This is a cut-through stencil: the gray areas on the printable pattern are the pieces you remove, and everything white stays attached. The steps below give you the safest carving order. Plan on about 60-90 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

1. Cut the letter counters and bridges first. Start with the enclosed openings in the letters, like the counter of the G and the triangular voids of each A. The white stencil bridges that split the M and connect the A centers must stay intact, so cut up to them and stop; never cut across a white strip.
2. Cut the four letters. Remove each letter piece one at a time, working left to right. Cut into every sharp interior corner from both directions, and support each plug as you finish its final edge.
3. Cut the five stars. Carve each star from the center outward toward each of the five tips, rather than tracing the perimeter in one pass. Two cuts meeting at every point keep the thin tips from tearing.
4. Clean the openings. Go back over any corner where a cut did not fully meet and re-slice it cleanly. Push all plugs out from inside the pumpkin to avoid chipping the front skin between the closely spaced shapes.

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 piece is out, wipe the cut edges dry and drop in a battery LED puck.