Jeremy Burghall

The Ultimate Book on Pumpkin Carving

How Any Kid Can Carve Incredible Pumpkins

First published by Guts and Seeds Inc. 2026

Copyright © 2026 by Jeremy Burghall

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. No third-party companies mentioned have endorsed this book. Pumpkin Studio is a product of Guts and Seeds Inc. Web addresses included were accurate at time of publication; the author is not responsible for third-party website content.

First edition

This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy
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This book is dedicated to my loving wife Ran and son Benjamin, for supporting me and my pumpkin obsession.

I

PART 1 — INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1 — How to Use This Book

This book is for kids and their parents to enjoy together. Some chapters are written for parents, some for kids, and some for both. Whether you’re a first-time carver or you’ve done this before, you’ll find what you need here.

(Photo: Mom and her turtle carving pumpkins together at an event.)

You don’t need to read this book cover to cover. Think of it as a reference. Jump to what’s relevant to you, and come back to the rest when you need it.

First time carving? Read Part 1 first. If you want to save time, feel free to skip ahead to the relevant chapter for your child in Part 3, then read about the carving style you want to try in Part 2. After that, it makes sense to read from Part 4 in order, skipping chapters that aren’t relevant to you. Experienced carver? Jump straight to the style or technique you’re after.

Part 1 — Introduction: Short and fun. Great to read together. Chapter 3 sets the tone for the whole book and is worth reading before anything else.

Part 2 — Carving Styles: Read this before choosing tools or buying supplies. Your style choice determines everything. The word shade is introduced in Chapter 4 and used throughout, so come back here if anything later is confusing.

Part 3 — Who’s Carving? (For parents) Skip to the age chapter that fits your child.

Part 4 — Tools & Safety: (For parents) Chapter 19 is a must-read before any kid picks up a tool. Read Chapters 20–21 as a shopping checklist, ideally a couple weeks ahead so there’s time to order anything missing. Check the Appendix for the full tools list organized by carving style.

Part 5 — The Pumpkin: Skim what’s useful. Chapter 22 will help you find a good pumpkin. Chapter 27 is short but important to read for after you get your pumpkin.

Part 6 — The Stencil: Chapters 28, 29, and 30 are alternatives; you only need one. Chapter 30 is the longest chapter in the book. That’s because I’m sharing all the tips and tricks I’ve learned using Pumpkin Studio to create the perfect stencil. Chapter 31 (islands) is important for stencils you are creating that use saw holes.

Part 7 — Carving: Lots of thought on planning and all my years of carving experience are condensed into this part. The chapters in Part 7 aren’t necessarily in the order you carve. Which steps you do and when depends on your carving style. Chapter 33 (What Order?) is the roadmap. I’d recommend everyone read it before you start, regardless of experience. It’s especially helpful if you’re carving many pumpkins or want to break the process into many sessions. All three transfer methods start with Chapter 35 (Attaching Your Stencil), so read that first, then go to your method chapter (Chapters 36–38). A few steps in this part are flagged for grown-ups, so watch for those labels as you go.

Part 8 — After Carving: Worth a skim for everyone. Good preservation makes a big difference. Read Chapter 55 (Lighting) before displaying. For parents, Chapter 52 (Vaseline): Vaseline and candles must never be used together.

Part 9 — Display & Sharing: All optional and fun. Read Chapter 59 (Photography) before taking your final photos.

Part 10 — Extras: All optional. The Appendix is a useful shopping list by Carving Style. Watermelon Carving (Chapter 62) is a fun project for ages 10 and up. You’ve probably never seen anything like it. They’ll definitely get a kick out of it.

* * *

Chapter 2 — Quick History of Pumpkin Carving

Did you know the first jack-o’-lanterns weren’t even pumpkins?

In ancient Ireland, people celebrated a spooky festival called Samhain on October 31st, a night when they believed spirits roamed the earth. To keep the bad ones away, they carved terrifying faces into turnips and set candles inside to scare them off. Turnips! They’re a lot harder to carve than a pumpkin, so those early carvers were tough.

(Photo: The original jack-o’-lantern. Carved turnip lit with tealight candle.)

The name “jack-o’-lantern” came from an old Irish folktale about a sneaky trickster named Stingy Jack. He was so troublesome that neither Heaven nor Hell would take him in when he died. He was left to wander the dark forever, carrying a carved turnip with a glowing coal inside to light his way.

When Irish immigrants arrived in North America in the 1800s, they discovered pumpkins, which were bigger, rounder, and much easier to carve. The turnip tradition never stood a chance. 😄

* * *

Chapter 3 — Anyone Can Do This

Here’s a secret most people don’t know: you don’t need any artistic skill to carve incredible pumpkins.

What you actually need is patience, a good stencil, and the ability to follow steps. If you can follow a recipe or build a LEGO set, you can do this.

I know this because I’ve been doing it for over 30 years. Had my carvings featured on TV with CBC, CTV, Global, and Breakfast Television. And I’ve taught these techniques to more than 500 kids from elementary to high school.

When I was teaching high school art students, there were two Japanese exchange students in the class. They spoke Japanese to each other the whole time and never asked me a single question. They each carved a detailed portrait pumpkin over about four hours total. One carved Will Smith, the other carved Barack Obama. And these were not just their first portrait carvings, but their first pumpkin carvings ever.

(Photo: One won a Nobel for peace, the other an Oscar for… Carved by foreign exchange students on their first attempt.)

They weren’t art prodigies. They just followed the steps, took their time, and it worked.

That’s honestly the whole secret. The stencil does the creative work for you. Your job is to follow it carefully, and the results might surprise you.

I started this journey of carving portraits when I was just ten years old. When I finished my first portrait, I was actually surprised it looked as good as it did, and I was so excited. Family and neighbours were amazed. And I felt proud of what I was able to create. My goal is for your kid to feel that same pride and excitement too.

II

PART 2 — CARVING STYLES

Chapter 4 — The 9 Carving Styles

Most people think there’s only one way to carve a pumpkin: cut some holes, done. Over the years I’ve carved, taught hundreds of kids, and studied others’ carvings. I’ve found they can be broken down into 9 different carving styles. Each one works better for different subjects, whether it’s cartoon characters, animal portraits, or faces of real people.

What makes one style different from another? It comes down to shades: how many different levels of light and dark your finished pumpkin shows.

Think about it this way: pumpkin skin is typically your darkest shade. When you cut a hole all the way through, light shines out and becomes your brightest shade. With certain carving techniques you can also create shades between, a soft glow that isn’t fully bright but isn’t dark either.

(Photos: Local news anchors carved in Style 4+ with sculpted soft glow. With the best teeth on television.)

The more shades your carving has, the more detail it can show. More shades also means more steps and more time, but not necessarily harder. Even if this is your first pumpkin, you can pull off styles with many shades by just following the steps one at a time.

Basic Shapes Staged (Style 1+) is the one style where the creativity doesn’t come from more shades. It uses the same two shades as Style 1, but adds props and staging to turn a simple jack-o’-lantern into something that gets the whole neighborhood laughing.

Sculpting (Style 5) is also completely different. No stencil, no shades, just wood carving and clay tools shaping the pumpkin like a sculpture. Because it’s so different, it gets a bit more detail in its own chapter.

The next few chapters walk you through all 9 styles so you can find the one that’s right for you.

* * *

Chapter 5 — Basic Shapes (Style 1)

This is the classic. Triangle eyes, jagged teeth, maybe a wonky nose. The jack-o’-lantern that’s been on every front porch since forever. No stencil needed, no special tools. Just draw a face on your pumpkin and cut it out with a kitchen knife (or even better, a pumpkin carving saw).

(Photo: A pie pumpkin carved in Style 1. Technically, this one was supposed to be dessert.)

It’s the perfect starting point for young carvers, and there’s something genuinely fun about a glowing silly face in the dark. Many people carve this style their whole lives, and that’s totally legit!

But if you’re reading this book, I’m guessing you’re ready for more. 😄
Shades: 2 (pumpkin skin + light through holes)
Pros:

Easiest style. No stencil required.

Fastest to carve.

Great for young kids.

Cons:

Very little detail possible.

Pumpkin will rot faster once cut open.

* * *

Chapter 6 — Basic Shapes Staged (Style 1+)

Style 1+ is Style 1 with a twist. Same classic jack-o’-lantern, same triangle eyes and jagged teeth, but this time you add something extra to make people stop and laugh.

The “plus” isn’t about more carving. It’s about staging. A prop, a setup, a gag. Or adding some paint. My Dad actually discovered this one. I couldn’t carve a pumpkin for my parents’ house one Halloween. He found these quick ideas online so the trick-or-treaters wouldn’t be disappointed. They’ve been a tradition of my parents’ display ever since.

(Photo: My dad’s carvings: one pumpkin chewing on another. The chewed looks appropriately horrified.)

Here are some of my favorites:

The puker. Carve a wide open mouth and pull the guts out through it onto the front step. Instant gross-out. Kids love it.

The muncher. Carve the mouth big enough to fit a small pumpkin inside it, like the big pumpkin is eating a little one. Even better if the little one has a terrified face.

The spider. Carve your jack-o’-lantern as usual, then add a set of long black pipe cleaner or wire legs to the sides so it looks like a giant spider. Stick googly eyes on if you want to go all the way.

The surprised pumpkin. Skip the scary face entirely. Give it wide round eyes and a big O-shaped mouth, then place it next to whatever it’s supposedly shocked about. A tiny fake mouse works great. The possibilities are only limited by what you can find at the dollar store. That’s honestly half the fun.
Shades: 2 (pumpkin skin + light through holes)
Pros:

Just as easy as Style 1. No stencil required.

Great for kids who want more than a plain jack-o’-lantern without learning a harder style.

Gets a reaction every time.

Cons:

Props can shift or fall over. Test your setup before display day.

Pumpkin will rot faster once cut open.

* * *

Chapter 7 — Sawing (Style 2)

You’ve probably seen these kits at Walmart or your local supermarket every October. A little saw and some plastic tools attached to a cardboard backing with a booklet of paper stencils inside. That’s probably a Pumpkin Masters kit, and it changed everything.

Back in 1985, a family in Racine, Wisconsin came up with the world’s first pumpkin carving kit: a small saw and printed stencils you could tape onto your pumpkin and saw out a design. Suddenly anyone could carve a witch on a broomstick or a cat howling at the moon. Millions of people grew up with these kits, and they’re still everywhere today.

(Photo: This is what started my obsession. A Pumpkin Masters carving kit and a saw. More than thirty years gone, forever.)

Style 2 is that same idea. You pick a stencil, transfer it to your pumpkin, and saw out the shapes. Two shades, skin and light. Simple and satisfying.
Shades: 2 (pumpkin skin + light through holes)
Pros:

Stencil is easy to follow.

Quick to carve.

Thousands of free stencils available online.

Cons:

Limited detail compared to other styles.

Large cut-out holes can make the pumpkin fragile.

Pumpkin will rot faster once cut open.

(Photo: Lightning pattern carved in Style 2. The burnt wood in the background is probably a coincidence.)

* * *

Chapter 8 — Scrape & Sculpt (Style 2+)

Style 2+ is where things get really interesting, and your pumpkin lasts a lot longer.

Instead of sawing holes, this style works by removing the orange skin to reveal the pale pumpkin layer underneath. When a light is placed inside, that exposed layer glows softly. By carving deeper into the pumpkin in certain areas, you can make some spots glow brighter than others. The result is one shade that goes from dim to bright.

(Photo: Pumpkin carved by an 11-year-old in Style 2+. I do not recommend his choice of carving tools.)

No holes means no risk of your pumpkin falling apart, and no open cuts means it stays fresh much longer. You can also pack in a lot more detail since you’re not worried about the pumpkin’s structure.

The trade-off is time. Expect 2 to 3 hours. But the results are worth it.
Shades: 2. One shade goes from dim to bright.
Pros:

Pumpkin stays strong. No pieces to fall out.

Lasts much longer before rotting.

More detail possible than Style 2.

Cons:

Takes longer to carve (2–3 hours).

(Photo: Koi fish carved by a 12-year-old in Style 2+. Despite the subject matter, your pumpkin should be completely dry before carving.)

* * *

Chapter 9 — Sharpie & Scrape (Style 3)

I first discovered this style watching a pumpkin carving documentary (yeah, that’s what I do with my spare time) called Oh My Gourd! The Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular Story. It’s about the annual display at Roger Williams Zoo in Rhode Island, which draws over 100,000 visitors every October. Professional carvers there use Sharpie markers in many shades to add detail to 100 lbs (45 kg) pumpkins. I loved the idea of adding another shade with just a Sharpie, and I’ve included the technique when teaching kids ever since.

Style 3 introduces something new: a black Sharpie marker. And that one addition changes everything.

(Photo: An 11-year-old carefully holding her tiger cub. Carved by her in Style 3.)

In the previous styles, pumpkin skin was always the darkest shade. Here, you fill certain areas with black Sharpie ink, making those areas darker than the skin itself. That pushes the skin to become the middle shade, with the glowing scraped pumpkin still the brightest. Three shades total, and a big jump in detail.

Like Style 2+, there’s no sawing here, so your pumpkin stays strong and lasts well. The Sharpie step adds very little extra time. Most carvings still come in at 2 to 3 hours.
Shades: 3 (black Sharpie + pumpkin skin + scraped glow)
Pros:

Three shades means much more detail.

Pumpkin stays strong. No pieces to fall out.

Lasts longer before rotting.

Sharpie step adds very little extra time.

Cons:

Still takes 2–3 hours, same as Style 2+.

More steps to follow than Style 2+.

* * *

Chapter 10 — Sharpie, Scrape & Saw (Style 3+)

Style 3+ is the most detailed of all 9 styles. Four shades, three techniques combined into one carving.

Black Sharpie stays the darkest shade. Pumpkin skin is the second darkest. Scraped pumpkin glows as the third shade. And where you saw all the way through, bright light shines as the fourth and brightest shade. Stack all four together and the level of detail you get is really impressive.

The key with this style is to use those sawed holes sparingly. A few bright spots, like the whites of eyes or a gleaming smile, will pop against the other three shades. Too many or too large, and you lose the detail from the pumpkin skin and scraped shades. Less is more.

(Photo: Proof that an 11 year old can carve something heroic. Style 3+.)

These stencils have the most lines to follow, so keep your printed stencil close and check it often. Give yourself 3 to 4 hours or more.
Shades: 4 (black Sharpie + pumpkin skin + scraped glow + light through holes)
Pros:

Most detail of any style.

Sawed areas really pop against the other shades.

Cons:

Most steps to follow. Stencil can be tricky to read.

Sawed holes can make pumpkin fragile if overused.

Pumpkin rots faster where holes are cut.

Takes longer to carve (3–4+ hours).

* * *

Chapter 11 — Scrape & Saw (Style 4)

Style 4 drops the Sharpie and goes back to 3 shades, but this time, the sawed holes take center stage.

In Style 3+, sawed holes were used sparingly as small bright highlights. Here, they’re a larger, bolder part of the design. Pumpkin skin is the darkest shade, scraped pumpkin glows as the middle shade, and light shining through the sawed holes becomes the brightest. The result is a vivid, natural look that works especially well for carving images of living things.

(Photo: Panda and cub carved in Style 4. Easiest pandas to spot in the dark.)

Because the holes are bigger and more spread out, keeping the pumpkin’s structure solid takes some planning. It will also rot faster, so follow the preservation tips in Part 8.

The good news: just two types of lines to follow on the stencil (scrape or saw), so it’s easier to keep track of where you are than Style 3+. But I still keep the stencil nearby to check.

Give yourself 3 to 4 hours or more.
Shades: 3 (pumpkin skin + scraped glow + light through holes)
Pros:

Bright, vivid results.

Stencil is easier to follow than Style 3+.

Cons:

Large holes can make pumpkin fragile.

Pumpkin rots faster where holes are cut.

Takes 3–4+ hours.

(Photo: A gruesome collection of pumpkins hatching an evil plan. Carved in Style 4.)

* * *

Chapter 12 — Scrape, Saw & Sculpt (Style 4+)

Style 4+ is Style 4 with one big upgrade: sculpting.

Everything is the same: pumpkin skin as the darkest shade, scraped pumpkin glowing in the middle, and bright light shining through sawed holes at the brightest. But now instead of one flat shade, you carve deeper into certain areas so the glow goes from dim to bright. Areas close to a sawed hole get carved deeper and glow brighter. Areas close to the pumpkin skin are left shallower and stay dimmer. That range of glow between the two is what makes these carvings look so lifelike and three-dimensional.

(Photo: Thrilling portrait carved by a friend I taught, in Style 4+.)

The same cautions from Style 4 apply. Watch the pumpkin’s structure and follow the preservation tips in Part 8. After you see your finished carving, you’ll want to do everything you can to make it last.

Sculpting can be the most time-consuming step, so give yourself 4 hours or more. This is typically the longest style to carve.

(Photo: Four portraits of who you’re gonna call. Carved in Style 4+.)

