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View all stencils →About this stencil
Two interlocking hearts sit at the center of this romantic design, their looping outlines woven together and trailing off into curling vines and small leaves at each corner. The whole motif is shaved into the skin as pale relief lines, so the pumpkin wall stays intact and the pattern shows clearly by daylight or candlelight. Follow the vine curves in long continuous strokes to keep the linework flowing and even. 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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A large heart is cut out of the pumpkin, but two facing profiles are left standing in the middle of the opening, so a couple appears to lean toward each other in silhouette against the glow. The heart interior is removed while the joined profile column stays attached at the bottom point. This is a hard carve because those noses, lips, and chins are thin; use a fresh fine blade and cut away from the profiles, never into them.
IntermediateInterlocking Double Hearts
Two large hearts overlap and interlock, their outlines woven so one band passes over and under the other like linked rings. Nothing is pierced: you shave away only the skin along the heart outlines, leaving pale glowing bands against the untouched orange wall. Sketch the over-under crossings on the pumpkin before you shave, since keeping those weave points straight is the trick to this medium-level etch.
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Four tall serif capitals spell out "LOVE" in a single row, each letter sized to span the full height of the pumpkin face, with the word cut completely through so it glows solid when lit. The letterforms use clean, wide strokes with minimal internal bridges, making this one of the most legible word-carving pumpkin stencils in the set. Because the "O" and the interior counter of the "V" require small floating pumpkin islands, remove those internal pieces before fully clearing the surrounding letter to avoid them dropping out unexpectedly.
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A large bold heart dominates the design, split horizontally at its midpoint by a band of stencil text that reads "LOVE WINS" in thick block letters. The upper and lower halves of the heart are both pierced through, and the text band bridges the gap so the heart reads as one unified glowing shape when lit. Because the heart's two halves are each large open voids, carve them before the text strip; clearing the big areas first lets you see exactly how much wall support remains around the letter bridges.
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The words "WILL YOU MARRY ME" are stacked in four lines of large bold block letters that fill the entire pumpkin face on this hard pumpkin stencil. Each letter is a solid-bordered cutout with counter shapes, and letters with enclosed loops such as the O and D require internal bridges to retain the center islands. Cut the counters inside closed letters first before removing the outer letter bodies, so the island pieces stay seated in place and do not drop into the pumpkin during carving.
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Two facing human profiles, one with short-cropped hair and one with a pointed ear detail, are arranged nose-to-nose inside a heart shape so their silhouettes form both the couple and the lobes of the heart on this easy romantic pumpkin stencil. The large heart interior is cut away entirely on each side of the profiles, while the facing figures remain as solid dividers. The narrow chin-to-chest strip between the two faces is the key bridge; run your blade along each profile edge independently rather than trying to cut the gap in a single pass.