-foam-pumpkins

Cute Halloween decorations to make. Pumpkin head bat tassels. No sewing is needed!Halloween Decorating: Pumpkin Head Bat Tassels
Pumpkin Carving Ideas Candy DishCarve a Pumpkin Into a Candy Jar
Pumpkin Decorating Ideas using candle holdersInsta-Style: Pedestal Pumpkins
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Filed Under: Craft Projects, DIY & Crafts, Fall Decorating Ideas, Holiday Decorating Projects

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Comments

  1. Kaitlynn Snuffer says

    09/11/2019 at 7:58 pm

    Do you need to use any kind of sealant on them for outdoor use? Or test it like patio furniture and bring it in when it’s raining?

    Reply
    • Diane Henkler says

      09/12/2019 at 2:57 pm

      Hi Kaitlynn – I didn’t add a sealer on my pumpkin. I used it for 3 years in the fall and I never saw any damage inside or outside the pumpkin. I left it out in the rain and autumn weather and brought it back in after Thanksgiving. I moved from the house a few years ago and left it with the house as the new owner wanted it since I would no longer need it. It could still be in use. If you want to seal yours, it can’t hurt, but I think since it is polyfoam, it is pretty durable.

      Reply
  2. Chelsea says

    09/24/2018 at 12:45 pm

    Can you tell me how you secured the pumpkin to the urn so it didn’t get blown away… I tried using a piece of floral wire in mine cause I’m sitting it on wood was going to put holes in the bottom… but the wire isn’t sturdy enough to push thru and stay curved to come thru the other side..

    Reply
    • Diane Henkler says

      09/24/2018 at 12:57 pm

      Hi Chelsea – Depending on how large the openings you cut are, you could fill the pumpkin with sand or small stones (up to the first cut so they don’t show) to weigh it down. Pour the sand through the cuts.

      Reply
  3. Norma Rolader says

    09/15/2017 at 12:08 pm

    Love the fall Thank you for sharing your idea on the hot knife God bless

    Reply
  4. Denise says

    09/27/2014 at 10:36 pm

    I love the way your pumpkin looks with your house number! I just picked up two 9″ pumpkins (and orange and black one) from Michaels today for $5.99, and also a hot knife, which I’ve never used before, so your tutorial is very helpful! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  5. Clorissa says

    10/05/2013 at 8:49 pm

    Very creative! I love the simplicity of this. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  6. Sheryll & Critters. says

    09/22/2013 at 7:25 am

    Thank you for telling me about the prices. I could not for the life of me find one of those foam pumpkins. I must be looking in the wrong places. I guess I better be satisfied with the two I got years ago that are smaller, hard plastic for carrying candy and have the black faces already painted on them. I usually just put some rocks in those and set them outside my front door. I have been spending money the past few months and not saved any, so I need to behave myself now. lol. I will be very sad if I lose my home for not paying the property taxes, so save I must.

    Reply
  7. Kitty says

    09/20/2013 at 12:45 pm

    What would you substitute for a hot knife? I love the project, but don’t want to buy one.

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Diane Henkler says

      09/21/2013 at 3:15 pm

      Hi Kitty – You could use the little pumpkin carving knives with the orange handles they sell or an X-Acto knife – which is a nice craft knife that you can change the blades on. They sell many different style of blades – long, thin, curved etc. You can find any of these knives at your craft store.

      Reply
  8. Sheryll & Critters. says

    09/12/2013 at 7:15 am

    Oh I love this one. Your numbers show up black….. did you put some black fabric or paper behind them for the photo?

    Do you remember how much this large pumpkin cost and the hot knife?

    Reply
    • Diane Henkler says

      09/21/2013 at 9:36 pm

      Hi Sheryl – I didn’t put anything behind the numbers. I chose a thinner font so that you would not see into the pumpkin. Larger cuts would expose the interior more and you would see the light interior. The large pumpkin is around $20. If you use a Michaels coupons you can get it at least 40% off. The hot knife runs around $20

      Reply
  9. Brenda Stafford says

    09/10/2013 at 8:03 am

    Thanks. I just bought a hot knife , but haven’t tried it yet!

    Reply
  10. Jacque says

    09/09/2013 at 9:08 pm

    I love the house numbers, I am going to have to try this for myself!

    Reply
    • Diane Henkler says

      09/21/2013 at 10:12 pm

      Hi Jacque – It was very easy, the hardest part was choosing what font to use :)

      Reply
  11. Sherri says

    09/09/2013 at 1:35 pm

    Love it! Love that you can teuse year to year!

    Reply
  12. Erin says

    09/09/2013 at 12:30 pm

    Good idea on the foam pumpkin and battery operated candles! I always see great carving ideas but was never interested in putting that much effort into a pumpkin that would start rotting in a matter of days ;)

    Reply
  13. Nana Diana says

    09/09/2013 at 8:57 am

    I should pick one of those knives up. I have several of those pumpkins and I love the idea of the house numbers being cut out. Thanks for all the tips- xo Diana

    Reply
  14. Tinne says

    09/09/2013 at 7:28 am

    Great tutorial! I’ve got a hot knife but never got it out yet… Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
Diane Henkler Blogger In My Own Style
I love all things creative, colorful, and DIY. It is just the way my brain is wired. I can't add 2+2 to save my life, but I can help you decorate your home in a style that you will love...YOURS! LEARN MORE
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