🎃 Golden Lion Tamarin Pumpkin Carving Guide

Celebrate the season — and your love for golden lion tamarins — with these custom pumpkin stencils! Follow these easy steps to create your own glowing GLT jack-o’-lantern masterpiece.

🧰 What You’ll Need

  • Pumpkin (medium to large, smooth surface preferred)

  • Printed GLT stencil (choose your favorite: Simple Silhouette, Logo Love, or Logo + Forest Theme)

  • Tape

  • Thumbtack or pin

  • Pumpkin carving tools or small serrated knife

  • Spoon or scraper

  • Tea light or LED candle

✂️ Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Prepare Your Pumpkin

  • Cut a lid around the stem (angled slightly inward so it won’t fall through).

  • Scoop out all the seeds and pulp. Scrape the inner wall until it’s about 1 inch thick — this makes carving easier and light shine better.

2. Choose Your Design

🦁 Simple Silhouette
Perfect for beginners! Clear bold lines create a glowing GLT face with a baby GLT face— clean and classic. This is the Save the Golden Lion Tamarin’s logo, which is the same as the Associação Mico-Leão-Dourado’s logo in Brazil. We are partners in the GLT conservation work. 

🧡 Logo Love GLTs
For those who really love GLTs and who love family love 💗. Ideal for group activities or zoo displays — great for families or kids with supervision.

🌿 Logo Love GLTs + Forest Theme
For intermediate and advanced carvers. There are two versions on pages 6 and 7. It adds leaves, vines, and trees for a natural pumpkin look — a glowing forest around your tamarin! Ideal for those with experience in carving and who knows that every monkey likes to hang out in their own healthy forest🌳.

3. Attach the Stencil

  • Tape your chosen stencil to the flattest side of the pumpkin.

  • Use a thumbtack, pin, or poking tool to trace along the black areas of the stencil, making small holes to transfer the pattern.

  • Once outlined, remove the paper stencil.

4. Start Carving

  • Use a fine pumpkin saw or small knife to carefully cut along your dotted outline.

  • Remove small pieces first, working slowly to avoid breaking thin areas.

  • For layered depth (optional), scrape some areas thinner instead of cutting all the way through for a glowing effect.

5. Light It💡 Up! 

  • Place a small LED light or candle inside your pumpkin.

  • Replace the lid, turn off the lights, and admire your glowing golden lion tamarin!

🎩 Tips for Best Results

  • Print the stencil at 100% scale for most pumpkins.

  • Keep your design simple if it’s your first time.

  • If any section feels fragile, leave a small “bridge” of pumpkin to keep it stable.

  • To preserve your pumpkin longer, rub the cut edges with petroleum jelly or spray with water + lemon juice daily.

🌍 Share Your Creation!

We’d love to see your GLT pumpkins!
Tag @SaveTheLionTamarin and use #GlowForGLTs on social media to inspire others to support golden lion tamarin conservation.