Similar to This
View all stencils →About this stencil
A small bat with scalloped wings glides across a big crescent moon in a classic Halloween night scene. Both shapes are shaved rather than pierced: the moon is peeled into a bright smooth crescent, the bat's wings are etched at a lighter depth, and its body stays as raised rind. A hard shading pattern that rewards patience; keep the moon's inner curve clean since that long sweep frames the entire design. 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
This is a continuous-wall shading design: you never cut all the way through the pumpkin. On the printable pattern, light gray regions get just the skin shaved off for a faint glow, dark gray regions are scraped deeper so more light comes through, and white areas keep their skin untouched. The numbers give you the safest working order. Plan on about 90-130 minutes from print to candle.
Set up first. Print the PDF at 100% scale on letter or A4 paper. Cut the lid at an angle, scoop the pumpkin clean, and thin the wall to about 1 inch behind the design so light can pass through the shaded areas. Tape the pattern on (snip small darts in the paper so it hugs the curve) and transfer the outlines by poking dots along every line. Work with a loop tool, clay ribbon scraper, or the back of a spoon rather than a saw.
Shading order
- Expose the moon, wings and eyes. Remove skin and scrape all gray areas shallowly, including the thin unnumbered head-and-ear outline and two eye circles. Preserve the white head and pointed ear interiors. Use a narrow scraper on the fine outline; keep the surrounding shell intact.
- Brighten the crescent. Deepen the dark-gray crescent marked 2, following its long curve. Preserve the pale outer rim and both tapered tips at shallow depth. Work in thin layers while checking the light through the intact pumpkin wall.
- Shape the bat wing glow. Deepen the dark-gray wing and body area marked 3. Keep its pale border shallow, including the wing scallops and two pointed lower tips. Preserve the white head above the central body and compare the two small eye glows with the reference.
Check your progress often: set a bright LED inside and dim the room lights, and the glow shows exactly where to scrape deeper. Go slowly near thin spots and stop before the wall flexes; a pierced wall cannot be undone.
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.
Related stencils
Carvers who liked this one also downloaded these.
Expert / ProNatural Bat with Spread Wings
A lifelike bat spreads its wings across the entire pumpkin, with big upright ears, a furry textured body, and scalloped wing membranes ribbed by long finger bones. Nothing is cut through; the whole animal is sculpted in relief by shaving the background away and layering shallow cuts for fur and wing veins. This expert design is a true sculpting project, so work with gouges and a paring knife, establish the outline first, and build the fur texture with hundreds of short flicking strokes.
Beginner-friendlyWide Bat with Scalloped Wings
A wide flying bat spreads scalloped wings across the pumpkin, with two pointed ears rising from its round head at the center. The entire bat is a single pierced opening, so the glowing silhouette needs no interior bridges or fragile details. Follow the scalloped bottom edge of each wing with short curved strokes, letting the saw complete one scallop at a time for a smooth, even wingline.
AdvancedBat with Scalloped Wings
A bat spreads huge scalloped wings across the whole front of the pumpkin, its furry body, tall ears, and wing finger-bones modeled in carved relief shading. Skin is shaved away inside the wing membranes while the ribs, body, and outline are left raised, and nothing is pierced. Shave the membrane panels evenly and keep the wing bones proud for a dramatic sculpted look.
AdvancedMoonlit Cat & Six Stars
A sitting cat gazes up at a crescent moon while six small stars scatter across the night sky, its long tail curling into an elegant spiral. This is a shading design, so the moon, stars, and cat outline are shaved into the skin and glow as luminous grooves rather than open holes. Rated hard for its long unbroken curves, carve the tail spiral in one slow continuous pass and keep your groove depth consistent so the glow stays even.
AdvancedAlmond Eyes and Twenty Tears
Two huge almond eyes stare straight out, each ringed by fanned lash bars above and a spray of teardrop cuts below, with attached pupils floating in the centers. The eye whites, brow strokes, and roughly twenty teardrops are all pierced, leaving the pupils and lash ribs as connected shell. This one earns its hard rating on the thin lash bars, so cut every slot outward from the eye and support the wall with your palm.
IntermediateWitch on a Left-Brushed Broom
A witch in a pointed hat rides her broom across the pumpkin, cloak trailing and broom bristles brushed out to the left as one bold glowing silhouette. The entire figure is cut through as a single connected opening, so the drama comes from the outline rather than fine interior detail. For this medium carve, start with the big body mass and work outward, cutting the hat point and individual bristle tips last so the surrounding rind supports your blade the whole way.