Shades: 3. One shade goes from dim to bright (pumpkin skin + scraped glow + light through holes).
Pros:

Most lifelike, three-dimensional results of any style.

Incredible detail.

Cons:

Longest carving time (4+ hours).

Large holes can make pumpkin fragile.

Pumpkin rots faster where holes are cut.

(Photo: Bunny carved in Style 4+. We were expecting a groundhog. Guess that means a few more weeks until Halloween.)

* * *

Chapter 13 — Sculpting (Style 5)

Style 5 is in a league of its own. No stencil, no light shining through, no shades to follow. Just your tools, your imagination, and a pumpkin you’re going to turn into a sculpture. These carvings aren’t lit from the inside. Instead, they’re displayed under an outside light that casts shadows across the carved surface, bringing out all that depth and texture.

This style takes practice. Your first attempt may not be what you imagined, and that’s totally okay. Every carver who does this style gets better each year. The results are impressive when it comes together. I’m no expert at this style myself. I honestly haven’t given it enough attempts. But I have a huge admiration for the artists who bring these sculptures to life.

(Image: AI-generated sculpted pumpkin. Surprised the author’s real sculpting skills didn’t make the cut? So is the pumpkin.)

Choosing your pumpkin: You’ll want a large, tall, and fairly flat-fronted pumpkin. The rounder the pumpkin, the harder it is to carve a face that looks right. Don’t gut it. The firm walls give you more material to work with, and a full pumpkin also lasts much longer since there are no open cuts.

Plan before you carve: Lightly sketch your design on the pumpkin with a pencil or washable marker before committing to any cuts. Think about where the eyes, nose, and mouth will sit and how they’ll be spaced. Reference photos are a big help here.

Remove the skin first: Use a large ribbon clay tool to scrape away the orange skin from the area where the face will be.

Block in the big shapes: Think of the nose as the highest point of the face. It sticks out the most and gets carved the least. Everything around it gets carved deeper. Start by carving shallow cavities where the eyes will sit, and a slight recess where the mouth will go. Don’t go deep yet, just rough in the general positions.

Carve deeper into each feature: Work on one feature at a time. Eyes sit deep in their sockets. Cheeks are slightly raised. The brow ridge sticks out above the eyes. Use medium and small ribbon clay tools to shape each area, always removing small amounts at a time.

Critical rule: never break through the wall. If you accidentally carve through to the inside cavity, that area will rot very quickly and wreck your carving. Go slowly, especially around the eyes and nose. If you’re unsure how deep you are, stop and check.

Add details last: Once all the major features are shaped, go back and add fine lines, wrinkles, and texture with your smallest tools. Step back often and view from a distance. Details that look subtle up close will read strongly from a few feet away.
Shades: None. Depth and shadow do all the work.
Pros:

Pumpkin lasts a long time. No open cuts to speed up rotting.

Completely unique. No two sculpted pumpkins look the same.

Cons:

No stencil to guide you. Takes practice to develop the technique.

Mistakes can’t always be fixed once material is removed.

* * *

Chapter 14 — Choosing Your Carving Style

Now that you know all 9 styles, how to pick the right one? It mostly comes down to what you’re carving.

For a quick carve: Basic Shapes (Style 1), Basic Shapes Staged (Style 1+), or Sawing (Style 2) are your best bet. Simple, fast, and fun.

For cartoons: First, it helps to know the difference between 2D and 3D cartoons. A 2D cartoon is flat and illustrated, like SpongeBob, Bart Simpson, or any comic book character. A 3D cartoon is a movie-style character with depth and shading, like Pixar films, video game characters, or characters like Shrek.

2D cartoons usually work best with Sharpie & Scrape (Style 3). The bold, thin black lines that make 2D cartoons recognizable are much easier to draw with a Sharpie than to carve.

3D cartoon characters usually look best with Sharpie, Scrape & Saw (Style 3+). The extra bright sawed areas really make them pop and add dimension.

For logos: Stick with Sharpie & Scrape (Style 3) and avoid any sawing. Logos are usually displayed indoors where lighting is bright, making it hard to see light shining through holes. The black Sharpie, pumpkin skin and scraped areas create a strong contrast. It shows up clearly even in a well-lit room, even if the pumpkin isn’t lit from inside.

(Photo: Logo pumpkin displayed in-store at a local donut shop. The mascot smiled patiently during the whole carve.)

For anything living, like people, animals, or plants: It’s usually best to avoid the Sharpie styles altogether. Black Sharpie’s harsh contrast looks unnatural against organic subjects. Without it, the shades of pumpkin skin and scraped glow blend together in a way that looks much more lifelike.

Animals often look great with Scrape & Sculpt (Style 2+). The soft glow from dim to bright suits fur and feathers well.

Portraits of people: Scrape, Saw & Sculpt (Style 4+) gives the most vivid, lifelike results. If you’re just starting out, Scrape & Saw (Style 4) looks great too.

Plants and other organic subjects: Scrape & Saw (Style 4) works well, giving three naturally blending shades.

(Photo: First-time portrait carvings by 14–16 year old high school students in Style 4+. A couple of students chose to give their trick or treaters nightmares.)

* * *

III

PART 3 — WHO’S CARVING?

Chapter 15 — Best Carving Styles by Age — Age 5+

At this age, it’s all about the experience: the mess, the silliness, and the magic of seeing a glowing face on the front porch. Keep expectations fun and relaxed.

Start with Basic Shapes (Style 1). Let your child draw a face directly onto the pumpkin with a marker. A big goofy grin, triangle eyes, whatever makes them laugh. Perfection is not the goal here.

(Photo: My son’s first Jack O’ Lantern carving when he was 3 months old.)

For the actual cutting, a pumpkin carving saw is much safer than a kitchen knife for little hands. The blade is small, flexible, and designed for this job. That said, parental supervision is needed at all times when any cutting tool is in use.

Your child will probably need your help getting the saw started in the pumpkin and cleaning out the last stubborn bits of guts inside. But let them lead where they can. Most kids this age absolutely love the gutting step. Embrace the mess!

If you want more fun from the same easy carve, try Style 1+ (Basic Shapes Staged). Same pumpkin, but with a prop or setup that makes it something special. The staging is usually too tricky for a 5-year-old on their own, so you’ll need to help with that part.

See Chapter 5 for more on Basic Shapes (Style 1) and Chapter 6 for Style 1+ ideas.

(Photo: A portrait of my son carved the same year. He was actually 4 years old. I may have exaggerated a bit.)

* * *

Chapter 16 — Best Carving Styles by Age — Age 8+

Age 8 is a great time to level up. Your child has the focus and hand coordination to tackle a real stencil design, and the result will excite them.

Start with a Pumpkin Masters kit (available at most supermarkets, Walmart, or Michaels every October). The kit includes a small pumpkin carving saw and a booklet of Sawing (Style 2) stencils. Everything they need to carve their first proper design. Any stencil in the Pumpkin Masters booklet is a good fit for an 8 year old. But if they want something more exciting, you can search online. Just make sure it’s not too complicated for a first attempt.

Most 8-year-olds can handle the sawing themselves once they get the feel for it. They may need a parent to help get the first cut started. Gutting can still be a bit of a team effort too, especially scraping out the stubborn bits around the edges.

(Photo: Hand carved by a 9-year-old in Style 2. It appeared to be reaching for something. We didn’t wait around to find out.)

At this age, kids can also figure out Style 1+ (Basic Shapes Staged) with little help from you. If they want something quick and funny rather than a stencil project, it’s a great option.

Once they’ve carved their first real design, the days of only triangle eyes are officially over.

See Chapter 7 for more on Sawing (Style 2) and Chapter 6 for Style 1+ ideas.

* * *

Chapter 17 — Best Carving Styles by Age — Age 10+

Age 10 is where things get really exciting. Your child is ready to pick up wood carving tools for the first time and start creating pumpkins that genuinely stop people in their tracks.

Cartoon characters are a natural starting point at this age, and they look awesome as carvings. A 2D cartoon stencil with Sharpie & Scrape (Style 3) is a great first scraping project. For kids who want to push a little further, Sharpie, Scrape & Saw (Style 3+) adds that extra bright layer that makes 3D cartoon characters really come alive.

(Photo: Steve, crafted by a 10-year-old in Style 3. He looks ready to mine.)

Animals are also a fantastic choice at this age. The cool thing with animals is that even if the carving isn’t perfect, it will still look like the animal. Maybe not that exact poodle, but definitely a poodle. That’s a huge confidence boost. I’ve found 10 year olds can succeed carving pets and animals with Scrape & Sculpt (Style 2+). Especially if they don’t rush. Carving over many sessions can help (see Chapter 33).

(Photo: Cat carved in Style 2+ by an 11-year-old. It has not blinked once.)

At this age your child can largely work independently. Just make sure they have the right tools and check in on their progress from time to time.

See Chapters 8, 9, and 10 for more on each style.

* * *

Chapter 18 — Best Carving Styles by Age — Age 12+

Believe it or not, if you’re 12 or older, you have what it takes to carve a portrait of a real person that people will immediately recognize.

It sounds intimidating, but remember Chapter 3. It’s not about artistic talent, it’s just about following the steps.

Start with a Scrape & Saw (Style 4) stencil for your first portrait attempt. Three shades, only two types of lines to follow, and the result will surprise you. After one or two portraits under your belt, try stepping up to Scrape, Saw & Sculpt (Style 4+). The sculpting step adds that extra depth that makes a portrait look almost three-dimensional.

Pick someone you think would be fun to carve, like a favorite musician, athlete, friend, or that funny uncle, and put their face on a pumpkin. 🎃

See Chapters 11 and 12 for more on each style.

(Photo: A very fast hedgehog and a man with an impressive mustache, carved in Style 4 and 4+.)

* * *

IV

PART 4 — TOOLS & SAFETY

Chapter 19 — Carving Safety

I know safety chapters aren’t the most exciting read, but this one is worth a quick scan, especially for parents. Carving safely comes down to a few simple habits.

Wear gloves. It feels like overkill, I know. But over the years I’ve taught hundreds of kids to carve pumpkins and had zero injuries, because they wore gloves. I learned this the hard way. I once was rushing to finish a portrait of the show’s host during a 30-minute live segment on Breakfast Television and ended up laughing off a bleeding hand on camera. Gloves would have helped.

Always carve away from your body. If the tool slips, you want it moving away from you, not toward you. This applies to every tool: saw, knife, and wood carving tools.

Keep everything dry. Wet hands, wet tools, and wet pumpkins are a recipe for slipping. Keep paper towels nearby and dry off regularly as you work.

Work on a stable, well-lit surface. A wobbly table or dim lighting makes everything harder and less safe. Good light also helps you follow your stencil lines more accurately.

No rushing, no horseplay. Carving tools are sharp enough to cause real damage if you’re not careful. Keep things calm and focused while tools are in hand.

Always know where your other hand is. If you’re steadying the pumpkin with one hand while carving with the other, make sure that hand is well clear of the blade before making any cut.

* * *

Chapter 20 — Carving Tools

Having the right tools makes carving easier, safer, and a lot more fun. Here’s what I use and what works best.

Sawing Tools

Best overall: Keyhole saw: The most precise option, especially for tight corners and fine detail. A standard hardware store tool, not pumpkin-specific.

Good for most designs: Pumpkin Masters carving saw: The small flexible saw included in most carving kits. Works well for the majority of designs.

Avoid for detailed patterns: Dollar store carving kits: The saw blades in cheap kits are too thick and wide to cut the fine lines that detailed stencils need. Use at least a Pumpkin Masters saw.

Avoid for detailed designs: Serrated kitchen knife: Only suitable for Basic Shapes (Style 1 / 1+). Too large and difficult to control for anything more detailed.

(Photo: The key to sawing fine details, a basic keyhole saw.)

Sculpting Tools

Best for kids: Wood carving tool set: A set of 5–6 tools, but you only need three: the V-shape (for tracing lines), C-shape (for removing larger areas of skin), and U-shape (for detail work). Set the remaining tools, including any sharp flat blade, safely aside and keep them away from kids.

Ribbon clay tools: A separate purchase, but worth having alongside the wood carving tools. The loop-shaped ends are ideal for smoothing scraped areas and sculpting walls.

Grown-up alternative: Paring knife: Works well for scraping and sculpting but I recommend wearing gloves.

Grown-up alternative: Speedball lino cutter set: An art supply tool designed for block printing that works surprisingly well for pumpkin carving. Comes with interchangeable blades like the V and U shapes in wood carving sets. Precise and effective, but the handle is adult-sized and may be too large for younger kids’ hands.

(Photo: U need this shape of wood carving tools.)

You can find links to all the carving tools mentioned in this chapter at gutsandseeds.com/tools.

* * *

Chapter 21 — Other Tools and Supplies

Your carving tools are covered in Chapter 20. This chapter covers everything else you’ll want nearby before you start.
You’ll need these for almost every carving:

Printer: for printing your stencil

Scissors: for trimming the stencil before attaching it

Masking tape: for attaching the stencil to the pumpkin

Black Sharpie (fine tip): for tracing and marking; for Styles 3 or 3+, grab two or three, large black areas drain them fast

Hand sanitizer + cotton pad or tissue: Sharpie eraser. Dab on, wipe off.

Garden gloves: keep these on while using the carving tools.

Paper towels: for drying the pumpkin and your hands

For the Sharpie Trace transfer method (Ch. 36):

Tissue paper or white tracing paper: for tracing the stencil

Thin-tip regular markers: non-Sharpie, ideally blue, red, and black for color-coding your traced lines

Blue Sharpie (fine tip): useful if your stencil has more than one type of line (Styles 3, 3+, 4, 4+)

Light box: optional but nice to have; a backlit tracing surface that makes tracing lines much easier

For the Pushpin transfer method (Ch. 37):

Pushpin: one is all you need

Flour: rub a small amount over the dry pumpkin to make the tiny dot lines visible before carving

For gutting:

For grown-ups: Large serrated kitchen knife: only for cutting the pumpkin lid (and chimney hole if using candles)

Ceramic loop tool: the best tool for thinning pumpkin walls and cleaning out guts. The serrated/toothed version works even better. Pear shape works best

Large spoon or plastic pumpkin scraper: alternative to the loop tool above.

Garbage bag: for the guts

Bowl: optional, for collecting seeds if you want to roast them later

Drop cloth or old newspaper: if you’re not carving over the sink, protect the table

(Photo: The ceramic loop tool, toothed version. Looks nothing like a spoon. Works way better than one.)

For lighting:

Battery powered LED puck light + batteries: for lighting your pumpkin

Good to have:

Replacement keyhole saw blades: blades dull and occasionally snap; good to have a spare pack on hand

Rubbing alcohol: can recharge a dried-out Sharpie in a pinch

Vaseline: for sealing cut edges after carving to slow drying (see Ch. 52); use sparingly as it leaves a shine

Bleach + spray bottle: for preserving your pumpkin before and after carving (see Ch. 53)

Toothpicks, paper clips + super glue: for fixing small breaks (see Ch. 50)

For a full shopping list with links to everything in this chapter, visit gutsandseeds.com/tools.

* * *

V

PART 5 — THE PUMPKIN

Chapter 22 — The Perfect Pumpkin

Not all pumpkins are created equal. Here’s what to look for when picking yours. You probably won’t find one that checks every box, but the more the better:

Has a stem. No stem means it rots faster right where it broke off.

Green stem. A green stem means it was picked recently, so it’ll last much longer.

No bruises, soft spots, or cuts. Check all sides. Those spots go bad first. Small healed scabs are fine.

Big. More surface area means more room for details. Aim for at least 12” (30cm) tall for portrait stencils.

Right shape for your design. Tall pumpkin for a portrait, wider for a landscape.

Sits flat without wobbling. You don’t want your carving falling over.

Even orange color. Green veins or dark patches can distract from your design.

No deep ridges. A plump, smooth pumpkin is well hydrated and will carve much more easily.

Smooth skin. Bumpy skin is harder to carve.

Avoid varieties with tiny dark dots. If using the Pushpin transfer method, it’s difficult to find your pin holes later.

Cool to the touch. A warm pumpkin has already started aging. Cold = fresh = longer lasting.

(Photo: Delivering a few perfect pumpkins we picked for an event. A U-Haul full, to be more precise.)

* * *

Chapter 23 — Supermarket vs Pumpkin Farm

Both work. It really comes down to what you’re after.

Pumpkin farms have the freshest pumpkins, usually still with green stems and a wide range of sizes to choose from. The experience of hunting through the field is half the fun. The tradeoff? Farm pumpkins are usually more expensive, and finding the perfect one can take more time.

(Photo: A girl searching for her perfect pumpkin. The best ones sometimes hide in the fog.)

Supermarkets are faster and cheaper. Large bins packed with dozens of pumpkins make it easy to sort and compare quickly. But check how they’re stored. Pumpkins kept indoors in a warm store will already be aging and won’t last as long. Look for stores that keep them outside and covered. Pumpkins that have been sitting in a soggy cardboard box in the rain won’t last long either.

(Photo: My normal weekly shopping cart.)

The verdict:

Need many (5+) pumpkins, or looking for the cheapest? → Supermarket wins.

