Birdcage Pumpkin Stencil

Love your birdcage pumpkin? Save it for next year! Carving artificial pumpkins is one of our favorite ways to create unique, reusable Halloween decorations. And as a bonus, you won't face the hassle of cleaning the pumpkin beforehand.

To carve:

1. Print the downloadable pattern, and tape it to a white artificial pumpkin. Use a pin tool to create closely spaced marks along the stencil lines, pricking through the paper and into the surface of the pumpkin.

2. Using a woodcutting knife, cut out the birdcage doors and the areas between the cage bars. Hold the doors in place, and insert straight pins through the horizontal bars above and below the doors, pushing pins into the doors to allow them to swivel.

3. Cut a small opening in the back of the pumpkin, large enough to pass an electric candle through; set the cutout aside.

4. Paint the top and bottom stencil areas black, and let the paint dry completely. After paint has dried, use crafts glue to attach a few decorative birds to the pumpkin's exterior.

5. Drill a hole through the pumpkin stem, and thread a metal ring through the hole. Loop ribbon through the ring, and tie the ribbon in a bow.

6. Place an electric candle inside the birdcage, and secure the cutout at the back opening with straight pins after the candle is in place. Hang the pumpkin from the ribbon, and suspend the birdcage from a shepherd's crook.