Pumpkins on the porch shadow box SVG
A front door in autumn with pumpkins on every step: the wall of the house with a strip of sky and the moon above it, the door with its two lamps and two small trees in pots under a branch of leaves, a stack of three pumpkins and a sheaf of wheat on the top step, a carved pumpkin on the next, and a row of pumpkins along the bottom step. 6 sheets of card, cut and stacked with a gap between each, make the picture. The files are free, and every part of the scene can be moved, swapped or resized below before you download.
6 sheets at 8 × 8 in, zipped, with a note on putting them together.
Free for personal and commercial use, no sign-up. What you can do with it.
The 6 sheets
Sheet 1 is the back and sheet 6 is the front. Each one is a single piece with the same frame round its edge, so they line up when stacked. The colours shown are the “Autumn” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 6, “Bottom step”, the slowest: at 0.8 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 6, “Bottom step”, fills the most of the view, 28% of it.
| Sheet | What is on it | Narrowest part | Seen from the front |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sky and moon | A whole sheet with holes for: Plain disc | over 2 mm | 12% |
| 2. House wall | Flat ground | over 2 mm | 24% |
| 3. Front door | Flat ground, with: Front door with a fanlight and Leafy branch in summer | 1.1 mm | 17% |
| 4. Top step | Flat ground, with: Three stacked pumpkins, Wheat sheaf and Tall pumpkin | 1.2 mm | 12% |
| 5. Middle step | Flat ground, with: Jack-o-lantern with a toothy grin and Squat fairytale pumpkin | 1 mm | 8% |
| 6. Bottom step | Flat ground, with: Pumpkin with vine and leaf, Three pumpkins in a row and Classic round pumpkin | 0.8 mm | 28% |
Measured from the files at 8 × 8 in. The narrowest part is the thinnest neck of card that holds anything on; sharp tips are not counted. “Seen from the front” is the share of the picture that sheet fills once the sheets in front of it are in place.
Will it cut at your size?
The download is 8 × 8 in. The scene maker above makes the same scene at any of these sizes; the thinnest part scales with it.
| Frame opening | Each sheet | Narrowest part | Depth needed | Fits a 12 × 12 in mat | Rule of thumb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 × 6 in | 152.4 × 152.4 mm | 0.6 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 20 × 20 cm | 200 × 200 mm | 0.8 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 8 × 8 in | 203.2 × 203.2 mm | 0.8 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 23 × 23 cm | 230 × 230 mm | 0.9 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 25 × 25 cm | 250 × 250 mm | 1 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
Depth needed allows 3 mm of foam between sheets and 5 mm for the card itself and the backing.
Making this one
The three steps are three sheets of flat ground, each lower than the one behind, so the pumpkins sit at three depths and cast shadows on each other. Cut the pumpkin sheets in oranges, pale to deep, and the wall in cream. The face of the carved pumpkin is cut through, so the sheet behind shows in its eyes and mouth. The bottom step is the finest cutting, at about 0.8 mm at 8 inches, and the middle step comes next, at about 1 mm. The branch grows in from the frame, so nothing hangs on a thread.
- Cut all 6 sheets from 160 to 220 gsm card at the same size.
- Lay them out in order, sheet 1 at the back.
- Put strips of 3 mm foam tape round the border of sheet 1 and press sheet 2 onto it with the edges level. Carry on to sheet 6.
- Fit the stack into a deep frame with the front sheet against the glass. For a light box, run a strip of warm white LEDs round the inside of the frame behind the stack.
The zip includes these steps as a text file, each sheet as its own SVG and all 6 side by side in one SVG. More on paper, frames and lights is on the shadow box page.
The parts, on their own
Everything in the scene comes from the free SVG library, where each has its own page and file:
Questions
How is this different from the Pumpkin patch scene?
This one is a doorstep: a house wall, a front door and three steps of pumpkins. The Pumpkin patch scene is a field at harvest time, with a scarecrow, a rail fence and pumpkins on the ground.
Can I make it a Halloween porch?
Yes. Choose the Halloween night colours in the maker and swap the plain pumpkins for carved ones: the carved pumpkin is with the other pumpkins under Flowers and plants. A bat can be added from Birds and insects and a ghost from Figures.
Can I sell boxes I make with it?
Yes. Finished pieces are yours to sell. The files themselves may not be sold or shared; send people to this page. See the licence.
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