Want the freshest pumpkins, or going for the fun experience? → Pumpkin farm wins.

* * *

Chapter 24 — Types of Pumpkins

Walk into any store or farm in October and you’ll mostly see large, bright orange carving pumpkins. But not all are the same variety, and the differences for carving are worth knowing.

The two most common carving varieties you’ll come across are the Connecticut Field and the Howden. The Connecticut Field is one of the oldest grown pumpkins in North America. It dates back to Native American farming. The Howden was developed in the 1960s as an improved version. It became the standard Halloween pumpkin of today. It’s probably what you’re grabbing from the supermarket bin.

Most other large pumpkins you’ll find at farms, whatever they’re called, will carve just fine too. But there is a big difference between carving pumpkins and pie pumpkins. Pie pumpkins are much smaller and rounder, bred for sweet, dense fruit. They’re not easy to carve and are harder to gut.

As for skin: harder-skinned varieties like Howden have thick, rugged skin that holds up for several weeks. That means longer display life, but slightly more resistance when carving.

Smoother, softer-skinned varieties are a bit easier to carve and look brighter orange. In my experience they tend to bruise more easily and don’t last quite as long once carved. But they look prettier. Neither is a dealbreaker, just good to know what you’re working with.

(Photo: Pumpkins carved and sorted on a soccer field that was not being used that day.)

* * *

Chapter 25 — Giant Pumpkins

Giant pumpkin growing is a serious sport. There’s an official governing body called the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth (GPC). They sanction weigh-off competitions at hundreds of locations around the world every fall.

As of 2026, the world record stands at 2,819.3 lbs (1,278 kg), grown by twin brothers Ian and Stuart Paton of Hampshire, UK, in 2025. That’s heavier than a small car.

Growing a giant isn’t easy. You need a special high-yield seed (genetics matter enormously), a large patch of land, extremely rich soil, and a massive amount of water and care. Growers often dedicate several hours a day to their plants all summer long. They prune vines, bury vine nodes to grow extra roots, and remove any competing pumpkins so the plant puts all its energy into just one. Even then, around half of all giant pumpkins split open before they ever make it to a weigh-off. They simply grow too fast for their own skin, putting on 40–50 lbs (18–23 kg) a day.

I try to check out my local giant pumpkin competition each year. After talking with the growers I was surprised to learn that a lot of them do this in their front yards, the whole yard covered with vines! There isn’t much prize money at my local level. The best growers in my area tow their giants over 1,000 miles (1,500 km) to California to compete for tens of thousands in prize money.

(Photo: Giant 901-pound pumpkin grown by Steve Reid in his yard.)

Want to try growing one yourself? The GPC website at gpc1.org is the best place to start. There’s a passionate, surprisingly friendly community of growers happy to share seeds and advice.

* * *

Chapter 26 — Foam Pumpkins

What They Are & Why You Might Want One

Honestly, I’m a real pumpkin person. The smell, the texture, the weight of it in your hands, the fact that it won’t last forever. There’s something special about that. But foam pumpkins have real advantages, and a lot of serious carvers swear by them, so they deserve a place in this book.

Foam pumpkins are artificial pumpkins made from low-density foam, hand-painted to look just like the real thing. The most well-known brand is Funkins, the original carvable foam pumpkin, around for decades. You can find them at Michaels, Walmart, Amazon, and directly at funkins.com.
Why choose foam?

They never rot. Carve it once, display it every Halloween for years.

No gutting required. They’re already hollow inside, no mess.

Carve any time of year. No seasonal deadline pressure.

The trade-offs:

More expensive than real pumpkins.

You miss the full sensory experience of real pumpkin carving.

Need a Dremel rotary tool for best results. Different technique than real pumpkins.

Can’t do pure Sculpting style (Style 5). The foam wall isn’t quite thick enough and doesn’t quite behave like real pumpkin.

All other carving styles (sawing, scraping, shading) work great on foam with the right tools.

* * *

How to Carve a Foam Pumpkin

(Photo: Carving a foam pumpkin with a rotary tool. The pumpkin is fake. The dust is real.)

Carving foam is a different process than carving a real pumpkin. The main tool is a Dremel rotary tool with a set of engraving, cutting, and grinding bits. A basic rotary tool kit is all you need to get started. Wear eye protection and a dust mask — foam carving creates a lot of fine dust.

Step 1 — Attach your stencil Use the school glue method: spread a thin layer of white Elmer’s glue on the back of your printed stencil, press it onto the pumpkin, and let it dry overnight. You will carve right through the paper.

Step 2 — Cut the hole in the bottom Use a sharp knife to cut a 4” (10 cm) hole in the bottom, big enough to fit your hand inside and remove foam dust as you carve. Some foam pumpkins have thick internal ridges. You can use a grinding bit on your Dremel to smooth these down before carving.

Step 3 — Outline your saw holes and scraped areas Use a 1/32” drill bit in your Dremel or an X-Acto knife to trace around all the saw hole areas and all the scraped areas. Go only about 1/16” (1–2 mm) deep, just enough to see foam dust. This creates a shallow track that keeps your cuts clean and prevents slip-offs. Outlining the scraped areas is essential — don’t skip it.

Step 4 — Cut out the saw holes Use a Dremel #561 Multipurpose Cutting Bit to remove the foam from inside the saw hole outlines. Work slowly and follow the outlined tracks from Step 3. If you don’t have a #561, you can use the same 1/32” drill bit from Step 3, making multiple passes and going deeper each time until you cut all the way through. Remove the cut pieces from inside the pumpkin through the bottom hole.

Step 5 — Scrape (remove paint and foam) For smaller shapes and fine detail, use Dremel engraving bits. For larger scraped areas, cylindrical steel burr bits (Dremel #193 and #194) work best. You’re removing the orange paint and a shallow layer of foam to reveal a lighter color underneath, the same as scraping the skin on a real pumpkin. For styles that include sculpting, carve deeper into the scraped areas to create a gradient of brightness, just as you would on a real pumpkin.

Step 6 — Remove the remaining stencil paper Soak the pumpkin in a sink of warm water, carving side down, for about an hour. Use a soft bristle brush to help remove any remaining paper. Let the pumpkin dry completely before moving on.

Step 7 — Smooth and clean up For smoothing small shapes, use diamond coated bur bits (available in sets). For larger areas, use aluminum oxide grinding stones. Both are available in inexpensive rotary tool accessory kits. Rinse the finished carving under water with a soft brush to remove any remaining foam dust.

Step 8 — Lighting Place an LED light inside through the bottom hole.

* * *

Chapter 27 — Getting Your Pumpkin Ready to Carve

When you get your pumpkin home, take a few minutes to prepare it. Don’t just set it on the porch and forget about it. A little effort now means a much longer-lasting pumpkin.

Wash it. Give your pumpkin a good rinse to remove any dirt, especially around the stem and in the creases.

(Photo: Washing hundreds of pumpkins before an event. A friend helped. He made them into the prettiest pumpkins ever picked.)

Dry it completely. This is important. A wet pumpkin will speed up rotting. And if you’re carving soon, water will cause your Sharpie to stop working. Pat it down with paper towels and let it air dry fully before you start.

If you’re not carving right away, store it somewhere cool, dry, and dark. A garage, a covered patio, or under a table outdoors is ideal. Avoid storing it indoors in the heat, in direct sunlight, or anywhere it might sit in rainwater. Any of those conditions will shorten its life significantly.

For extra protection before storing, lightly spritz your pumpkin with a bleach and water solution, paying special attention around the stem. That’s where rot tends to start first. See Chapter 53 for all the details.

* * *

VI

PART 6 — THE STENCIL

Chapter 28 — Finding a Stencil

The internet is full of free pumpkin stencils. You just need to know where to look.

For Sawing (Style 2) stencils, search “[whatever you want to carve] pumpkin stencil” and you’ll find thousands of free options. zombiepumpkins.com has a large library of well-made Sawing (Style 2) stencils. Most are paid, but there’s a solid selection of free ones too. If you’re just getting started, picking up a Pumpkin Masters kit is an easy option. It comes with a small saw and a booklet of Style 2 beginner sawing stencils.

For more advanced Scrape & Saw (Style 4) stencils, the best paid library I’ve found is stoneykins.com. Many of the pumpkin designs students chose to carve in this book were found there. For free portrait stencils, check out pumpkinlady.com. She was even featured on Oprah, and her stencils are excellent.

We also have a growing library of stencils in all carving styles at gutsandseeds.com/stencils. With a free account you can open any of our featured stencils in Pumpkin Studio, change the carving style, and fully customize the design.

Want to carve something nobody else on your street will have? The next two chapters show you how to create your own custom stencils. 🎃

* * *

Chapter 29 — Drawing Your Own Stencil

Drawing your own stencil gives you complete creative freedom. You’re not limited to what you can find online.
What makes a good hand-drawn design?

The most important rule for a sawing stencil (Style 2) is that everything is either black or white: cut out or not cut out. Simple, bold shapes work best: silhouettes of bats, cats, ghosts, moons, trees, or haunted houses. The simpler the shape, the cleaner the result. Younger kids do great with these.

Older kids often want to try cartoon characters, and that works really well with a scraping stencil (Style 2+ & 3). Because nothing is cut all the way through, you don’t need to worry about islands or structure. You have much more freedom with the shapes. Fine lines can still be tricky. So I recommend Style 3 with Sharpie for the lines. Or for Style 2+ keep the lines bold and avoid anything smaller than a pencil width.
Method 1 — Draw your own design from scratch

Grab a pencil and paper. Sketch your design in simple outlines first, then fill in the areas that will be carved (black = cut away, white = left alone). When you’re happy with it, darken the lines with a marker.

(Photo: Basic hand-drawn Style 2 stencil of a dragon. I’m sure your child can draw a better one.)

Method 2 — Trace an image

Print out a reference image at the size of your pumpkin’s carving surface. Lay a sheet of tracing paper on top and use a pencil to trace only the most important outlines. You can ignore most fine details and the background. Then fill in your brightest shapes with gray pencil. Gray represents scraped skin (Style 2+ or 3) or sawed areas (Style 2). White paper is left alone as pumpkin skin. For Style 3, use a regular black marker to trace the dark lines. These will be the black Sharpie layer. This is a great way to turn a cartoon character or simple image into a carveable design.
Watch out for islands

If you’re doing a sawing stencil, make sure every white (uncut) shape connects back to the rest of the pumpkin. Nothing should be completely surrounded by cut areas, or it will fall out. See Chapter 31 for a full explanation of islands and how to fix them.

* * *

Chapter 30 — Making a Stencil with Pumpkin Studio

Making your own stencil is where your creativity takes over. The rest of carving is just following steps. This is the part that’s uniquely yours.

If you’re using someone else’s stencil, you’re essentially following a paint-by-numbers. The artistic decisions have already been made for you. When you create your own stencil in Pumpkin Studio, every choice is yours. A friend and I once started with the exact same photo and ended up with two completely different stencils. He preferred deeper shadows, I preferred more light. Same image, same software, two entirely different interpretations. This is not an accident. This is where you get to be the artist.

A couple of years ago, I taught carving pumpkin portraits to high school art students. These kids had used Photoshop before. I thought that teaching them to make their own stencils would only take a couple of hours. It ended up taking some kids several sessions just to get a usable stencil. Even then the results were mixed. Photoshop is a great tool, but it was never designed for this. It’s complicated, and it’s missing the guidance and features that making a pumpkin stencil actually needs.

This is why I created Pumpkin Studio. A tool easy enough for kids to use to create their own pumpkin carving stencils.

You can try it for free — upload your own image and the first two stages are open to everyone. Including previewing all six carving styles.

Or create a free account to browse and customize our existing stencils. If you want, you can go all the way back to the original image. Rework the entire existing stencil, trying every stage along the way. Subscribe for full access to complete and print your own stencils. Readers of this book can get an exclusive offer at gutsandseeds.com/bookoffer.

What follows walks through each stage of the process step by step. Screenshots show the desktop interface. The mobile version has the same features but a different layout designed for smaller screens.

* * *

Choosing an Image

Obviously the image you start with has a big impact on how your stencil turns out. But don’t be discouraged if you don’t have a perfect photo. Pumpkin Studio can work with a surprisingly wide range of images.
Portraits and faces

For portrait stencils, a direct headshot works best. Your subject should ideally be facing the camera with reasonably even lighting on both sides of the face. Uneven lighting, where one side is bright and the other is in shadow, creates a dramatic half-lit effect in the final carving. Some people love this for a spooky or creepy result, a kind of Phantom of the Opera effect. If you’d prefer balanced features, you can fix uneven lighting later by adjusting the toggles and freezing individual facial features so the left and right sides match. It just takes a little extra effort.
Cartoons and illustrated characters

Virtually all cartoons work easily with Style 3 (Sharpie & Scrape). Getting a clean Style 2 (Sawing) stencil may take a little extra work with the brush tools. Thin lines can be tricky. Characters with bold, high-contrast designs are the easiest starting point.
Pets and animals

Pet portraits work great if you have a clear, well-lit shot of their face. The more contrast in the original photo, the better the result. A straight-on face shot rather than a profile will give you the most recognizable carving.

(Photo: Pup ready to chase a ball and student desperately holding him back. Carved in Style 2+.)

Logos and graphics

Logos are a great choice. Clean lines and high contrast translate directly into sharp stencils. A logo on a black background is ideal, as it makes the trace stage much faster and cleaner.
Using AI-generated images

You can ask an AI image generator to create a custom image to use as your stencil source. If you do, ask it to generate the image on a black background. This makes the background much easier to erase in the trace stage.
Resolution

The higher the resolution of your starting image, the more detail your stencil can capture. I’d recommend at least 500px wide for good results. That said, Pumpkin Studio will work with lower resolution images. You may be surprised at the result. People will still immediately know what you carved. Pumpkin Studio automatically handles scaling, so you don’t need to resize your image before uploading.

* * *

Upload & Crop

Once you have your image saved to your device, head to gutsandseeds.com/pumpkinstudio. Click the camera emoji button in the center of the page and select your image file. You’ll be taken directly to the Crop stage.
What the Crop stage does

The Crop stage lets you define exactly which part of your image will become the stencil. Cropping tightly around your subject serves two purposes. It removes distracting background before you even get to the trace stage, and it makes your subject as large as possible in the canvas window. That gives you more room to work and makes it easier to keep fine details.
How to crop

Click and drag on the image to draw a rectangle around the area you want to carve. Use the edge and corner toggle handles to adjust the rectangle after drawing it. Aim to frame your subject snugly, with just a little breathing room around the edges. This is especially important for Style 3 and Style 3+ stencils, which include a Sharpie outline drawn around the traced edge, so a small margin helps.

You can see your crop reflected in the pumpkin preview in the top right corner in real time. The preview will show the stencil area at its largest width or height depending on your crop proportions.

(Screenshot: Cropping an AI-generated image of a Sasquatch in Pumpkin Studio. Despite my best efforts, I have yet to capture a photo this good in the wild.)

A note on image orientation

If your image is horizontal (landscape), Pumpkin Studio will automatically rotate the stencil to fit the printed stencil paper in the correct orientation. You don’t need to rotate your image before uploading.

When you’re happy with your crop, click ‘Continue to TRACE’.

* * *

Trace

The Trace stage is where you remove the background from your image, leaving only the subject you want to carve. Think of it as cutting your subject out of the photo.
How it works

Click and hold your mouse button, then drag across the background areas you want to remove. As you drag, you’ll see a solid light gray circle, that’s your brush. When you release the mouse button, those areas are replaced by a dark transparent overlay, showing you what will be removed from the stencil. The subject you leave uncovered is what will become your carving.

Use the size toggle to adjust your brush size. The default is 30px.
The pumpkin preview

Keep an eye on the pumpkin preview in the top right corner as you work. It’s extremely useful at this stage. The background you’ve erased shows as bare pumpkin skin, while your subject appears as solid bright orange. In areas with a dark transparent overlay, it can sometimes be hard to tell how much you’ve removed, but the difference is immediately obvious on the pumpkin preview.

You’ll notice the pumpkin in the preview changes each time you start a new stencil. There are a few different pumpkin images to choose from, each slightly different in character. Click the preview to cycle through them and use whichever you prefer.

(Screenshot: Removing the background in the Trace stage. The pumpkin preview shows the outline of what I saw in the trees that one summer night.)

My recommended approach

Start with the brush at the default 30px and erase broadly across the background. Don’t worry about being precise yet. Just get the bulk of it removed quickly. Then switch to 20px and use the undo brush to recover any edges of your subject you accidentally erased. Finally, drop to 10px and alternate between the erase and undo brushes to get the edge as clean as you can.

To use the undo brush, click the Undo button to switch modes. Your brush will now restore areas you’ve erased before. Switch back to the erase brush when you’re ready to continue removing background.

Everything is reversible. You can return to the Trace stage from any later stage and make changes or start over completely if needed.
Don’t leave background in

It might be tempting to skip the trace stage and remove the background later using the brush tools in the Light stage. I wouldn’t recommend it. When you enter the Light stage, the program automatically calculates the initial brightness and contrast settings based on your image. Leftover background throws off those calculations and makes the Light stage harder to work with. Take the time to get a clean trace first.

