Similar to This
View all stencils →About this stencil
The surprised face emoji is translated into a pumpkin stencil with wide round eyes, a furrowed brow, a small nose bump, and a large open oval mouth. The face disc is partially cut away around the perimeter leaving a crescent of solid pumpkin at the top and right side; the eyes are rings with solid centers, and the mouth is a solid oval pierce. When lit, the face glows with an expression of shock. Carve the ring-shaped eye borders carefully: cut the outer circle first, then the inner pupil circle, leaving the solid dot of pumpkin wall between them untouched to preserve the iris-ring detail. 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
Winking Face Emoji Pumpkin Stencil
A round emoji face with one eye winking shut and the other squinting in a spiral, a wide grin, and a tongue sticking out fills this easy pumpkin stencil. The large circular face outline, the wink line, the spiral eye, the smile strip, and the tongue are all solid orange wall, while the areas around them are pierced so the whole face glows from within. Carve the tongue's narrow center notch before removing the wide background cuts, since the notch is the tightest detail and easiest to slip on with excess pumpkin removed around it.
- Beginner-friendly
Weary Face Emoji Pumpkin Stencil
The weary face emoji is recreated here as a jack-o-lantern pumpkin stencil: a large circular face outline holds two sets of drooping curved eyebrow-and-eyelid pairs that express exhaustion, a wide open mouth with squared-off upper teeth, and a small chin sweat drop below. All the interior shapes are cut through as separate pieces nested inside the face circle. Carve the tiny sweat drop below the chin first since it is isolated and easy to lose track of, then work upward through the teeth, mouth, and finally the eye arcs.
- Beginner-friendly
Tears of Joy Emoji Pumpkin Stencil
This emoji pumpkin stencil captures the classic tears-of-joy face: a large circular outline frames squinting crescent eyes, a wide open-mouth smile, and two teardrop shapes streaming from the outer eye corners. Most of the interior is pierced through, leaving thin curved bridges for the eyes, brow shapes, and a tongue strip inside the mouth. When lit, the laughing face reads instantly from across a porch. Keep the two small teardrop cutouts for last, as they are isolated from the main body and can shift if the stencil loosens.
- Beginner-friendly
Thumbs Up Emoji Pumpkin Stencil
A thumbs-up hand emoji fills this easy pumpkin stencil: a large upward-pointing thumb teardrop at the top, a broad curved palm-and-knuckle mass in the center, four stacked horizontal oval finger cutouts on the right, and a small curved side-panel on the left. When lit, the stacked ovals glow as distinct bright bars above the palm opening, reading immediately as a raised-fist thumbs-up. Cut the four finger ovals before removing the larger central palm section so the surrounding skin remains firm while you make the smaller, more precise cuts.
- Beginner-friendly
Thumbs Down Emoji Pumpkin Stencil
A thumbs-down hand emoji is the subject of this easy pumpkin stencil: a clenched fist with four horizontal oval finger cutouts stacked on the right side, a large curved palm-and-back-of-hand mass pierced by a banana-shaped opening on the left, and a downward-pointing thumb teardrop at the bottom. The lit result shows the negative space of the knuckles and palm glowing while the solid pumpkin skin traces the finger outlines. Cut the four finger ovals first while the surrounding skin is still rigid, then remove the larger palm opening.
- Beginner-friendly
Smiling Emoji Pumpkin Stencil
A round smiley-face emoji with tousled hair rendered in chunky pumpkin-skin islands fills a large circular cutout on this emoji pumpkin stencil, with squinting eye arcs and a wide open-toothed grin kept as uncut bridges glowing warm orange against the lit void. The outer circle is the single largest cut, and the interior face elements are held in place by the skin bridges. Carve the interior details first, starting with the two small eye-crescent cuts, then the mouth gap, and only after those are complete open the big circular surround to avoid the face islands shifting.