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A full soccer ball fills the pumpkin's face, with a dark pentagon at its center surrounded by glowing hexagonal panels and a bright outer ring. The panels are shaved down to the flesh rather than pierced, so the seam lines and center pentagon stay as raised skin while the shaved sections glow softly. For this medium shading design, score every seam line first, then peel each panel with a flat gouge, keeping depth even so all the panels light up uniformly. This design is rated Intermediate and takes most carvers around 75 minutes from trace to glow. Comfortable knife handling required. Small details and curves.
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 intermediate carve like this you'll want a x-acto knife, poker tool, ribbon scoop, and painter's tape. 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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IntermediateEight Curved Basketball Wedges
Eight curved wedge openings radiate from the center of the pumpkin, separated by ribs of shell that mimic the seams of a basketball. The wedges are all cut through, so the pumpkin itself becomes a glowing ball when lit. Keep the seam ribs a consistent width as you saw each wedge, and remove the wedge pieces gently by pushing from inside so the long curved ribs are not stressed.
IntermediateSix Curving Volleyball Windows
Six long curving windows sweep around a central hub, recreating the swirling panel seams of a volleyball across the pumpkin's face. The curved slots are cut through while the seam lines between them stay as bold ribs of skin, so the lit pumpkin reads as a glowing ball. On this medium carve, remove the slots one at a time and alternate sides as you go, keeping stress on the curved ribs balanced until the last piece comes out.
IntermediateSix Curved Volleyball Openings
A volleyball rendered as six sweeping curved panels that spiral around a central point, with the rind seams left between them to form the ball's stitching. Each curved panel is cut fully through, so the whole ball blazes with light divided by dark swooping lines. The medium challenge is keeping those narrow seam strips intact; cut each panel from the center outward and support the wall as you go.
IntermediateSeven-Panel Soccer Ball Glow
A full soccer ball built from a honeycomb of hexagons and pentagons filling a big circle on the pumpkin face. Nothing is pierced; you shave the skin off the light panels and leave the dark pentagons and seam lines in raw rind, so the ball reads clearly by day and glows softly by night. Shave each panel to the same shallow depth for an even, ball-like sheen.
IntermediateFive-Panel Soccer Ball
A giant soccer ball covers the face of the pumpkin, built from a central pentagon surrounded by shaved hexagon panels. Nothing is cut through; you peel the skin from the light panels while the pentagons and seam lines stay dark orange, recreating the classic ball pattern. Trace every panel edge with a knife tip before shaving so the straight seams stay crisp, since clean lines are what sell the geometry.
Expert / ProCup, Three Dice and a Pawn
A game-night still life in deep relief: a tipped-over cup spills three pip-dotted dice across a carved tabletop while a rounded pawn stands nearby on its base. Everything is continuous-wall sculpting with no pierced holes, using multiple shaved depths to make the cup, dice faces, and pawn read as three-dimensional objects. As an expert relief carve, block in the deepest background plane first, then step each object forward in layers, cutting the tiny pips last with a round gouge.