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The heart-eyes emoji comes to life with two big heart-shaped eyes, arched brows, and a wide toothy smile, all surrounded by seventeen small hearts and diamond accents scattered across the shell. Every heart, brow, tooth gap, and diamond is pierced through, so the whole pumpkin twinkles. Carve the large central face first while the shell is strongest, then work outward through the border hearts from biggest to smallest. 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 cut-through stencil: the dark numbered regions on the printable pattern are the pieces you remove, and everything white stays attached. The numbers give you the safest carving order, and the steps below walk through them one by one. Plan on about 100-140 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 carving wall to about 1 inch where the design will sit. Tape the pattern on (snip small darts in the paper so it hugs the curve) and transfer every outline by poking dots along the lines, about one every 1/8 inch. Peel the paper away and carve dot to dot with short, straight strokes.
Carving order
- Open all four brow arches. Cut all four regions marked 1. Preserve the two stacked arches over each heart eye, with the full white bands between them.
- Trace the large heart eyes. Cut both regions marked 2. Keep their unequal rounded lobes, top notches and inward-pointing lower tips. Preserve the wide face strip between the hearts.
- Add hearts and sparkles. Cut all seventeen regions marked 3: eight small hearts and nine pointed sparkles. Preserve their staggered arrangement around both cheeks and beneath the grin. Keep every white separator intact.
- Retain four upper grin teeth. Cut region 4 around four square upper teeth. Keep each tooth attached and follow the broad low smile. Support the long plug while finishing the bottom curve.
Clear loose fibers out of each opening as you go, and never twist or pry the blade against the shell; back it out and recut instead. When every region is open, wipe the cut edges dry and drop in a battery LED puck.
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
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Beginner-friendlyUnequal Heart Eyes and Smile
Inspired by the heart-eyes emoji, this lovable face pairs two big heart-shaped eyes with a broad crescent smile. All three openings are cut fully through, so the hearts beam bright pink-orange light after dark. The gentle notch at the top of each heart is the only fiddly spot in this easy carve; poke a starter hole in the middle of each heart and saw up into the notch from inside so the point stays sharp.
Expert / ProHeart Keyholes and Leaf Cheeks
A folk-art beauty: two heart-shaped keyhole eyes crowned with leafy sprigs, sprays of leaf cutouts fanning across both cheeks, diamond accents down the brow, and a huge grin filled with neat rectangular teeth. Every heart, leaf, diamond, and tooth gap is pierced through, creating a lacework of light. This is an expert pattern with many close-set openings, so work from the center outward and rotate the pumpkin often to keep your cutting angle comfortable.
IntermediateStar Eyes and Six Freckles
This starstruck face beams with two five-pointed stars for eyes, curved brows arching above them, a wide open grin with tiny teeth, and three round freckles dotting each cheek. All the features are pierced through the wall, and the star eyes are the showpieces. Cut each star from its center out to the points, and drill the six freckles with a small round bit for perfectly matched circles.
IntermediateRight Wink and Eight Freckles
A winking smiley with one open eye, one curved wink swoosh, a big grin holding a single square tooth, and a cluster of four freckle dots on each cheek. All shapes cut through, and the tiny freckles are what nudge this to medium difficulty. Punch the dots with a drill bit or apple corer before sawing the larger openings, since small circles are far easier while the wall is intact.
Beginner-friendlyBroad Smile With Round Eyes
Two round eyes sit above a broad crescent smile that sweeps almost the full width of the pumpkin, making the friendliest face on the block. All three shapes are simple cut-throughs with no fragile pieces anywhere. It is a perfect first carve: drill or poke start holes in each eye, saw the circles smooth, then cut the long mouth curve in one relaxed pass, keeping the crescent's pointed corners crisp.