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A golf iron sweeps diagonally across the pumpkin toward a dimpled ball perched on a tee, with tufts of grass sprouting along the bottom edge. The clubhead grooves, ball dimples, and grass blades are all shaved into the skin at different depths, so the scene glows in layers without a single pierced hole. Shave the big shapes first, then come back with a detail tool for the grooves and dimples. 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 2-3 hours 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
- Trace club ball tee and grass. Scrape every gray shape shallowly. Preserve seven white club-face grooves and the background gaps. Follow the rising iron shaft, curved club head behind the round ball, short tee and uneven grass with tall blades at both ends.
- Light the club rim and tee. Deepen the narrow unnumbered dark-gray highlights around the iron head, on the shaft and inside the tee. Keep the broad club face, ball surface and all grass shallow. Preserve all white club-face grooves.
- Create the ball dimples. Deepen the small unnumbered dark-gray ovals across the ball. Keep the light-gray web between dimples shallow. Their regularized arrangement simplifies the original spherical texture; inspect with an LED and keep every area of the pumpkin wall intact.
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 ↗
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AdvancedGolf Iron with Dimpled Ball
A classic golf iron leans behind a dimpled ball sitting in a tuft of rough grass, all done in skin-shave shading with no pierced openings. The club face grooves, ball dimples, and grass blades are etched at varying depths so each element glows in its own warm tone. Score your outlines first, then shave between them; the fine groove and dimple details reward a light touch.
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A gymnast soars in a full split leap, one arm reaching skyward toward a trail of stars and a curved comet streak behind her. The whole figure is a shaded carve on a continuous wall, shaving the skin so the silhouette glows without any pierced holes, which preserves the slender arms and pointed toes. Shave the thin limbs in light passes with a small loop tool, since going too deep on those narrow lines risks breaking through.
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Two crossed hockey sticks with taped blades dominate a full outdoor rink scene, complete with a puck at center ice, board fencing, evergreen trees, and distant peaks behind. It is carved entirely by shading: skin is shaved to different depths so the sticks, boards, and treeline glow in layered tones with no pierced holes. Map out three depth levels before you start and shave the brightest areas thinnest, checking often with a light inside.
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A trophy-worthy relief of a baseball resting over two crossed bats, all standing out from a recessed panel in true sculpted depth. The ball's curved stitch lines and the bats' grain and knobs are incised details, and nothing pierces the wall. Excavate the background panel to an even depth before rounding the ball, and undercut the bat edges slightly so they cast real shadows in daylight.
IntermediateCrossed Sticks and Three Dots
Two hockey sticks cross in a bold X with their curved blades flaring outward at the bottom, a round puck resting between them, and three small dots arcing above like arena lights. The sticks, puck, and dots are all pierced through, leaving a crisp diamond of pumpkin at the center of the X. At medium difficulty that center diamond is the fragile piece, so cut the four stick channels one at a time and never lever the knife against it.
IntermediateCurved Ball and Two Stars
A giant tennis ball dominates the pumpkin, its two big panels pierced through and separated by the signature curved seam left as an attached band of shell, with a small star cut on either side. The sweeping seam is the make-or-break piece, so cut both panel edges toward the seam rather than across it and keep the band at least a finger wide for strength.