How To Make A Plastic Pineapple Jack O Lantern

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Add some tropical decor this Halloween with my DIY plastic pineapple jack o lantern tutorial! No sticky mess and it will last for years to come! Hot knife pumpkin carving! For more fun Spooky DIY’s see my Halloween page.

How to make a Plastic Pineapple Jack O Lantern

Cute fresh pineapple jack o lanterns have been pretty popular for some years now. Since I moved to a more tropical climate, it is only fitting that I jump on that bandwagon and add some to my beach decor!

I wasn’t into cutting a real pineapple and trying to carve one with a knife. I don’t want to fool with the sticky mess it would create, plus I wanted one to have for years to enjoy. Not to mention the flies it would attract, lol.

I went on a hunt for a faux pineapple that is hollow inside. That way it would be easy to carve. I found the perfect one online and the best part is someone left a review showing that they made a pineapple jack o lantern out of it already with an X-Acto knife and it worked!

Well, I am going to show you how I made mine with a hot knife (I also used a regular X-Acto knifre to clean things up). You might have seen the pumpkin lanterns I made a few years ago using a woodburning tool. I am going to make these the same way!

No struggling with a super sharp X-Acto knife to cut through hard plastic. With a little patience, you can use a sharp hot knife and melt the plastic away to create these cuties! Super easy! Here’s how to do it!

DIY Plastic Pineapple Jack O Lantern

Supplies:

You can access the JACK O’LANTERN FACE GUIDE print in my Exclusive Printable Library, which can be found HERE.

How to Carve a Pineapple Jack o lantern

Start by heating up your hot knife and stabilizing its holder with tape to a flat surface. This will prevent it from moving when you lay it down to rest. Follow all manufacturer’s directions closely to prevent burns.

When using this knife on plastic, make sure you are in a ventilated area. Breathing in the smoke from burning plastic can be hazardous to your health. I use a fan behind me to blow the fumes away from my face. Wearing a mask is another option.

Cut the bottom of both pineapples out using slow in and out movements to melt the plastic.

Determine the jack o lantern face and size to use. Grab my printout in the supply list above or draw your own. Cut around the face and mark the points of the eyes and mouth with a pen or marker.

Start cutting the eyes or mouth by going slow with an in and out motion to melt the plastic. Push the inner section of the areas to remove out.

Clean up the cut out areas with a regular X-Acto knife to make straight lines, smooth the openings and remove any unwanted pieces of plastic.

Next use some brown acrylic paint to paint the outer edges of the openings. This will make the eyes and mouth stand out and hide any mistakes you may have made during the cutting process.