Similar to This
View all stencils →About this stencil
New Jersey's pumpkin stencil carves the classic "I [heart] NJ" in two rows with a tall slender "I", a large rounded heart, and the letters "NJ" in rounded block type. The "J" hooks at the bottom with a curved terminal, making it the trickiest stroke in this otherwise beginner-friendly design. To keep that curved hook crisp, slow your saw strokes as you round the bottom of the "J" and avoid rocking the blade side to side. This design is rated Beginner-friendly and takes most carvers around 30 minutes from trace to glow. Great for kids and first-timers. Big shapes, short cuts.
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 tea 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 tea light and you're done.
Tools you'll need
For a beginner-friendly carve like this you'll want a paring knife, spoon / scoop, marker, and tea light. 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 ↗
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 ↗
Homemory LED Tea Lights
24-pack of battery-operated lights
Battery-operated, flickering lights for a candle-like glow inside your finished pumpkin.
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.
- Beginner-friendly
Virginia Pumpkin Stencil
Virginia's wide, wedge-shaped state outline fills this easy pumpkin stencil, showing the long straight northern border, the ragged mountainous western edge, the sweeping diagonal southern coastline, and the distinctive narrow Eastern Shore peninsula extending to the right. The entire shape is cut as a single open silhouette. The thin Eastern Shore tip is the most fragile point in this carving, so cut toward that peninsula from the main body first and finish with the very tip to prevent it from snapping off mid-cut.
- Beginner-friendly
Wyoming Pumpkin Stencil
Wyoming's nearly rectangular outline is the entire design in this easy pumpkin stencil, its flat top and bottom edges contrasting with small notches at the upper left and lower left corners that mark the state's actual border jogs. The whole interior is pierced as a single open cutout, producing a bright rectangle of light with just those two characteristic corner indentations to identify the Cowboy State. Score slowly through each interior corner notch: the blade naturally wants to skip past the short jog, so pause and reposition rather than trying to cut both sides of the notch in one stroke.
- Advanced
West Virginia Pumpkin Stencil
West Virginia's distinctive outline is one of the most jagged of all state stencils, with the panhandle jutting sharply upward from the north and a second narrow protrusion to the northeast, while the southwestern border follows a highly irregular path of peaks and valleys. The entire shape is pierced as one complex cutout. Because of the two thin panhandle arms, cut those narrow protrusions first with a detail blade while the body is still solid and can absorb any flex, then open the main body from the center outward.
- Advanced
Wisconsin Pumpkin Stencil
Wisconsin's distinctive outline fills the center of this pumpkin stencil, its jagged northern coastline and small Door Peninsula peninsula cut cleanly away to glow as a single solid state shape when lit. The entire interior of the state boundary is pierced through, casting a bold Wisconsin silhouette in light against the dark pumpkin. Score the sharp indentations along the Lake Superior shoreline slowly, since those tight interior corners are where the blade most easily wanders and widens the cut.
- Beginner-friendly
Washington State Pumpkin Stencil
Washington state's broad, nearly rectangular outline is cut as a single open shape on this easy pumpkin stencil, showing the slightly notched upper-left corner where the Olympic Peninsula juts north, the ragged lower-left coastline, and the otherwise straight eastern and southern borders. Lit, it produces a wide glowing window that is instantly readable as the Evergreen State. Because the shape is nearly as wide as it is tall, center it horizontally on the pumpkin face before tracing so the coastline notch does not run off either edge.
- Beginner-friendly
Vermont Pumpkin Stencil
Vermont's narrow, elongated state outline is pierced as a single open shape on this easy pumpkin stencil, showing the slightly irregular wavy eastern border, the smoother western edge along Lake Champlain, and the small northern bump where the Northeast Kingdom juts upward. Lit, it glows as a tall vertical window of light. Because Vermont's outline runs close to the top of a typical pumpkin curve, tape the stencil with the northern bump positioned at least an inch below the stem base to leave enough wall thickness.