Options

Before diving into the Light stage, it’s worth taking a moment to explore the Options menu. Click the Options button in the top left corner of the screen. You’ll find it alongside the Save, Load, and New buttons.
Choosing your carving style

The most important setting in the Options menu is the Carving Style dropdown at the top. This is where you select which of the six styles your stencil will be designed for: Style 2, 2+, 3, 3+, 4, or 4+. Style 4+ is the default.

You can change the carving style at any point (in any stage) and the pumpkin preview and stencil will update in real time. If you’re not sure which style to use, the dropdown menu gives you suggestions for different types of subjects. It’s also worth experimenting. Just watch the pumpkin preview update as you switch between styles.

(Screenshot: Options menu with Carving Style changed to Style 3+. The pumpkin preview updates. The Sasquatch is not pleased about being covered in black Sharpie.)

Paper and output settings

Paper size: Choose between US Standard (8.5” x 11”) and A4 (210 × 297 mm) to match your printer paper.

Measurements: Switch between inches and centimeters.

Stencil download format: PDF or PNG. PDF is the best choice for most users. This is for saving the stencil image to email or take to a print shop. If your device is connected to a printer, you can print directly from the Print stage without downloading a file at all.

Download pumpkin preview: Option to download both the pumpkin preview image along with your stencil image at the same time.

Print style

I’d strongly recommend color. It’s much easier to follow. The color stencil uses yellow with blue lines for sawed areas (representing the light that will shine through), black crosshatch with black lines for Black Sharpie Marking areas, and gray with red lines for scraped or sculpted areas. The black and white version uses gray lines, dashed lines, and patterns to represent the same information, but it’s harder to read at a glance.
Topographical Bands

Available for sculpting styles, this option smooths out the sculpting areas by averaging neighboring pixel values, like an elevation map. Without it, a tiny dark spot in the middle of a light gray area would be nearly impossible to sculpt accurately. With Topographical Bands on, those fine variations are blended into gradual, carveable zones.
Display options

Show Islands (Red Overlay): Highlights any islands in red so you can spot and fix them easily. On by default.

Show Frozen Areas (Blue Tint): Shows which areas have been frozen in the Light and Dark stages. On by default.

Pumpkin preview background: Choose from four backgrounds: black (default), autumn leaves, blue dusk gradient, or light brown. Pick whichever you like the look of.

Light

The Light stage is where your image is transformed into a stencil. This is the most creative and involved stage of the process, and the one where your artistic interpretation really comes through.

When you enter the Light stage, your image is converted to grayscale. White is the brightest shade and represents the areas that will become sawed holes or scraped regions depending on your chosen carving style. The program automatically calculates the initial brightness and contrast settings based on your image. It adjusts for different skin tones and lighting conditions. This happens invisibly in the background.
The brightness toggle

On the right side of the screen you’ll find the brightness toggle, a slider from 1 to 100. This controls which pixels in your image appear white.

Start by dragging the toggle all the way up to 100. At this level everything turns white. Slowly drag it back down and features will begin to emerge from the image. Keep lowering until you start to see the details you want to capture. The pumpkin preview updates in real time as you drag, showing you exactly what the carved holes and scraped areas will look like at each setting. I refer to it constantly.
Freezing areas

As you lower the brightness toggle, you’ll uncover white areas you want to keep. Click any white area to freeze it. It will turn blue, indicating it’s locked in place. The brightness toggle and brush tools will no longer affect frozen areas, so you can continue adjusting the toggle to find more features without losing the ones you’ve already set.

If you freeze an area by mistake, click the Unfreeze button and then click the blue area to release it. It will revert to whatever shade the brightness toggle dictates.

The blue frozen color is just a display indicator while you’re working. It will appear as white in the Dark stage and as the correct stencil color in the Print stage.

(Screenshot: Light stage with areas to be sawed shown ‘frozen’ in light blue. Somehow our Sasquatch transformed to a Yeti.)

Tips for portraits and faces

For portrait stencils, focus on getting as much detail as possible around the eyes. Pumpkin Studio automatically uses face detection in the background to enhance eye contrast, making it easier to add white triangles on either side of the eyes to make them more defined in the final carving. This works silently; you don’t need to trigger it.

Try to match the left and right sides of the face. Freeze one eye, then use the toggle to find a matching white area on the other side. You also get to play dentist: if your subject is showing teeth, you can brighten and freeze them for a great effect.

For dark hair, I recommend adding a white or grey ‘halo’ to define the edge of the head.
The brush tools

Three brushes are available in the Light stage:

White brush: turns any gray or black pixel white. Use this to manually set an area as a sawed hole, or to erase small unwanted islands.

Gray brush: turns white pixels gray. Use this to build bridges between islands and the surrounding design. Note that the gray brush can only affect white pixels, it won’t affect gray or black pixels.

Undo brush: reverses brush strokes made in the Light stage only. It cannot undo frozen areas, and it won’t affect anything changed in other stages.

The brush size slider adjusts from 2–30px and is available for all brushes in the Light stage.
Islands

If Show Islands is enabled in the Options menu (on by default), any islands in your design will be highlighted in red. A warning will also appear below letting you know how many islands are present. Tiny islands of only a few pixels are ignored automatically. Use the brightness toggle, white brush, or gray brush to fix them. See Chapter 31 for a full explanation.
A note on the pumpkin preview at this stage

The pumpkin preview now shows what your completed carving will look like for your chosen style, but keep in mind the Dark stage hasn’t been completed yet. The darkest areas of your design are still missing, so the preview will look brighter and less defined than the finished result. The Dark stage adds all that depth.

* * *

Dark

The Dark stage works almost identically to the Light stage, but instead of finding the brightest areas of your carving, you’re now finding the darkest. Black pixels on the canvas represent the darkest layer of your carving. That means Sharpie lines or exposed pumpkin skin, depending on your chosen style.
What carries over from the Light stage

White pixels set in the Light stage are locked. The dark toggle will not change them. If you want to adjust white pixels, you can return to the Light stage at any time. Any changes made in the Dark stage will be saved.
The dark toggle

The dark toggle works the same as the brightness toggle in the Light stage, a slider from 1 to 100. Start by dragging it all the way up to 100, where everything turns black. Then slowly lower it to reveal the dark features you want to keep. As you lower the toggle, features will emerge from the image. Keep looking at the pumpkin preview to see the changes. This is now showing what your completed carving will actually look like, with both light and dark layers combined.
Freezing dark areas

Freezing works the same as in the Light stage, but now you’re freezing black features. Work one feature at a time for best results. For example, if you’re working on eyebrows: drag the toggle to 100, then slowly lower it until one eyebrow looks right. Freeze it. Then continue lowering until the other eyebrow reaches a similar size and freeze that too. Try to match the left and right sides of the face as closely as possible.

(Screenshot: Dark stage with pumpkin skin shown ‘frozen’ in blue. For the first time, the preview shows the finished carving. The creature we have all been searching for.)

The brush tools

Four brushes are available in the Dark stage:

Black brush: turns any gray or white pixel black. Use this to manually darken an area or strengthen a feature.

White brush: turns any gray or non-frozen black pixel white. Use this to lighten an area or remove unwanted dark pixels.

Gray brush: turns any white or non-frozen black pixel gray. Use this to soften an area or build transitions between shades.

Undo brush: reverses brush strokes made in the Dark stage only. If you want to undo a brush stroke from the Light stage, you’ll need to go back to the Light stage to make that change.

All four brushes can draw over any pixel except frozen black ones. The brush size slider adjusts from 2–30px.
Islands

Islands are still flagged in red in the Dark stage if Show Islands is enabled. Fix them the same way as in the Light stage.
Experiment and have fun

The Dark stage is where the full depth of your carving comes together. Try different features, experiment with how much to freeze, and keep an eye on the pumpkin preview as you go. There’s no single right answer. This is your interpretation of the subject.

* * *

Print

Welcome to the Print stage. This is the first time you’ll see your completed stencil.

For most styles, it will look the opposite from the previous stages. Black areas are now white paper and colors have been added. The previous canvas was the tool for making your artistic decisions. The Print stage shows you the finished stencil, ready to print out and use.
How the stencil colors work

The colors on your printed stencil correspond directly to what you need to do when carving:

White areas: pumpkin skin. Leave these completely untouched.

Yellow areas with blue lines: Saw holes. Cut all the way through.

Gray areas with red lines: Scraped or sculpted regions. Remove the skin or sculpt to the depth required for your style.

Black crosshatch pattern with a black border: (Style 3 and 3+ only) Sharpie marking areas. Fill these with a black Sharpie marker.

If there is room, a legend is automatically placed in the best available corner of the stencil, labeling each color so you always know what to do.

(Screenshot: Print stage with the final color stencil displayed. Now you can make the Sasquatch real.)

Sizing your stencil

On the right side of the screen you’ll find the stencil size toggle. This adjusts the printed height of your stencil from 5 to 10.5 inches (13–27 cm). It’s set to the largest size by default, which fills as much of the page as possible. Adjust this to match the height of your pumpkin’s carving surface if needed.

If your stencil appears sideways on the page, that just means your design is horizontal. The program rotates it to make the most of the available space.
Printing and downloading

Click the Print button to send your stencil directly to your printer. If you’d prefer to save the file first, click Download to save it as a PDF or PNG, depending on your selection in the Options menu. This is handy if you want to email it to yourself or take it to a print shop.
Sharing your stencil with the community

Click the Share Stencil button to upload your stencil to the Pumpkin Studio community, where others can view it, use it, and even remix it into their own version. Add a title, an optional description, and select one or more categories. Check the box confirming you have the rights to upload the image. Stencils made from copyrighted images can’t be shared on the platform.
The Pumpkin Preview Page

Click the Preview Print button to switch to the Pumpkin Preview page. Here the main canvas shows an enlarged version of your pumpkin carving centered on a white page. No background, just the pumpkin on white. This makes it easy to cut out as a Halloween decoration. Click the Stencil Print button to switch back to your stencil at any time.

Use the Preview Size toggle (5–10.5 inches / 13–27 cm) to adjust the size of the printed pumpkin image.

There are two separate images you can save from this page:

📄 Save for Printing — saves the full white-background page as a PDF or PNG, sized for printing and cutting out as a decoration.

📱 Save for Sharing — saves a 470px square image of your pumpkin preview, the same image you’ve been watching in the corner throughout the process, with your chosen pumpkin and background. This is the image to share on social media.

Before saving, click the pumpkin preview to cycle through the available pumpkin images and choose your favorite. You can also set your preferred background in the Options menu. Then share it with friends before you even start carving!

(Screenshot: Preview Print screen displaying the full page pumpkin preview. Print the Sasquatch’s mug as a decoration or as evidence of your sighting.)

I’ve been making paper pumpkin portraits for years. Over a decade ago I wanted to do something special for my office Halloween party. I couldn’t carve 25 co-workers on pumpkins, that would have taken weeks! So instead I created a paper pumpkin portrait of each co-worker. One of them told me recently that they were so touched, they still have it. Paper pumpkin portraits make a wonderful surprise for family and friends too.

Note: If you’d like the 📱 sharing image downloaded automatically alongside your stencil, enable the Download Pumpkin Preview option in the Options menu. It will save as a second file whenever you download your stencil from the Stencil Print page.
Making changes

If you need to adjust anything, you can go back to the Dark stage, the Light stage, or all the way back to the Trace stage at any time. All changes made in every stage are saved automatically.

* * *

Saving, Loading & Extras

Project Name

On the left sidebar you’ll find the Project Name field. This is set automatically from your uploaded image’s filename, but you can change it at any time. The project name is used as the filename for your downloaded stencil, paper preview, and sharing image. It becomes the default filename when saving your project as a .pmpkn file.
Saving your project

You can manually save your project at any time by clicking the Save button in the top left corner. This downloads a .pmpkn file to your device. A .pmpkn file isn’t just a stencil image. It saves every edit you made in every stage. Load it later to pick up exactly where you left off, or go back and change anything.

This is especially useful if you start on a mobile device but want to finish on a computer with a larger screen. Save your .pmpkn file on your phone, open it on your computer, and all your individual edits from the other device are there waiting for you.
Auto-save

Even if you forget to save manually, Pumpkin Studio automatically saves your work in the background every 30 seconds and whenever you advance to a new stage. Two auto-save slots are kept, one for each of your two most recent projects. If you work on a third project, the oldest auto-save is replaced. Auto-save is a backup, not a substitute for saving. If you want to keep a project long-term, save it manually as a .pmpkn file.
Loading a project

Click the Load button in the top left corner to open the load dialog. You’ll see two tabs at the top:

My Files: shows your two most recent auto-saves, plus options to load a .pmpkn file from your device.

Shared Stencils: the full stencil library, including featured stencils and community uploads. You can sort and filter by carving style or category. This is the same collection available at gutsandseeds.com/stencils.

(Screenshot: Load menu displaying a selection of shared stencils. Apparently the community has a preference. It’s cats.)

Starting fresh

Click the New button in the top left corner to start over with a new stencil.
My Account

Click your name in the top right corner to access your account settings. Here you can change your display name, the name that appears on your shared stencils and your saved pumpkin images. The default is your first name. You can also change your password here.

* * *

Chapter 31 — Keeping Your Pumpkin from Falling Apart

Before we start, two quick definitions:

An island is any section of pumpkin skin that is completely surrounded by saw holes. With nothing holding it to the rest of the pumpkin, it will fall out when you push the pieces through. If you want to keep it as part of your design, you’ll need to make some changes to your stencil.

A bridge is a thin strip of pumpkin that connects an island to the surrounding design, keeping it attached and preventing it from falling out.

Avoiding islands is one of the most important things to think about when creating a sawing stencil. This applies to any style that includes saw holes: Style 2, Style 3+, Style 4, and Style 4+.

If you’re drawing a stencil by hand, check carefully. If any section of skin is completely enclosed by saw hole lines on all sides, it’s an island. You can fix it by redrawing the surrounding shapes to add a bridge or two so the island connects to something.

If you’re using Pumpkin Studio, islands are automatically detected and highlighted in red, making them easy to spot. You can fix them by adjusting the light slider to reshape the design, using the brush tools to erase the island, or drawing in a bridge to connect it.

(Screenshot: The cat’s left eye is highlighted red. Either it’s an island in Pumpkin Studio, or this cat needs a vet.)

Either way, also check that your bridges are wide enough. A bridge that’s too thin won’t support the weight of the pumpkin section above it and will break during carving.

* * *

Chapter 32 — Making Your Stencil Fit Your Pumpkin

The bigger your stencil, the easier it is to carve. More space means more room for detail and less cramped lines. The goal is always to print your stencil as large as possible while still fitting on your pumpkin.

Before printing, hold a blank sheet of your printer paper against the front of your pumpkin to get a sense of how much carvable space you have.

If you’re drawing by hand, this also tells you the largest size to work within.

If you’re using Pumpkin Studio, you can measure the height of your pumpkin and adjust the stencil size in the Print stage to match.

If the stencil barely fits, you have a couple of options: -

For a top lid, cut the lid further to the back of the pumpkin. Cut it close to the stem at the front so it gives you more space to work with.

Cut the lid on the bottom of the pumpkin instead of the top. This gives you the entire front face to work with.

When in doubt, bigger is always better. A stencil that fills the pumpkin is far more impressive.

* * *

VII

PART 7 — CARVING

Chapter 33 — What Order Should I Carve?

Most people carve their pumpkin start to finish in one sitting on Halloween day, and for simpler styles that works perfectly. But if you’re carving a detailed design, have limited time on Halloween, or are carving many pumpkins, spreading the work across two or three sessions helps. It makes everything much more manageable. The key is knowing which steps to do early and which to save for last.

The rule is simple: do everything that doesn’t weaken or open the pumpkin as early as you like. Save everything that does for as close to when you are displaying the carving as possible.

Below, I’ve broken the steps into sessions spread over many days. But you can do everything in one sitting on Halloween if you prefer. Either way, follow the same order for best results.

Note that all time estimates below vary depending on the complexity and size of your stencil and your carving speed.

* * *

PRE-CARVING — Days or even weeks ahead
Step 1. Find or make your stencil (~30 mins to an hour)
Step 2. Find the perfect pumpkin for your stencil

* * *

SESSION 1 — Days or even a couple of weeks ahead (~1.5–2 hrs)

This is a great first session for teaching kids, or for getting ahead on many pumpkins.
Step 3. Transfer the stencil onto the pumpkin (~30–45 mins, Sharpie trace method)
Step 4. (Styles 3 & 3+ only) Black Sharpie marking (~15–20 mins)
Step 5. (Styles 2+, 3, 3+, 4 & 4+ only) Go over the scrape lines (~30–45 mins)

After Session 1 your pumpkin has no saw holes, no exposed pumpkin. It can be stored safely for days or even up to 2 weeks if using the preservation methods in Chapters 51–53.

