Abstract: A piercing tool to form a series of puncture marks in soft materials, such as pumpkins, is provided. The tool includes a handle, a working head, and a plurality of piercing elements, which may be formed as a one-piece plastic construction. The working head may be a flat blade terminating in an arcuate distal end with outwardly divergent side edges and an area of increased thickness to minimize lateral deflection of the blade while in use. The piercing elements project from the working head in a plane and may have a common height and configuration or include a primary tooth flanked by secondary teeth of a different height and configuration than the primary tooth. A method of forming a series of puncture marks is also provided and includes the steps of driving one piercing element into the material and advancing the tool to drive in an adjacent piercing element.

Abstract: A pumpkin carving kit includes a cutting die having a closed peripheral configuration defining a shape to be carved into the pumpkin shell, a striking tool for driving the die into the pumpkin shell, and a scoop and scraping tool. The die has a lower cutting edge and an upper driving edge, and a striking surface of the striking tool has a lateral dimension which is greater than the majority of the largest transverse dimension of the striking edge to uniformly distribute impact force to the die. Serrations of the cutting edge of the die are forced into the pumpkin shell to hold the die in position before it is struck. The scoop and scraping tool is used to scrape the thickness of the pumpkin wall so that the die will extend through it.