A Carved Dachshund Pumpkin

I began by tapeing my image onto a  craft pumpkin.  I then poked small holes through the paper into the pumpkin to transfer the design to the pumpkin.

Here you can see the small holes, but I also traced the holes with a sharpie so I could better see the lines.  I also marked which pieces were to be cut out of the pumpkin.

I then used an Exacto knife to make the cuts.  Well, honestly I used a heated Exacto knife that is part of a wood burning kit.  I can't recommend this because you are basically melting plastic and I'm not sure how healthy that is, but I did it anyway.  The trick to all pumpkin carving is to be patient and do a little at a time.  You can always cut more pumpkin away but you can't add it back.

The other areas had to be scraped away.  For this I used a dremel tool.  The dremel is a little difficult to handle and keep steady, but again if you do a little at a time, and go slowly it'll work out.  And here is the final pumpkin.

In the dark!

So cute! Roxie and Talley will love it!