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View all stencils →About this stencil
A cozy campsite spreads across the pumpkin: a striped A-frame tent between pine trees, a crackling campfire, and a full moon drifting behind wispy clouds. The scene is shaved into the skin rather than pierced, so light glows softly through the thinned areas at different strengths. For this hard shading job, carve the brightest spots like the fire and moon deepest, and keep the trees and clouds shallower to build a layered nighttime look. This design is rated Advanced and takes most carvers around 150 minutes from trace to glow. Multi-layer cuts with skin-peel shading. Plan your cuts first.
Pumpkin size guide
- 🎃 Small (5–7") — print at 80%
- 🎃 Medium (7–10") — print at 100% (recommended)
- 🎃 Large (11–13") — print at 130%
- 🎃 Giant (14"+) — print at 150% on tabloid paper
Frequently asked questions
Can I resize this stencil?▾
Yes. The PDF is vector so it scales cleanly. Print at 100% for a 7–10 inch pumpkin, 130% for 11–13 inch, or 150% for a giant. Use your printer's "Fit to page" or "Custom scale" setting.
What kind of paper works best?▾
Standard 20 lb letter or A4 printer paper is fine. Heavier paper is harder to bend around the pumpkin curve. If your printer supports it, set the quality to 'best' so the lines are crisp.
How long will the carved pumpkin last?▾
Usually 5–10 days. Coat all cut surfaces with petroleum jelly and store the pumpkin somewhere cool overnight. Avoid direct sun. Battery LED pumpkin lights produce no heat and double the lifespan.
Can I sell pumpkins carved with this stencil?▾
Yes, the carved pumpkin you make is yours. The license covers personal and small-scale commercial carving (selling carved pumpkins, photographing them, posting on social). You may not resell the PDF file itself.
What if my printer doesn't print the whole stencil?▾
Set 'Page scaling' to 'Fit' in the print dialog and uncheck 'Auto-rotate'. If it still cuts off, the design includes 0.25" of safe-area margin so a small crop won't ruin it.
How to carve this stencil
- 1Print it
Download the PDF and print at 100% scale on letter or A4 paper.
- 2Prep the pumpkin
Cut the lid at an angle, scoop the guts, thin the wall to ~1 inch.
- 3Tape it on
Snip darts in the paper so it lies flat against the curve.
- 4Transfer the design
Poke along every line — about one dot every 1/8 inch.
- 5Carve it
Connect the dots with short straight cuts. Center first, work outward.
- 6Light it up
Drop in a battery LED pumpkin light and you're done.
Tools you'll need
For a advanced carve like this you'll want a linoleum cutter set, x-acto knife, peel tool, and pin transfer wheel. Here's the kit we reach for — start with whatever you already own.
Elmchee Pumpkin Carving Kit
13-piece kit with carrying case
Saws for the larger cutouts, plus a scoop for hollowing. Covers both jobs in one kit.
View on Amazon ↗
HOME MOST LED Pumpkin Lights
4-pack, battery operated, with remote + timer
Orange glow made for jack-o'-lanterns. The remote and timer light the pumpkin every evening without reaching inside.
View on Amazon ↗
Speedball 4131 Lino Cutter Set
Handle + 5 interchangeable cutters
Interchangeable cutters for peeling and shading the face. Useful for the finer details.
View on Amazon ↗
Community Pumpkin Carving Ideas
Carving ideas that use stencils like this one.
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IntermediateMoonlit Tent & Campfire
A cozy campsite scene: a peaked tent with an open door flap, a crackling campfire on crossed logs, two pine trees, and a full moon overhead. It is all continuous-wall shading, so you shave each shape down to glowing flesh while the orange skin between them stays untouched. Etch the largest areas like the tent walls first, then refine the flame tips and pine branches with a small gouge for clean edges.
Expert / ProCrescent over Conifer Hills
A crescent moon hangs over rolling hills dotted with pine trees, while dozens of stars and pinprick lights scatter across the sky above the treeline. The entire scene is shaved at varying depths into the pumpkin wall, with the moon and hilltops thinned the most so they glow brightest, and the trees left as dark raised skin. Rough in the hills first, then refine tree silhouettes, and finish with the star pricks last.
Expert / ProCrescent over Wooded Hills
A dreamy night landscape wraps the pumpkin: a large crescent moon and a sky full of four-point stars shine above rolling wooded hills dotted with pine trees. The whole scene is skin-shave shading with no pierced holes, so moon, stars, ridgelines, and trees glow at different intensities depending on how deep you scrape. As an expert design, map your depths first: carve the moon deepest for the brightest glow, the hills shallowest for a soft dusk.
AdvancedDragonfly with Reeds
A dragonfly hovers with all four veined wings spread wide, its long segmented tail trailing down among slender reed grasses and cattails. The whole scene is shave-carved: wings, body, and reeds glow through thinned skin while the background stays dark, with no pierced holes. The wing veining is the payoff detail, so shave each wing smooth first, then score the vein lines lightly with a knife tip rather than gouging them.
Beginner-friendlyThree Unequal Evergreen Trees
Three tiered evergreen trees of different heights stand side by side, each with a short trunk, forming a tidy little glowing forest. Every tree is cut through as its own complete silhouette, and since none of the shapes touch, each cutout releases cleanly on its own. It is an easy, satisfying carve; start with the tall center tree, cut each stepped branch layer from the outside tip inward, and finish with the little trunks.
AdvancedPineapple with Split Crown
A plump pineapple with a dramatic split crown of long, splayed leaves and a body filled with a deep diamond crosshatch pattern. The whole design is skin-shave work: leaves and body are peeled to bright flesh while crosshatch grooves are cut deeper for a woven texture. Score the diamond grid lightly with a ruler-guided knife before carving so the lattice stays even across the pumpkin's curve.