* * *

SESSION 2 — A day or two before display

For Styles 3+, 4 & 4+:
Step 6. Saw the lines, but don’t pull the pieces out yet (~30–40 mins)

For Styles 2+, 3, 3+, 4 & 4+:
Step 7. Scraping (~30–45 mins)
Step 8. Cut the lid and gut your pumpkin (~20–30 mins) (If displaying for more than one night, save this for Session 3)

For all other styles, complete everything remaining on display day (see Session 3 below)
── SESSION 2 COMPLETE ──

Store pumpkin in a cool dry place & spritz with bleach water solution (See Chapters 51–53)

* * *

SESSION 3 — Carving Display Day (usually Halloween 🎃)
Step 8. (If not already done in Session 2) Cut the lid and gut your pumpkin (~20–30 mins)
Step 9. (Styles 1 & 1+ only) Draw face on pumpkin (~5–10 mins)
Step 10. (Styles 1, 1+ & 2 only) Saw lines (~30–40 mins)
Step 11. (Styles 1, 1+, 2, 3+, 4 & 4+) Pull out all the sawed pieces (~20–30 mins)
Step 12. (Styles 2+ & 4+ only) Sculpting (~20–40 mins)

* * *

* * *

Chapter 34 — Carving Tips and Tricks

Now that you have your stencil ready, the rest of the job is about preserving as much detail as possible. Here are some tips to get the best results.

Before you start, take two minutes to get set up. Lay out all your tools within reach. Once your hands are covered in pumpkin guts, hunting for a missing tool is no fun. Have a roll of paper towels close by for drying your hands and the pumpkin as you work, and keep your printed stencil (and a second copy) nearby. Have your LED light ready to go for testing at the end. A good bright light over your workspace makes following stencil lines much easier and safer. When carving season is over, store all your tools together in one box or bag. You’ll thank yourself next October.

Take your time on the details that matter most. Eyes, nose, and mouth are what make a portrait recognizable, so slow down on these. Hair, fur, and background areas are more forgiving if they’re slightly off.

You don’t have to finish in one sitting. When I was teaching elementary kids, I found breaking it into two sessions spread over many days worked great. This is especially true if you’re carving a detailed design or many pumpkins. See Chapter 33 for how to plan your sessions.

You can transfer your stencil days or even up to 2 weeks in advance. A Sharpie-covered pumpkin or one with just the scrape lines done has no exposed pumpkin. It will keep well if stored cool and dry.

Pulling out sawed holes should always come after scraping and Black Sharpie Marking. Once the sawed pieces are pushed out, the pumpkin becomes weaker. Trying to scrape off pumpkin skin or Sharpie after that point risks breaking your carving.

Save sawing and sculpting for as close to display time as possible. These are the steps that open up the pumpkin and speed up rotting. Your carving will look its best when it is freshly carved.

Move your pumpkin while you carve. Lay it on its side, rotate it, prop it up, whatever position lets you carve comfortably away from your body. You’re not stuck working around a pumpkin sitting upright.

Work from smallest to largest when sawing. Tiny holes first, biggest holes last. This keeps the pumpkin strong for as long as possible while you work.

Keep your printed stencil close, and print two copies. The first will probably get damaged during the transfer process. For styles with many line types, it’s easy to lose track of which line is which. Having a clean second copy to refer to saves mistakes.

* * *

Chapter 35 — Putting Your Stencil on the Pumpkin — Attaching the Stencil

Before you attach anything, double-check that your pumpkin is completely dry. Any moisture on the skin will stop your Sharpie from working and cause tape to peel away mid-transfer.

What you’re attaching depends on which transfer method you’re using:

Sharpie Trace (Ch. 36): attach your traced tissue paper only. Your original printed stencil stays on the table as your reference.

Pushpin (Ch. 37): attach your printed stencil directly.

Saral Transfer Paper (Ch. 38): attach the Saral paper first (blue side against the pumpkin skin), then place your printed stencil on top.

Trim your paper. Use scissors to cut around your stencil leaving about an inch (2.5 cm) of white border. This makes it easier to position on the pumpkin and tape down flat.

Find the best face of your pumpkin. Look for the flattest, best looking side to face forward. Hold your stencil up against it and position it slightly higher than center. Pumpkins are typically displayed way below eye level. If the design extends to the bottom of your pumpkin it will be harder to see.

* * *

Taping and Folding

Tape the top first. Press a small piece of masking tape along the top edge to anchor the stencil in place. Then use one hand to hold that top tape against the pumpkin while your other hand smooths the stencil downward, pressing it as flat as possible against the curve. Tape the bottom edge.

(Photo: Tissue paper stencil attached to a pumpkin with masking tape. Go Chargers!)

Next, work outward from the most important part of your design. For portraits and animals this is almost always the eyes. Place a fingertip on the eyes and sweep outward to the left, pressing the stencil flat as you go, then tape the left side. Repeat sweeping to the right and tape that side too. These side tapes will probably land above or below the stencil’s center point. That’s expected.

Now the tricky part: the corners. Because your pumpkin is round and your stencil is flat, you’ll need to make three to five small folds at each corner to get the paper to sit flat against the pumpkin. Pinch and experiment with small creases, folding the excess up or down to find the fold that affects your stencil lines the least. Secure each fold with its own small piece of tape.

When you make the corner creases, lines will become disconnected. This is normal and expected. The goal is to have your stencil lying as flat as possible while not disrupting the most important stencil lines. It’s okay if the folds affect the lines for hair, fur, a jawline, or background areas. You’ll reconnect those lines during the transfer step. What you really want to avoid is a fold distorting the lines for the eyes, nose, or mouth.

(Photo: Two portrait stencils of a wedding couple taped to the same pumpkin. We had to give them a few wrinkles, but kept them to the corners. They deserve to look their best on their special day.)

* * *

If you are using the Sharpie Trace Method, return to Chapter 36 now. If you are using the Pushpin Method, return to Chapter 37 now. If you are using Saral Transfer Paper, return to Chapter 38 now.

* * *

Chapter 36 — Putting Your Stencil on the Pumpkin — Sharpie Trace Method

Tracing Your Stencil

The Sharpie Trace method is great for kids, fast to learn, and works for all carving styles. Because it leaves a permanent Sharpie mark without damaging the pumpkin, you can transfer your stencil days or even weeks before carving. The trade-off is that it preserves slightly less detail than the Pushpin method, but for most designs it works great.

This method involves tracing your stencil three times in total.
First trace — onto tissue paper

Cut a piece of tissue paper or white tracing paper to fit slightly smaller than your printed stencil. Tape all four edges securely. Attach the tissue paper to the stencil, and the stencil to the table, so nothing can shift while you trace.

Now trace all the lines using thin-tip regular markers (not Sharpie). Use a different color for each line type so you can tell them apart later. To match Pumpkin Studio’s color coding, I use:

Saw lines → blue marker

Scrape lines → red marker

Sharpie lines (Style 3 & 3+ only) → black marker

Trace carefully without pressing too hard. You don’t want to rip the tissue paper.

(Photo: A 15-year-old Hogwarts student tracing a portrait of her classmate onto tissue paper.)

Pro tip: use a light box. Years ago I hired a couple of tattoo artists off Craigslist to help trace stencils onto pumpkins for a large school event, before I realized how easy kids find this step! The tattoo artists introduced me to light boxes: a flat, backlit screen that you lay your stencil and tissue paper on top of. The light shining up from below makes every line easy to see, and tracing becomes almost effortless. If you’re planning to carve regularly, a light box is a great tool to have. They’re inexpensive — find a link at gutsandseeds.com/tools.

Once you’ve traced all lines, double-check against your original stencil before carefully removing the tissue paper from the stencil. Then go to Chapter 35 to attach the tissue paper to your pumpkin, and come back here when it’s attached.

* * *

Transferring to the Pumpkin
Second trace — through the tissue paper onto the pumpkin

With the tissue paper attached to the pumpkin, trace over your lines again using Sharpie. This time press slowly and firmly enough for the ink to bleed through onto the pumpkin skin, but not so hard that you rip the paper.

(Photo: A student tracing what looks nothing like a portrait. Despite appearances, it is not a coastline. Behind him, others are already on their third trace.)

Use a blue Sharpie for Saw lines, and a black Sharpie for scrape lines and Sharpie lines. I don’t recommend using red Sharpie. It can be more difficult to see the faint lines on the orange pumpkin. For styles with only scrape lines or only Saw lines, one Sharpie color is enough. For Style 3+, where scrape and Sharpie lines are both traced in black, refer to your original stencil and your tissue paper to tell them apart.

Where the tissue paper had to be folded in the corners to fit the curve of the pumpkin, the lines may not quite connect. Trace a new line to connect the original lines together where it makes sense, referring to the stencil.

(Photo: Pumpkin with bold Sharpie lines from the third trace. I put on my glasses and yes, some faint lines from the second trace are still there.)

Third trace — cleaning up the lines on the pumpkin

Carefully peel the tissue paper off the pumpkin. Try not to tear it, you may need to refer to it again. You should now see faint Sharpie lines on your pumpkin. Go over each line again with the same color Sharpie to make them easier to follow. Some lines may be very faint, so use both your tissue paper and original stencil to find any you may have missed.

If you make a Sharpie mistake at any point, dab hand sanitizer on a cotton pad or tissue and wipe to erase it. You can also use this method to erase any left over lines when your carving is finished.

(Photo: Student using hand sanitizer to remove Sharpie lines. Or perhaps just protecting their prized pumpkin from germs.)

* * *

Chapter 37 — Putting Your Stencil on the Pumpkin — Pushpin Method

The Pushpin method creates invisible transfer lines. Once your carving is finished there’s no trace of how you did it. No Sharpie marks, no visible dots. People will genuinely wonder how you did it. It’s the method I used for over 30 years before discovering the Sharpie Trace method, and it preserves more detail than any other transfer method.

The trade-offs: it takes about an hour and gets sore on your hand. Take a break and shake your hand out every 5 minutes, it helps. For stencils with Sharpie lines (Styles 3 & 3+), the Sharpie Trace method actually makes more sense since you’ll be using a Sharpie anyway. Also for Style 3+ with three line types to track, the color-coded tissue paper approach is much easier to follow. Save the Pushpin method for Styles 2+, 4 and 4+ where invisible lines really make a difference.

Before starting, go to Chapter 35 to attach your printed stencil to the pumpkin, then come back here.

(Photo: Pumpkin feeling relaxed after pushpin acupuncture session.)

Making the dot lines

Use your pushpin to poke a dotted line along every stencil line. You only need to go about 1/16” (1mm) deep. Test on the back of your pumpkin first to feel how little pressure is needed.

You don’t need perfectly even spacing throughout. Less detailed areas like a jawline or background can have dots spaced about ¼” (5mm) apart. For detailed areas like eyes, push the dots as close together as possible, about 1/16” (1mm) apart. The details that matter should get more time and attention.

Work through one complete set of lines at a time before moving to the next. For example, finish all the Saw lines before starting the scrape lines. This makes it easier to track what you’ve done.

(Photo: Zoomed in on close pushpin holes around an eye. I don’t normally poke people in the eye. Pumpkins are a different matter.)

Finding your dot lines

When you’re ready to start carving, rub a small amount of flour over the dry pumpkin surface. The flour settles into the tiny holes making your dot lines easy to find. For stencils with two or more line types, refer to your original printed stencil regularly to confirm which line is which.

* * *

Chapter 38 — Putting Your Stencil on the Pumpkin — Other Methods

Saral Transfer Paper

The Pushpin method leaves tiny dots you have to connect. The Sharpie Trace method requires tracing onto tissue paper first, then again onto the pumpkin. Saral transfer paper gets it done in one tracing step, directly from your printed stencil onto the pumpkin skin.

You lay the transfer paper flat against the pumpkin first, then place your printed stencil on top of it. Trace firmly over every line with a ballpoint pen, and the pressure transfers a clean colored mark directly onto the pumpkin skin beneath. Blue Saral paper works best. It shows up clearly against orange skin and is easy to follow when carving. It’s like old-fashioned carbon paper but much cleaner, with no greasy smudging.

The main downside is that transfer lines can rub off if the pumpkin gets wet, either from moisture in the air or juice seeping to the surface. Carve soon after transferring. If you need to transfer your stencil days before you carve, a light spray of matte fixative over the lines locks them in place and prevents smearing.

Saral paper works for all carving styles. It’s completely dry, so nothing distorts or shrinks. You can find it at art supply stores or online.

How to use Saral transfer paper:

Make sure your pumpkin is completely dry

Place the Saral paper blue side facing the pumpkin skin, then lay your printed stencil on top of it. Go to Chapter 35 to attach both layers to your pumpkin, then return here.

Trace firmly over every line with a ballpoint pen, pressing hard enough to transfer the mark without ripping through the stencil.

Before removing anything, lift one corner of the stencil carefully to check the lines transferred clearly.

Remove the stencil and transfer paper and you’re ready to carve

* * *

Stick ’n Carve Sheets

Stick ’n Carve sheets are sold at zombiepumpkins.com and are genuinely the fastest stencil transfer method out there. There is no transfer step at all. You print your stencil directly onto the fabric side of the sheet using a regular home printer. Cut out the design leaving about a 1” (2.5 cm) white border. Then starting at the top, peel off some of the backing and attach the sticky fabric sheet onto the pumpkin like a big sticker. Then you carve straight through the sheet, following the printed lines as you go. When you’re done, I recommend just peeling off what’s left. You can dissolve it with water, but it tends to leave a big sticky, goopy mess.

The sheet is thin enough that a pumpkin carving saw cuts right through it without any resistance, and because it sticks directly to the pumpkin skin, nothing shifts around while you work. The fabric also molds to the curved surface of the pumpkin much more easily than regular paper. For a simple sawing stencil, this method is really convenient.

There’s one catch, though. Stick ’n Carve sheets are designed to dissolve in water, and pumpkin juice is mostly water. The moment your saw cuts through the pumpkin wall, juice starts seeping to the surface. That juice causes the sheet to shrink and pull back slightly around the hole you just cut.

For saw holes, this doesn’t matter. You’ve already cut them out. But if your stencil also has scrape lines or Sharpie lines near those saw holes, the shrinking sheet will distort or pull those lines out of position before you can follow them. This makes Stick ’n Carve unreliable for any style that mixes saw holes with scraping or Sharpie work.

Stick ’n Carve is best for Style 2 sawing stencils only.

For all other styles, use the Sharpie Trace method, the Pushpin method, or Saral transfer paper instead.

(Photo: Stick ‘n Carve fabric stencil attached to a pumpkin. The ghostly energy appears to be melting the fabric. Or perhaps it’s just the pumpkin juice.)

Tips for best results with Stick ’n Carve:

Test with a scrap piece of paper first to confirm which side your printer feeds. You need to print on the fabric side of the sheet.

Don’t take the whole backing off at first. Start with just the top and slowly peel the backing as you attach it to the pumpkin.

Press the sheet firmly and smooth out any bubbles as you go. Gaps let the sheet lift while carving.

You may want to print a second regular paper copy of your stencil to keep as a reference. Once the sheet is sawed through on the pumpkin and gets wet, it will shrink, and you might not be able to read the lines.

Work quickly on areas close together. The more saw holes you cut, the more juice reaches the surface.

Carve the smallest, most detailed holes first before juice has a chance to build up around them.

* * *

Chapter 39 — Cutting the Lid

This step is for grown-ups. It uses a large kitchen knife. Kids, you’re back in charge right after this one.

You have two options for where to cut your lid: the top or the bottom. Both work, and each has its advantages.
Top Lid
Pros:

Traditional look with the stem intact on top

Easy to see when replacing the lid

Works best with candles

Cons:

Lid can fall inward if not cut at an angle

Less front carving space if stencil sits high

Bottom Lid
Pros:

More carvable space on the front face

Pumpkin sits flat and stable

Easier to place and remove your light

No risk of lid falling inside

Sides less likely to cave in over time

Cons:

Can’t see the lid when replacing it. Cut a notch to guide you

I’d recommend the bottom lid. It gives you more front carving space, the pumpkin sits flat and steady, and placing an LED light is easy. Just lift the pumpkin, set the light underneath, and set it back down. If you’re using a candle instead of an LED, cut your lid on top and carve a small chimney hole at the back of the lid to let heat escape. See Chapter 55 for more on lighting.
How to cut the lid:

Don’t cut a circular hole. It will spin and never line up properly. Instead, cut four or five straight lines to make a square or pentagon shape.

Angle your knife inward toward the center of the pumpkin on every cut. This creates a ledge that stops the lid from falling inside.

Make the opening large enough to comfortably fit your hand and a spoon. If in doubt, go bigger. A small opening makes gutting difficult.

Cut a small V-shaped notch into one side of your lid outline before you start cutting. This is your guide for lining the lid back up correctly every time.

Once the lid is free, trim any stringy guts from the inside of it and set it aside. You may also want to use the knife to trim the edge inside the pumpkin.

(Photo: A future doctor carefully removes excess guts from the lid.)

