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View all stencils →About this stencil
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. 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
- 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 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
Carving ideas that use stencils like this one.
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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.
AdvancedHammerhead with Raw Back
A sculptural hammerhead shark carved in raised relief, with the background cleared away so the body, fins, and curved tail stand proud of the wall in layered depths. Fin edges, the mouth line, and gill grooves are incised for realistic detail while nothing pierces through. Rough out the background to one even depth before shaping the shark itself, and keep at least half the wall thickness so the raised body stays sturdy.
IntermediateLeaping Dolphin & Two Waves
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.
AdvancedSpouting Whale & Curled Waves
A happy whale rides curling waves while a fountain spout bursts from its blowhole, all rendered in shaved relief. No holes are pierced; you strip the skin inside the whale, spout, and wave scrolls, then shave the belly grooves and tail a little deeper for contrast. Work the long body curves first and save the thin spout droplets and wave tips for last, when your tool control is warmed up.
AdvancedStarfish, Bubbles & Seaweed
A large textured starfish floats among rising bubbles and wavy seaweed fronds in this beachy shading design. Nothing is cut through; the starfish body, dots of bumpy texture, bubbles, and seaweed are all skin-shaved to different depths so they glow in layered tones of gold. The dotted texture along each arm is what makes it a hard carve; use a small V-gouge for the bumps and keep your shaved areas shallow so the wall never breaks through.
Beginner-friendlyGoldfish Pumpkin Stencil
A plump goldfish shown in profile swims to the right: a rounded body, a large flowing tail fin swept back dramatically, a smaller dorsal fin on top, and a single pectoral fin near the belly. A small negative-space teardrop inside the body suggests the gill line. The whole fish is a single connected cut-out, so the lit pumpkin casts one glowing fish silhouette against the dark wall. Keep the narrow pectoral fin intact as long as possible and cut it free only after the main body is removed.