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A dolphin arcs joyfully above two rolling waves, its curved body, dorsal fin, flippers, and smiling beak all drawn in bright shaded lines. The design uses skin-shave shading only, so you scrape away the outer skin along the dolphin and wave shapes while the wall stays solid. At medium difficulty, work the long body curve in one smooth continuous pass before adding the wave lines, which keeps the leap looking fluid. 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.
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Community Pumpkin Carving Ideas
Carving ideas that use stencils like this one.
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A ribbed jellyfish bell hovers near the top of the pumpkin, trailing eight long wavy tentacles that flow all the way to the base, with small bubbles rising on either side. The bell segments and tentacles are shaved to glowing flesh while thin strips of dark skin separate every ribbon, and the bubbles are pierced through. This expert shading design demands a steady hand; work each tentacle top to bottom in one continuous peel so the curves stay smooth and evenly lit.
IntermediateCurled Dolphin Profile
A leaping dolphin caught mid-arc, its curved body, pointed snout, dorsal fin, and sweeping tail all glowing through one sculpted cut-through opening, with an intact rind island shaping the pectoral fin and belly. The interior island is the key feature: cut the outer outline in sections and leave the connecting bridges to the island untouched until the very end, then trim them carefully to final width.
Expert / ProJellyfish with Fifteen Bubbles
A dramatic jellyfish drifts down the tall face of the pumpkin, its ribbed bell crowning a tangle of long ribbon tentacles surrounded by fifteen bubbles of varying size. Everything is shaved relief with no pierced holes, and the overlapping tentacles at different depths are what make it an expert etch. Vary your shaving depth deliberately, deepest where tentacles cross behind others, to build the layered, flowing effect.
AdvancedSeahorse with Ten Raw Plates
An elegant seahorse curls down the pumpkin in profile, its coronet, snout, banded belly plates, back fin, and spiral tail all rendered in carved relief. This is a shading design: the body is shaved to a pale glow while the plate lines and outline are left or scraped at different depths for dimension, with no pierced openings. Rated hard for its fine segmentation, shave the belly bands one at a time and keep each dividing ridge intact.
AdvancedSpotted Whale Shark
A whale shark glides across the pumpkin, its wide flat head, tall tail fin, and body covered in the species' signature grid of pale spots, with a few bubbles drifting nearby. The shark's outline and spots are shaved to glow while the surrounding skin stays dark, so no section is pierced through. Do the long body outline first, then the spots; a small round scoop or melon-baller keeps all those dots consistent.
AdvancedDolphin above Curling Waves
A dolphin arcs above curling surf, its body, fins, and the rolling wave scrolls all shaved into the pumpkin skin with no pierced holes. Deeper shaving on the belly and wave crests makes those areas glow brightest, while shallow passes keep the outlines crisp. Vary your depth deliberately: the contrast between bright and dim is what gives this relief scene its sense of motion.