* * *

Chapter 40 — Gutting

Getting the Guts Out

For most kids, this is their favorite part! It’s messy, and slimy, and fun. Let them go for it!

(Photo: Elementary school students gutting their pumpkins. The school janitor and I had a conversation the next day.)

Before you start: remove your gloves. They’ll be ruined by the guts. Put them back on when you’re done.

Set yourself up for less mess. Gutting in the kitchen sink works great for a single pumpkin. If you’re carving more than one pumpkin, lay down a drop cloth or some newspaper and keep a garbage bag open beside you. About 10 pumpkins’ worth of guts fills one standard garbage bag. Never fill it more than halfway or it’ll split when you try to lift it.

If you want to roast the seeds, keep a bowl nearby and fish them out as you go. See Chapter 61 for a simple roasted seed recipe.

Now gut it. The best tool I’ve found for this is a toothed ceramic loop tool (pear shape works best). The serrated edge grabs and pulls the stringy bits away from the walls far better than a spoon. A large spoon or the plastic scraper from a pumpkin carving kit works too, but takes a bit more effort. Scrape along the inside walls to loosen everything, then pull the guts out with your hand. Work your way all around the inside until the walls feel clean and smooth. The stringy bits speed up rotting, so get them all. Parents may need to help with the tricky edges around the lid opening.

* * *

Thinning the Walls

Once the guts are out, it’s time to thin the walls. Thinner walls mean more light shines through your carving, and they’re much easier to saw and scrape through.

The same toothed ceramic loop tool you used for gutting is still your best tool here. Keep using it to scrape the walls down evenly. It leaves the inside with a nice raked texture and gives you great control over how much pumpkin you remove. A large spoon works too but takes more effort and is a bit harder to control.

(Photo: Fully gutted pumpkin with walls thinned. Clean enough to eat out of.)

How much should you thin? After removing all the guts, use the same tool to thin a little bit of pumpkin off the inside front wall (opposite your design), just enough to even things out. Don’t go too far yet. How you fine-tune from here depends on your carving style:

Styles 1, 1+ & 2: a light thinning now is enough. You’ll do a saw poke test in Chapter 42 to check the wall thickness and can come back to thin more if needed.

Styles 2+ & 3: a light thinning now is enough. Once your carving is finished, place a light inside in a dark room. If the glow through the scraped areas looks too dim, come back and thin the walls a little more from the inside.

Styles 3+, 4 & 4+: your holes are already sawed, so you can measure the wall thickness right now with a saw poke test. Fully insert your saw blade into one of your existing sawed holes and carefully pinch the blade with your fingers inside the pumpkin. Pull the saw out and estimate how much of the blade was inside the wall. Test several spots around your design, since wall thickness can vary across the front of the pumpkin. You’re aiming for 1¼ to 1½ inches (3–3.5 cm). If the wall is thicker than that in places, thin a little more and test again. If you’re gutting ahead of display day, try to keep the sawed pieces in place while you work. Each open hole accelerates rotting, so the longer they stay in the better. Work gently near the front and avoid pressing hard against the sawed areas.

Styles 2+ & 4+ (sculpting styles): you’ll be sculpting the wall thickness from the outside later, so don’t over-thin during gutting. A light pass is all you need. Let the sculpting step handle the rest.

* * *

Chapter 41 — Sharpie Marking

This step is for Styles 3 and 3+ only. If your stencil doesn’t have any black Sharpie areas, skip ahead to the next step.
Filling in the Sharpie areas is straightforward, but a few things make a real difference:

Make sure your pumpkin is completely dry first. Any moisture on the skin will cause the Sharpie to skip and stop working mid-stroke. If your pumpkin feels damp, pat it dry with a paper towel and give it a few minutes before starting.

Fill in all the black areas on your stencil using a black Sharpie fine tip. Work carefully around the edges first, then fill in the middle. Refer to your original printed stencil regularly to make sure you haven’t missed any areas.

(Photo: An 11-year-old completing his Sharpie marking. That is not a Sharpie. We ran out. He made do. Results may vary.)

Large black areas drain Sharpie ink fast. Have two or three black Sharpies on hand before you start. If a Sharpie runs dry mid-carving, parents can revive it in a pinch. Pour a small amount of rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer into a bottle cap, dip the tip in for about 15 seconds until you see ink swirling into the liquid, then recap and let it sit for 15 minutes before using again. That said, having a fresh backup ready is much faster than waiting, so grab extras before you start.

Made a mistake? Dab some hand sanitizer onto a cotton pad or tissue and wipe it off. Works like an eraser.

* * *

Chapter 42 — Sawing Holes

For this step you’ll need a pumpkin carving saw, the small serrated blade that comes in most pumpkin carving kits. A keyhole saw is even better if you can get one. The finer blade allows for more precise cuts and preserves more detail in your design.

Styles 1, 1+ & 2: Do a saw poke test first. Before sawing, insert your saw blade fully into one of your pattern lines. Then carefully reach your hand through the lid opening and feel for the blade tip inside the pumpkin. Go slowly and be careful not to cut yourself. You want to feel at least about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of exposed blade inside. That means there’s enough blade length beyond the wall to saw back and forth freely without the handle hitting the skin on every stroke. If you can barely feel the tip, your walls are too thick for comfortable sawing. Go back and thin them a little more before continuing.

Styles 3+, 4 & 4+: you haven’t gutted yet. Think of this sawing step as tracing your Saw lines and creating a clean boundary for when you scrape the skin off later. You’ll do the full saw poke thickness test when it’s time to gut. What matters most here is sawing perpendicular to the surface. Straight in, no angle.

* * *

Sawing the Design

Work from smallest holes to largest. This keeps the pumpkin strong while you saw. The largest holes weaken the structure the most, so save them for last.

Sawing at the right angle matters. Always saw straight into the pumpkin at 90 degrees, perpendicular to the skin surface. Think of it like cutting straight down, not on an angle.

If you angle the saw inward toward the center (like cutting the lid), the hole will be too narrow on the inside. Less light shines through. Fix it by re-sawing the hole slightly wider.

If you angle the saw outward toward the sides, the hole will be too wide on the inside, leaving the wall thin and fragile at the cut edge. For Styles 1 & 2 this isn’t a serious problem. But for Styles 3+, 4 & 4+ where you’ll be scraping skin off around those edges later, a thin wall at the edge of a hole can break. If you notice you’ve cut outward on an angle, take extra care when scraping near that hole.

(Photo: Sawing the teeny tiniest holes using my trusty Pumpkin Masters carving saw.)

Going around corners. Never try to steer a moving saw around a sharp corner. The blade can snap under the sideways pressure. Instead, pull the blade fully out of the pumpkin, reinsert it at the new angle, and continue sawing from there.

For portrait stencils, the eyes are the most critical holes. The tiny bright triangles on either side of the dark pupil, and any sparkle dots, often do the most to make the portrait look like the person. These are usually your smallest holes too. Saw a few less important small holes first to get comfortable with the saw before tackling the eyes.

Tiny dot holes that are too small for a saw blade can be made with a pushpin, a needle tool, or any sharp improvised point.

Don’t push the pieces out yet. For Styles 3+, 4 & 4+, keep all the sawed pieces in place. They hold the pumpkin together while you move on to scraping and sculpting. If you’re carving day(s) before display, keeping those holes sealed also slows down the rotting process significantly. You’ll push them out in Chapter 43 after gutting. For Styles 1, 1+ & 2, read Chapter 43 before removing any pieces. It has important tips for getting them out cleanly without breaking your carving.

When all holes are sawed, do a final check against your printed stencil to make sure you haven’t missed any lines before moving on.

* * *

Chapter 43 — Pulling out the Pieces

This step is best done on the day you plan to display your pumpkin, typically Halloween. Every piece you remove opens up the pumpkin and speeds up rotting, so the closer to display time the better.

Work from smallest to largest. Just like sawing, always remove the next smallest piece first. This keeps the surrounding design intact while you work.

Try pulling first. For each piece, start by gently trying to pull it outward, away from the pumpkin. Because it’s very difficult to saw at a perfect 90 degrees, most cuts end up very slightly angled one way or the other. Pulling is less likely to stress the surrounding structure than pushing. If it comes out easily, great.

If it won’t pull, try pushing. Gently press the piece inward into the pumpkin. If it moves freely, push it all the way through and remove it from inside.

If it’s still stuck, use your saw to divide the piece into two or three smaller sections and try again. Smaller pieces are much easier to work free. If it’s still not budging, re-saw around the edges of the hole and do a quick saw poke test. The wall may still be too thick in places.

For any large pieces, always cut them into smaller sections before trying to remove them. Large pieces can easily put too much stress on the surrounding design when you try to work them free. After getting this far, we don’t want your masterpiece to break!

For very small pieces that are too tiny to grip with your fingers, use the tip of your saw blade to gently nudge them, either pushing them inward or hooking and pulling them outward until they come free.

For Styles 3+, 4 & 4+: because your sawing was done when the walls were thicker, before gutting and thinning, some pieces may be a tighter fit. Re-sawing over the original lines before trying to remove pieces is a good first step if anything feels stuck.

Watch out for narrow strips. If your design has a long, thin strip of pumpkin surrounded on most sides by a hole, especially a scraped area with no skin, it’s very fragile. Don’t let a sawed chunk fall onto it. Instead, cut the surrounding hole into smaller pieces and remove the piece above the strip first. That way the narrow strip can safely rest on the piece below. Then carefully remove the piece below. When in doubt, cut the hole into more pieces before removing anything. It is easier to take your time here than to deal with fixing something that can be tricky to repair.

* * *

Chapter 44 — Going Over the Scrape Lines — With Wood Carving Tools

Before you start scraping the skin off, you need a shallow cut along all the scrape lines first. This gives you clean, thin boundary lines to scrape up to. Without it, I’ve found it’s really easy to accidentally remove skin outside the scraped areas and damage your design.
Gloves are strongly recommended for this step.

Start with a practice cut. Find the largest scraped area on your stencil, this is where you’ll practice. Using your V-shape wood carving tool, make a short shallow stroke across the area. You’re aiming for a line about 1/16” (1mm) wide, just deep enough to cut through the skin, no deeper. Get comfortable with how much pressure it takes before moving on. If you go too deep here it doesn’t matter much since this area will be fully scraped away later anyway.

(Photo: A 15-year-old started with some cheeky practice cuts.)

Once you’re comfortable, start tracing all the scrape lines on your stencil with the V-shape tool. These are the lines marking the boundary between areas that keep their skin and areas that will be scraped. Ignore the saw hole lines and any black Sharpie filled areas. Those are handled in other steps.

(Photo: Student going over scrape lines with a V-shape wood carving tool. Tip: save the table scraps as pumpkin confetti or chicken feed.)

Identifying your scrape lines. Refer to your original printed stencil to confirm which lines are the scrape lines. In Pumpkin Studio they are the red lines. This is where having a clean second printed copy of your stencil really helps. You may also want to refer to the tissue or stencil paper that was attached to your pumpkin. This is especially helpful for lines near the corners where folds distorted the original lines and you had to connect them by hand.

Sharpie Trace method: if you used different colored Sharpies when tracing onto the pumpkin, the scrape lines should be easy to identify. If different line types used the same color Sharpie, be careful not to confuse your scrape lines with any Black Sharpie Marking lines or Saw lines. Check against your printed stencil.

Pushpin method: follow your dotted lines carefully, using your stencil to confirm which dots are scrape lines. Rub a little flour over the surface first to make the dots easier to see.

Keep your stencil close throughout this whole step. You’ll be checking it constantly.

The line only needs to be as deep as the skin. It’s just there to act as a natural stop when you’re scraping later, so you don’t accidentally go outside the boundary.

Remember, rotate or lay the pumpkin on its side to keep yourself in a comfortable position. Always carve away from your body.

* * *

Chapter 45 — Scraping — With Wood Carving and Clay Tools

Now that you have your scrape line boundaries cut and your saw hole boundaries sawed, it’s time to remove the skin from all the scraped areas on your stencil. You will want to double check your stencil here as you carve.

You want to avoid accidentally inverting the image, scraping the opposite wrong sections.
Gloves are strongly recommended for this step.

Start with a practice scrape. Just as you did in the previous chapter, practice in the largest scraped area. Using your U-shape wood carving tool, make a shallow stroke. You’re only removing the thin outer skin, not digging into the pumpkin underneath. The skin is only 1/16” (1–2 mm) thick. Get a feel for the right depth before moving on.

Widen the boundary first. Before scraping the middle of each area, use the U-shape tool to follow along the inside of the V-shape lines you cut in Chapter 44, carving inward into the scraped area. This creates a wider “moat” around the boundary. A clear safe zone that makes it much harder to accidentally stray outside the scraped area. The U-shape tool is also the right choice for any tight, narrow spaces where the C-shape tool won’t fit.

Then remove the larger areas. Switch to your C-shape wood carving tool to remove the skin across the bigger sections. Work in strokes away from your body, taking off small amounts at a time. Use the V-shape boundary lines and saw hole edges as your guide. Be careful not to cross them.

(Photo: A 10-year-old scraping pumpkin skin with a C-shape wood carving tool. One clean strip. Very satisfying.)

Work your way through every scraped area on your stencil, checking against your printed stencil regularly to make sure you haven’t missed any sections.

Smoothing the surface. If your carving style doesn’t include sculpting (Styles 3, 3+ & 4), your scraped areas should be as smooth and even as possible. Once the skin is removed, use your ribbon clay tools to smooth out any rough marks left by the wood carving tools. A clean, even surface will glow more evenly when lit.

Using a Speedball lino cutter? The same technique applies, just match the bit shape to the tool above. Use the narrower bits for the boundary work and tight spaces, and the wider bits for removing larger sections of skin.

* * *

Chapter 46 — Sculpting — With Wood Carving and Clay Tools

Sculpting is what can take a carving from awesome to incredible. Where scraping removes the skin to create a flat glowing area, sculpting carves into the pumpkin wall to varying depths. This creates gradients of brightness that give your carving real dimension and shading.
Gloves are strongly recommended for this step.

Your primary tools here are ribbon clay tools. Their curved loop edges cut smoothly through the pumpkin and leave a clean, even surface, much smoother than the wood carving tools. Use the flat edge for removing larger sections, the round edge for more detailed areas, and the tight curved edge for small tight spaces. The C-shape and U-shape wood carving tools can be used in tighter areas where the clay tools won’t fit easily.

(Photo: 15-year-old exfoliating forehead with standard spa ribbon clay tool.)

Always carve away from your body, removing small amounts at a time. Rotate or lay the pumpkin on its side to keep yourself in a comfortable, controlled position throughout.

How deep should you go? The deeper you carve, the brighter that area will glow. Areas left at skin depth will glow dimly. Areas carved halfway through the wall will glow more brightly. The goal is a smooth gradient from dim to bright that follows the shading in your stencil. Check your printed stencil to see how quickly the shading transitions from light to dark in each area. Some gradients are steep, like the ridge of a nose where the bright highlight and dark shadow are close together. You go from thin to thick over a short distance. Others are wide and gradual, like a forehead, where the shading shifts slowly and your carving depth should increase gently across a larger area. Take your time. You can always remove more, but you can’t put it back.

When you think you’re done, or want to check, do the light test. Take your pumpkin to a dark room and place a light inside. This is where you’ll see what needs more work. For areas that look too dim and are safely away from any cut holes, I’ve found it’s usually more effective to thin the wall from the inside. Use your gutting tool or spoon rather than trying to carve very deep from the outside. A little thinning from the inside can brighten a large dim area quickly.

(Photo: First pumpkin portrait carved by a 15-year-old. Remarkable cheekbones. Credit goes to either the subject’s genetics or the student’s sculpting. Hard to say.)

* * *

Chapter 47 — Going Over the Scrape Lines — With a Small Kitchen Knife

This chapter is for grown-ups. Kids and younger teens, the wood carving tool method in Chapter 44 will get you the same results. It’s much easier to control. If you are using a knife, wearing gloves is strongly recommended.

This chapter covers the same goal as Chapter 44: cutting along all the scrape lines to create a clean boundary before removing the skin. The difference is you’re using a small flat-edge paring knife instead of wood carving tools.

Trace every scrape line on your stencil with the tip of the knife, drawing it carefully along each line with light pressure. You’re scoring straight down through the skin, a couple of millimeters deep at most. The cut line will act as a natural stop during the scraping step, keeping you from straying outside the scraped areas.

(Photo: Pumpkin portrait with scrape lines traced and saw lines marked as pushpin holes. With this many lines, keeping the stencil is not a suggestion.)

Ignore the saw hole lines and any black Sharpie filled areas. Those are handled in other steps.

Identifying your scrape lines. Refer to your original printed stencil to confirm which lines are the scrape lines. In Pumpkin Studio they are the red lines. This is where having a clean second printed copy of your stencil really helps. You may also want to refer to the tissue or stencil paper that was attached to your pumpkin. This is especially helpful for lines near the corners where folds distorted the original lines and you had to connect them by hand.

Sharpie Trace method: if you used different colored Sharpies when tracing onto the pumpkin, the scrape lines should be easy to identify. If different line types used the same color Sharpie, be careful not to confuse your scrape lines with any Black Sharpie Marking lines or Saw lines. Check against your printed stencil.

Pushpin method: follow your dotted lines carefully, using your stencil to confirm which dots are scrape lines. Rub a little flour over the surface first to make the dots easier to see.

Keep your stencil close throughout this whole step. You’ll be checking it constantly.

Remember, rotate or lay the pumpkin on its side to keep yourself in a comfortable position. Always cut away from your body and hands.

* * *

Chapter 48 — Scraping — With a Small Kitchen Knife

This chapter is for grown-ups. Kids and younger teens, the wood carving tool method in Chapter 45 will get you the same results. It’s much easier to control. Wearing gloves is strongly recommended throughout.

Now that your scrape line and saw hole boundaries are cut, it’s time to remove the skin from all the scraped areas on your stencil. You will want to double check your stencil here as you carve.

You want to avoid accidentally inverting the image, scraping the opposite wrong sections.

The technique. Use small circular cuts. Plant the tip of the knife lightly as a pivot point and sweep the blade in a short arc, with the cutting edge landing on the boundary line. This gives you precise control. It makes it much harder to accidentally cross into areas that should keep their skin. Take off small pieces at a time, working your way across each scraped area.

(Photo: Using circular pivot technique with paring knife to scrape off pumpkin skin. Photoshopped to restore the missing finger. Don’t be like me, please wear gloves.)

Start near the boundaries first. Work your knife cuts along the inside edges of your scrape line cuts and saw hole edges, removing the skin right up to the boundary. Once the skin is cleared close to the lines, use the same circular motion to remove it across the middle of larger scraped areas.

Be careful not to remove skin outside the scraped areas. The cut lines from Chapter 47 and your saw hole edges are your natural boundaries. Be careful not to cross them.

Work through every scraped area on your stencil, checking against your printed stencil regularly to make sure you haven’t missed any sections.

Remember, rotate or lay the pumpkin on its side to keep yourself comfortable. Always cut away from your body and hands.

(Photo: Portrait pumpkin after scraping, with saw holes not yet pushed through. Resisting the urge to push them through was the hardest part.)

* * *

Chapter 49 — Sculpting — With a Small Kitchen Knife

This chapter is for grown-ups. Kids and younger teens, the wood carving and clay tool method in Chapter 46 will get you the same results. It’s much easier to control. Wearing gloves is strongly recommended throughout.

Sculpting is what gives your carving real depth and shading. Where scraping removes the skin to create a flat glowing area, sculpting carves into the pumpkin wall to varying depths. It creates a gradient of brightness from dim to bright that follows the shading in your stencil.

The technique. Use the same small circular motion as in Chapter 48. Tip of the knife as an anchor, blade sweeping in short arcs, but this time carving deeper into the pumpkin wall rather than just removing the skin. Remove small amounts at a time and work gradually.

Start at the sawed hole edges. The brightest areas in your design are right at the edge of your sawed holes, where the wall should be thinnest. Begin here, carving on an angle so the wall tapers. Thinnest right at the hole’s edge, gradually thickening as you move away toward the darker areas of the design. Think of it like carving a ramp away from each hole.

(Photo: Using a paring knife to remove a large piece of pumpkin. Actually, it wasn’t pumpkin. Another finger Photoshop restoration. Please wear gloves.)

Follow the gradient in your stencil. Check your printed stencil to see how quickly the shading transitions from light to dark in each area. Some gradients are steep, like the ridge of a nose, where the bright highlight and dark shadow are close together. You go from thin to thick over a short distance. Others are wide and gradual, like a forehead, where the shading shifts slowly across a large area and your carving depth should increase gently over a longer distance. Let the stencil guide you.

When you think you’re done, or want to check, do the light test. Take your pumpkin to a dark room and place a light inside. This is where you’ll see what needs more work. For areas that look too dim and are safely away from any cut holes, I’ve found it’s usually more effective to thin the wall from the inside. Use your gutting tool or spoon rather than trying to carve very deep from the outside.

(Photo: Light test of portrait carving after sculpting with a paring knife. I hope this crooner lasts until Christmas.)

For my first 30 years of carving pumpkin portraits, I only used this knife method. A pumpkin carving saw and a flat paring knife was all I ever used. The results can be just as impressive as any other method. It just takes patience and a feel for the depth that gets better every time you carve.

* * *

Chapter 50 — Fixing Mistakes

Mistakes happen to everyone, even experienced carvers. Most carving accidents are fixable, and a repaired pumpkin will still look great once it’s lit up.

If a piece breaks off, keep it. Set it aside. You can almost always reattach it.

The toothpick method. This is my go to method. First I break off 1–3 toothpicks to about 0.5”–1” (1–2.5 cm) long. How many depends on the shape of the broken piece. Can I connect it in one place, two or three? And how long to break them depends on how thick the pumpkin is at the connection point. Press the broken piece back into position. Then very carefully — you don’t want to break more! — while holding the piece in place with one hand, use the other to push the toothpicks in from the edge of the broken piece. Keep them parallel to the pumpkin wall so they cross the break into solid pumpkin. Use different angles so they support the piece naturally. Push each toothpick piece in fully so it is no longer visible. It’s easier to snap them to the right size first than to trim them after. Once it’s lit, the repair is often surprisingly hard to spot.

For more support you can bend a paperclip. The downside here is that it tends to be more visible. But it can function as a strong support for a delicate broken piece.

(Photo: Bent paperclip supporting a broken piece. After my mistake, it did not provide emotional support. Only structural.)

Some carvers also use super glue. I haven’t tried this myself, but others say it works well.

This step is for grown-ups. Super glue bonds to skin instantly, so gloves are a good idea. Dry off any moisture from the broken piece and attaching area first. Apply a small amount of glue along the break. Press firmly for about 30 seconds and let it set. Don’t use too much — a little goes a long way and excess glue can leave a white residue on the pumpkin skin. You can combine this with toothpicks for extra support.

If a piece has broken off entirely and disappeared, you can create a replacement piece from your scrap pile. The sawed-out pieces you removed earlier are perfect for this. Use your printed stencil as a reference for the shape you need, then carefully cut a matching patch from a scrap piece. Press it into place and secure it with toothpicks.

If a piece of skin is accidentally scraped off, whether to fix it depends on the size. If it’s very small and near the edge of the design, not a major feature, I usually just leave it. If the piece is about 1/4” (5 mm) wide or larger, I’ll try to fix it.

I do this with a single toothpick. Break off the pointy end to only about 1/4” (5 mm) long. Place the skin piece in the correct position first. Then push the toothpick into the middle of the skin, holding the piece and toothpick with one hand while supporting the pumpkin wall from inside with the other. Be very careful here so you don’t break anything else!

Sometimes the skin is too thin for the toothpick to grip, with no pumpkin behind it. In that case, it’s often better to create a transplant piece from a scrap. Cut a piece so it still has about 1/16” (1–2 mm) of pumpkin attached behind the skin, giving the toothpick something to hold on to. Use the skinless area on your pumpkin and your stencil to guide you in shaping the piece. You may need to carefully dig out the skinless area on the pumpkin about 1/16” (1–2 mm) deep so the transplant piece sits flush with the rest of the skin. Up close you’ll be able to see the end of the toothpick, but from a normal viewing distance it won’t be noticeable.

Sometimes a broken piece can’t be reattached to the same place easily. You could try a slightly easier location to connect it. Or consider whether the missing piece is actually that important to the design. Sometimes losing a small background piece opens up more light in a way that looks intentional. Only you know what the stencil looks like. Others will think it was your artistic choice!

* * *

VIII

PART 8 — AFTER CARVING

Chapter 51 — Keeping Your Carved Pumpkin Fresh

A freshly carved pumpkin can last anywhere from one day to over a week depending on how you treat it. The enemies are heat, sunlight, and moisture. All three speed up rot dramatically.

Store it somewhere cool, dark, and dry. A garage, a covered porch, or a shaded spot outdoors is ideal.

For large events, I’ve laid tarps on the ground and set up a 10’ x 10’ display tent over 100+ pumpkins at a time. This keeps them out of the sun and rain while staying cool. I once filled my entire apartment floor with hundreds of pumpkins for an event, turned the heat off and left the windows open to keep the temperature down. Pumpkins are surprisingly tough when they’re kept cool.

(Photo: A 10’ x 10’ tent provides a practical solution for storing a hundred pumpkins. You probably only need one.)

Heat is your worst enemy, but freezing isn’t ideal either. Indoors in a heated house is usually harder on a pumpkin than a cold night outside. Cool is best. A pumpkin that freezes overnight can survive and still look good, but repeated freeze-thaw cycles will soften the skin over time. If temperatures are staying well below freezing for days at a stretch, bringing it inside somewhere cool, like a garage or unheated porch, is worth it.

Don’t light it with a candle or hot lightbulb until display time. The heat speeds up rot from the inside (see Chapter 55). LED lights produce almost no heat and are much gentler on your carving over many days.

The two chapters that follow cover the Vaseline method and the bleach method. Both slow down rot and are worth doing on any carving you want to keep looking great for more than a day or two.

* * *

Chapter 52 — Keeping Your Carved Pumpkin Fresh — The Vaseline Method

When a carved pumpkin starts to look rough, it’s usually the cut edges that shrink and wrinkle first: the sawed outlines and the scraped or sculpted areas. That’s dehydration. The cut surface is exposed to air and drying out.

The Vaseline method stops that. A thin coat of petroleum jelly rubbed onto the exposed areas seals in the moisture and keeps those edges looking clean and sharp for much longer.

How to do it: Scoop out a small amount of Vaseline and rub a thin coat over every cut edge and every scraped area. Just use your finger. It’s the easiest way to get into all the detail. Wash your hands with dish soap when you’re done. You don’t need a thick layer, just enough to coat the exposed surface. Some people also coat the inside walls of the pumpkin with Vaseline, but I’ve found just the cut edges are where it really counts.

One important note: Vaseline is flammable. If you’ve used this method, use an LED light inside your pumpkin rather than a candle. Thankfully LED lights (see Chapter 55) are the better choice anyway.

The trade-off: The Vaseline leaves a slight shine on the pumpkin skin around cut edges. It’s less noticeable in person, but it can show up in photos. If you plan to photograph your carving before display, do the photo first and apply Vaseline after.

(Photo: Portraits of Dr. Sinclair, Dr. Yamanaka and a DNA histone complex glistening with Vaseline. More in my next book: Pumpkin Carving Genomic Sequences.)

Combined with the bleach spray method in Chapter 53, Vaseline is part of a two-step routine that can add days to a carving’s life, sometimes a full week or more.

* * *

Chapter 53 — Keeping Your Carved Pumpkin Fresh — The Bleach and Water Method

Mold and bacteria are what turn a great carving into a mushy, fuzzy mess in just a few days. The bleach and water method kills both, and it’s simple, cheap, and genuinely effective.

What you need: A clean spray bottle and regular household bleach (unscented, not the “splashless” thickened kind).

This step is for grown-ups. Gloves are a good idea for the mixing step.

The recipe: Add bleach to your spray bottle based on its size. For a standard 16 oz bottle (500ml), add about ½ teaspoon of bleach and fill the rest with water. For a 32 oz bottle (1 liter), add just under 1 teaspoon. That’s all there is to it.

When to use it: Start when you first bring the pumpkin home. Spray it down all over, including the stem, and let it dry before you begin carving. Spray again after each carving session to treat all the freshly cut surfaces. Once carving is complete, spray inside and out. If you cut a top lid, turn the pumpkin upside down for a few minutes to let the solution drain. Then let it air dry before displaying. After that, re-spray every two to three days to keep mold at bay.

(Photo: Spraying pumpkin stems with bleach water solution. Some carvers actually use coyote urine to deter rodents. I’ve wanted to try but it’s been too difficult to collect.)

Tip: Keep the spray bottle close to wherever you store your pumpkin so it’s easy to grab. A quick spritz takes ten seconds and can add a week or more to your carving’s life.

Wildlife note: This dilute solution breaks down quickly and is safe for outdoor display. Squirrels and other animals that might nibble on your pumpkin won’t be harmed at this concentration.

* * *

Chapter 54 — What to Do When Your Pumpkin Starts to Rot Early

Even with the best preservation methods, your pumpkin is working against you from the moment it gets carved. Here’s what to watch for, and what to do about it.

The first sign is mold inside. Rot starts on the inside before it’s visible on the outside. Check the inner walls every day or two. If you spot fuzzy white or gray patches developing, spray the interior thoroughly with your bleach solution from Chapter 53. This can slow or stop early mold before it spreads. With that said, I’ve displayed pumpkins that were a little moldy on the inside. With the bright light inside, you can’t tell except very up close.

Bruised or soft spots go bad first. Any blemishes on the skin, spots where the pumpkin was bumped, or areas near thin walls will deteriorate first. If the soft spot is on the back of the pumpkin where your design isn’t, you can cut it out entirely with your carving saw, clean the exposed area with your bleach spray, and let it dry. Removing it stops the rot from spreading into the rest of the pumpkin. The hole left behind on the back is out of sight once the pumpkin is on display.

Sawed edges start to shrink and pull inward. When cut edges shrink, small gaps open up in your design and the carving starts to look deflated. The fix is a cold water revival: fill a bucket, tub, or large sink with cold water and submerge the whole pumpkin for a few hours or overnight. Cold water rehydrates the pumpkin and can firm the pumpkin back up noticeably. Use cold water only. Warm water speeds up rot.

If the lid goes moldy first. If you cut your lid from the bottom of the pumpkin (as recommended in Chapter 39), you can simply remove and discard the moldy lid without losing the carving. Then place the pumpkin face-down over the cut opening for display. The opening is on the bottom and out of sight. Keep the light source resting on the ground inside, shining upward.

Knowing when to let go. There will come a point where the pumpkin is too far gone: soft walls that sag, black mold spreading, a smell that announces itself before the pumpkin does. That’s the signal. Toss it in the compost bin or food scraps collection (as long as you haven’t used the Vaseline method; Vaseline isn’t biodegradable, so those go in the trash). It was a great carving while it lasted.

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Chapter 55 — Lighting Your Pumpkin

How you light your pumpkin makes a big difference, not just in how it looks, but in how long it lasts.
The best option: battery-powered LED lights

The best light source I’ve found for a carved pumpkin is a battery-powered LED puck light. They’re bright, they run cool, and they don’t speed up rot the way heat sources do.

I look for AA battery models over AAA, I’ve found they last significantly longer. Most take three batteries and will run all night on a fresh set. One puck light per pumpkin is all you need for display. For initial photos where you want the most brightness, try stacking two or three inside.

Many come with a remote control so you can switch them on and off without reaching inside the pumpkin each time. Some models can also change to different colors, which can be a fun effect with certain designs, like blue light for a Frozen carving. I’ll link my favorite at gutsandseeds.com/tools.

(Photo: Color changing puck light found at a dollar store. The Multi Color button is great for a disco ball pumpkin.)

What I used before LEDs

For many years I used plug-in night lights on extension cords run through the back of the pumpkin. They worked, but traditional bulbs generate heat that slowly cooks the pumpkin from the inside and shortens its life considerably. LEDs changed everything. Cooler, brighter, and much easier to work with.
What about candles?

I only recommend candles for Basic Shapes (Style 1 / 1+), and only if you’re going for that traditional, spooky jack-o’-lantern vibe. For any detailed carving, skip them entirely. The heat damages the pumpkin and speeds up rot. A flickering flame also makes photography much harder than a steady LED light.

If you do use a candle, the lid must be cut from the top (see Chapter 39). A grown-up should also cut a chimney hole at the back of the lid, about 1½ to 2 inches (4–5 cm) wide, using the same knife used to cut the lid. The chimney lets heat escape upward rather than building up inside and cooking the pumpkin.

Fire safety with candles: Never leave a lit pumpkin unattended, keep it away from anything flammable, and make sure it’s out of reach of young children. Also, if you’ve applied Vaseline to your carving (Chapter 52), do not use a candle. Vaseline is flammable. LED lights only.

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Chapter 56 — Cleaning and Storing Your Tools

Your pumpkin is carved, now take five minutes to look after your tools before you pack up. It’s a small effort that makes a real difference come next October.

Wash your tools. Rinse all your saws, wood carving tools, and clay tools under warm running water to remove pumpkin juice and residue. A soft brush or old toothbrush helps get into the grooves of wood carving tool edges. Don’t let pumpkin residue dry on the blades. It’s harder to clean later and speeds up rust.

Dry them thoroughly. This is the most important step. Metal saw blades and wood carving tools will rust if stored damp. After rinsing, dry every tool completely with paper towels and then let them air dry for at least an hour before putting them away. A damp tool sealed in a box overnight can come out rusty.

Check your blades before storing. Take a quick look at your saw blades. If any are bent, dull, or chipped, set them aside to replace rather than putting them back in the kit. Finding a broken blade mid-carve next Halloween is frustrating. Spare keyhole saw blades are inexpensive and worth keeping on hand.

Store everything together. I put all my tools in a zippered bag: saws, wood carving tools, clay tools, paring knife. And all the other supplies, including the tools bag, go in a closed box: pushpin, masking tape, markers, everything. I’d recommend labeling it too. I’ve written “Halloween: Pumpkin Supplies” on my box. The goal is simple. Next October, you open one container and everything is there. No hunting, no last-minute trips to the store because you can’t find the saw.

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IX

PART 9 — DISPLAY & SHARING

Chapter 57 — Indoor vs Outdoor Display

Where you display your pumpkin affects both how great it looks and how long it lasts.

Outdoors is better for your pumpkin. Cooler temperatures slow down rot, and since most displays happen in the evening, the natural darkness is already working in your favor. The glow looks incredible against a dark night sky, and the cool air keeps your carving fresh. Ideally your pumpkin is in a sheltered spot: under an eave, against a wall, or on a covered porch. Rain washes away bleach treatment and speeds up rot.

(Photo: Outdoor display at my parents’ house. Pumpkins carved in Styles 1, 1+, 2, 4 and 4+. To carve, or not to carve. That is no longer the question.)

Indoors looks great too, with the right lighting. The key is getting the lighting balance right. You don’t want pitch black. You lose the deep orange color of the pumpkin skin. But you don’t want bright room lights either. They wash out the light coming from inside. Aim for dark behind the pumpkin and dim lighting in front. Turn off overhead lights and let lamps or ambient light do the work.

(Photo: Six friendly pumpkins carved in Style 4+. They’ll be there for you… When they’re dis-played indoors…)

The downside of indoors is heat. Warm rooms dry out and rot pumpkins faster. When your pumpkin isn’t on display, store it somewhere cool: a garage, cold room, or even outside overnight.

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Chapter 58 — Creating a Pumpkin Display: Tips and Tricks

Once you realize how easy it is to create incredible pumpkins, it becomes addicting, and each year you want to carve more! Here are some tips and tricks I’ve learned over the decades.
Stopping your pumpkin from wobbling

A wobbly pumpkin can quickly turn into a toppled pumpkin. The easiest fix is to cut your lid from the bottom (as covered in Chapter 39). The flat cut opening becomes the base, and the pumpkin sits rock solid. No lid needed for display, and the light shines up from inside beautifully. If your lid is already cut from the top, a simple wooden wedge tucked underneath will do the job. Just make sure it’s secure. For a more polished setup, a watermelon display ring (the kind used to keep melons from rolling) works perfectly and looks very professional. I’ve used them for wedding displays and they work great.

(Photo: Bride and groom wedding portraits. Displayed on probably not a radioactive watermelon ring. But I’ve never seen a neon green pumpkin before.)

Keeping your display safe

Pumpkin carvings are delicate, especially detailed ones. Set your pumpkins back from the edge of any table or platform so curious hands can’t reach them easily. On a front lawn, I display on benches set back from the walking path so people can admire from the sidewalk without getting close. In all my years of displaying for thousands of trick-or-treaters, I’ve almost never had anyone touch them. Most people are genuinely respectful, especially when the carvings look impressive.

For larger indoor events or a TV studio setup, where the light needs to be blocked, you could create a makeshift shelter. I created one out of plywood and painted it black. It blocked out ambient light and made the pumpkins look as they should, popping dramatically against the darkness.
Grouping and stacking

More than six large pumpkins in a single row becomes very hard to photograph together well. Everything shrinks and the detail is lost. Instead, think in groups and levels. Stack pumpkins on milk crates to create a simple raised platform, then arrange pumpkins across two rows, some lower, some higher. A 2x2 arrangement (two on the bottom, two stacked on top) is much easier to photograph than four in a line. It looks far more dynamic too.

(Photo: Cartoon pawpkin carvings patrolling 2x2 outside my parents’ house.)

Lighting your display

Battery-powered LED puck lights (Chapter 55) are my strong preference even for large displays. No extension cords snaking across the lawn, no tripping hazards, and the flexibility to move pumpkins around freely. I’ve used them comfortably with hundreds of pumpkins. Only once you get into the thousands does a wired setup start to make more sense, when swapping batteries becomes a job in itself.
Add some music 🎃

Like many people, I love going all-out with Halloween decorations. Music takes a pumpkin display to the next level. I like to use a motion-activated speaker loaded with either a movie soundtrack or a voice that matches the portrait. Imagine trick-or-treaters walking past a Shrek pumpkin and hearing “What are you doing in my swamp?”

For even more fun, try a Bluetooth speaker hidden out of sight while you speak directly to the trick-or-treaters in your best spooky voice. “I see a little witch reaching for two candies… hmm…” The kids will lose their minds trying to figure out where the voice is coming from.

Hide the speaker inside, beside, or behind the pumpkin. Trust me, hide it well. Kids will absolutely search for it!

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Chapter 59 — Pumpkin Photography

Your pumpkin won’t last forever, but a great photo will. Take the time to do this right. Here’s how to get a photo your carving actually deserves.
Photograph it fresh

The best time to photograph your carving is right after you finish. The pumpkin is at its firmest, the edges are cleanest, and the colors are brightest. Don’t wait until Halloween night if you can help it. A pumpkin carved even a day earlier will already start to show its age in a photo.
Get your lighting right first

As covered in Chapter 55, the setup matters. Use a bright, steady LED puck light inside the pumpkin, not a candle. A flickering flame creates uneven light and makes it nearly impossible to get a sharp photo. You want a consistent, strong glow coming from inside.

Outside, dim ambient light is your friend. Indoors, turn off overhead lights and aim for dark behind the pumpkin with soft, dim light in front. You want to see the warm orange of the pumpkin skin, not just a glowing hole in the dark.
Turn your flash off — completely

This is the single most important camera tip. Flash will blast out the inner glow entirely and leave you with a flat, washed-out photo that looks nothing like what you were seeing with your eyes. On most phones, tap the flash icon and set it to off before you do anything else.
How to get a sharp shot on your phone

Low light makes phone cameras work harder, and the result can be blurry. Here’s how to fight that:

Tap to focus. Tap directly on the carved face on your screen to lock focus there.

Slide your exposure down. After tapping to focus, most phones show a small sun icon, slide it down to slightly underexpose. This protects the glow from being blown out and keeps the detail in the carving.

Keep your phone steady. Rest it on a table, prop it against something, or use a small phone tripod. Even the slightest movement in low light creates blur.

Use your timer. Set a 2-second self-timer so that pressing the button doesn’t shake the phone right as it fires.

Timing your outdoor shot

If you’re photographing outside, the best light isn’t full darkness. It’s about 20 minutes after sunset. There’s still just enough fading light in the sky to fill in the edges of the pumpkin and show its shape, while the inner glow comes through beautifully. Full darkness can make the carving look like it’s floating in a void.

(Photo: Outdoor photos of the same carving taken 30 minutes apart. If you have a pumpkin, and no one else can carve it, and you can find them, maybe you can hire…)

Get closer and try different angles

Fill the frame with your pumpkin. Don’t leave a lot of empty background. Get in close so the carved details are visible. Then experiment: try shooting from slightly below to make the pumpkin look larger and more dramatic. Try from the side to catch the glow spilling across the skin. Try a straight-on shot for the cleanest look at the design. Different angles result in dramatically different photos. Digital photos are free. Take twenty and pick the best one.

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Chapter 60 — How to Get Your Pumpkin on the News

Over the years my pumpkins have been featured on CBC, CTV, Global, Breakfast Television, The Vancouver Sun, and more. This is exactly how I’ve done it. Every time.
The key ingredient: a news hook

News crews aren’t looking for impressive carvings. They’re looking for a story. Your carving needs to be tied to something locally relevant or currently happening. An election, a major milestone, a loved local sports team, a community event. Something that gives a reporter a reason to run it. The carving is the visual. The hook is the story.

Some examples from my own experience: I carved portraits of all the Vancouver Canucks with the help of some friends, portraits of all the major party leaders during an election, three portraits of Queen Elizabeth II at different ages when she passed away, a portrait of King Charles for his coronation, and all the federal, provincial, and municipal representatives for my city alongside several local celebrities. Each one had a clear local angle a reporter could build around.

(Photo: A royal tribute to Queen Elizabeth II with 3 portraits carved at different ages.)

Step 1 — Find your news hook

Scan the headlines. What’s happening locally or nationally that people are talking about? An upcoming election, a national event, a beloved figure, a community milestone. Any of these can work. Usually the more local the better. A Vancouver story is more likely to get covered by local media than a national story that hundreds of other people are already covering.
Step 2 — Research your contacts before you start carving

Don’t wait until your hands smell like pumpkin to figure out who to email. Search online for “news tips” or “local news tips” followed by your city. Or what I’ve done is look for a tips or contact page on each station’s website. Collect the email addresses for all your major local newspapers and TV stations. If a reporter responds and covers your story, save their contact information. If they’re still in the same role next year, you can reach out directly and they’ll already know your name.
Step 3 — Plan your carve in advance

Map out exactly what you’re going to carve and how long it will take. Use Chapter 33 as a guide. Your goal is to have everything finished by midday. News crews move fast. By early afternoon, there is still plenty of time to get on the evening news.

Take time to consider your setup and staging. Where will you place the pumpkin(s) with proper lighting and a good looking background? The camera crew will film your display, not just the pumpkins.
Step 4 — Carve carefully and take your time

Have your staging setup ready the day before. This is not the day to rush. A rushed carving is unlikely to make the news. Refer to earlier chapters for technique, take breaks, and keep your workspace tidy.
Step 5 — Photograph and video your finished carvings immediately

The moment you’re done, photograph everything while the carvings are at their freshest (see Chapter 59). Take photos and short video clips: a slow pan across the display, a close-up of each carving. Shoot in landscape orientation (horizontal) and aim for at least a minute of footage across many clips. News stations often air submitted footage directly, and they’ll tell you exactly what format they need.
Step 6 — Send a short, direct email with your best photo attached

Write a brief email: who you are, your phone number, what you carved and why it connects to the current event or local story. Attach your single best photo. Keep it short. A picture really does do most of the work.

Do not click send until every carving is completely finished. A news crew can arrive very fast. Once you send that email, someone will probably be at your door within the hour.

In my experience, emailing 5–6 stations typically results in 1–2 crews showing up, or a request to send your own footage. One response I received went something like: “Looks great, are you able to send us a one minute video of the carvings and some more photos and we can air it with credit to you…” That’s all it takes.

(Photo: Portrait carvings of the 2015 Canadian election party leaders being filmed for the evening news. If one carving were deliberately worse, would that be political interference?)

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X

PART 10 — EXTRAS

Chapter 61 — Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

Everyone always asks me: “What do you do with all those seeds?” Honestly? I’m usually too busy carving to save them! But pumpkin seeds are actually really good for you, packed with protein, magnesium, and healthy fats. And roasting them is easy. Here’s a simple recipe that tastes great.

(Photo: Washing pumpkin seeds in a colander. Breakfast of Champion Carvers.)

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Classic Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Makes: 1 cup | Prep: 15 min | Cook: 25–30 min
Ingredients

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds (rinsed and dried)

1 tablespoon olive oil or melted butter

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1 teaspoon brown sugar (optional)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 325°F (160°C).

Rinse the seeds in a colander, removing as much pumpkin pulp as possible. Pat thoroughly dry with paper towels. The drier, the crispier.

Toss the seeds in olive oil or butter until evenly coated, then sprinkle with salt and any optional seasonings.

Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 25–30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden and crispy.

Let cool for 5 minutes before eating. They crisp up further as they cool.

Tips:

Don’t skip the drying step. Wet seeds steam instead of roast and turn out chewy.

Seeds keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Add optional cinnamon and brown sugar for a sweet fall flavor.

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Chapter 62 — Watermelon Carving

Pumpkins get all the attention at Halloween, but watermelons are a seriously underrated carving canvas. They’re available all summer long, and you can often find imported ones in winter too. Here’s everything you need to know.

How watermelon carving works

Instead of sawing holes all the way through, watermelon carving is almost entirely a scraping technique. You’re removing only the thin outer layer of green skin to expose the white rind underneath, giving you two tones to work with: dark green and white. Think of it like Style 2+ (Scrape & Sculpt) from Chapter 8, but without the sculpting. No islands to worry about, no structural concerns. Nothing is sawed all the way through.

Because you’re working with just two tones, your stencil needs to capture more detail upfront. Subtle shading that a pumpkin carving might pull off with depth and shadow needs to be clearly defined in green and white. On a watermelon, there’s no middle ground. If you’re using Pumpkin Studio, select Style 2 and turn island detection off. It isn’t needed here.

Yellow-fruit watermelons: light them up

Yellow-fruit watermelons can be gutted and lit from the inside with an LED light, just like a pumpkin. Fair warning: gutting a watermelon is spectacularly messy and getting all the liquid out is impossible. But the glowing effect is worth it.

(Photo: Einstein portrait carved on a yellow watermelon, lit from inside. With his famous tongue sticking out, dyed red with food coloring. Too bad I’ll never get to discuss with him my Theory of Carvability.)

Red-fruit watermelons: a secret third tone

Here’s where it gets fun. If your design has areas where red makes sense, like a tongue, a sunset, or a splash of color, you can saw all the way through the green and white layers to expose the red fruit beneath. Suddenly you have three tones: green, white, and red.

Just don’t put an LED light inside a red-fruit watermelon unless you’re going for a demonic look!

Food coloring: unlimited colors

The other fun thing with watermelons is that the white rind is like a blank canvas. Using an eye dropper and food coloring, you can dye any scraped white area any color you like: blue, purple, yellow, orange. This opens up creative possibilities in a different way that pumpkins can’t match.

(Photo: Colorful TJ Fest logo carved into a watermelon and dyed with food coloring. The dye was held in tiny corked bottles. They looked exactly like magic potions.)

A royal watermelon crown

For King Charles’s coronation, I carved a large portrait of the King on one watermelon, then built him a crown from another. I cut the second watermelon in half and wrapped a custom stencil around it to create the skin pattern of a crown. Then I cut it out with a pumpkin saw. Food coloring turned the scraped white areas into jewels, and the exposed red fruit on top represented the purple velvet. Then came the fun part, scooping out the base of the crown so it would sit on top of the portrait watermelon. Watermelons are extraordinarily slippery. Getting that crown to stay on long enough for a photo was one of the more chaotic moments of my carving career.

(Photo: King Charles watermelon portrait wearing his carved watermelon crown for exactly 1 millisecond before it slipped off.)

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Chapter 63 — Quick Reference Guide

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KEY TERMS

Shade — a level of light or dark in your carving. More shades = more detail.

Island — a section of pumpkin skin completely surrounded by saw holes. It’ll fall out when you push pieces through. Fix it with a bridge or by adjusting your design. (Ch. 31)

Bridge — a thin strip of pumpkin connecting an island to the surrounding design, keeping it attached.

Saw Poke Test — insert your saw blade into the pumpkin wall and carefully pinch the blade from inside to check the pumpkin wall thickness. Aim for 1¼ to 1½ inches (3–3.5 cm). (Ch. 42)

Light Test — place a light inside the pumpkin in a dark room during sculpting to check where you need to remove more pumpkin. (Ch. 46)

Thinning the walls — removing pumpkin from the inside so more light shines through your carving. (Ch. 40)

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Chapter 64 — Appendix — Tools List

Appendix — Tools & Supplies

Legend: ✓ Recommended, A Adult alternative, K Kid-friendly alternative, O Optional

Assumes Sharpie Trace transfer method. Carving tools: wood carving set + ribbon clay tools.

Shopping links for every item in this list are at gutsandseeds.com/tools.

About the Author

Jeremy Burghall has been carving pumpkin portraits for over 30 years, since he was ten years old. It started with the ending credits of a Halloween episode of the old sitcom Roseanne. He spotted portraits of the cast carved into pumpkins. He thought, I want to try that! And that was it.

Year after year, hundreds of trick-or-treaters stopped to admire his carvings at his parents’ house in New Westminster, BC. He still tries to have some impressive pumpkins on display there each year, so as not to disappoint the neighborhood.

Over the years, his pumpkins have been featured on CBC, CTV, Global, Breakfast Television, The Vancouver Sun, and more.

(Photo: Jeremy excited and exhausted after carving 20 pumpkin portraits for the Burnaby Halloween Festival launch event.)

Jeremy has also brought pumpkin carving into schools across Greater Vancouver, from elementary to high school. He has also organized large-scale displays through the Burnaby Halloween Festival (burnabyhalloween.com). Hundreds of pumpkins carved by the students themselves.

In 2006, Jeremy and a couple of friends created Pumpkinshop (thanks, David Mitchell and Alexander Huijsman). It was one of the first programs of its kind for converting photos into pumpkin carving stencils. Now, twenty years later, he has rebuilt that vision from the ground up as Pumpkin Studio. A tool for turning any image into a pumpkin carving stencil you can print, share, and carve. If you’ve made it this far, and you’re interested to try, there’s something for you at gutsandseeds.com/bookoffer.

Jeremy lives in Burnaby, BC with his wife Ran and son Benjamin.