Halloween pumpkin stencil

Download, print and cut your own Halloween pumpkin stencil

1. Before you start, if you’re under 16 then please get an adult to help you /

supervise with anything involving knives, carving tools, push pins, forks, darts

and matches or lighters.

2. Prepare your pumpkin. Wash or wipe it down so you have a clean, smooth

surface to work with.

3. Cut a lid in your pumpkin, using a serrated knife or the largest serrated

tool in a pumpkin carving kit.

- Draw a circle with with a roughly 2-inch (5.1 cm) radius from the stem

with a washable marker, with a tab/stalk/rectangle at the edge of the

circle. Tilt the blade at a 45-degree angle toward the stem and push it

into the pumpkin. Saw along your outline with the knife until you can

pull the lid off.

- Cutting at an angle prevents the lid from falling inside of your pumpkin.

- The tab/stalk/rectangle means you always put the lid back in the right

place.

- Make sure your hand can easily ﬁt inside the hole so you’re able to

scoop out the seeds.

4. Scoop the seeds and pulp out of the pumpkin with a spoon. Start by

pulling out as much of the pulp and seeds as you can by hand and put them

in a large bowl. Then, scrape the inside walls of the pumpkin with any large

stiff spoon, ice cream scoop, or scraper from a carving kit. Keep scooping

out the pulp until the pumpkin is about 1-2 inches (2.5-5.1 cm) thick. You

don’t want to go too thin as it weakens the wall of the pumpkin. (You can

keep the seeds and cook them as a healthy snack - there are lots of recipes

online.)

5. Print and cut your stencil. Our printable pumpkin carving template is in

black and white so when you print a stencil, you should cut the black part

out. You might also want to add some scores around the paper to help give

it extra ﬂexibility when placing the design around the pumpkin.

6. Attach the stencil with tape such as masking tape.

7. Trace your design. Use a marker pen to trace around the stencil and draw

on the pumpkin (if you cut the stencil out) or use a pin push, fork or even a

dart to poke holes every 0.5cm or so along the outline of the stencil to use

as a reference for your design. When you take the stencil off, all you have to

do is connect the dots on the design.

8. Mark your design (optional). You might also ﬁnd it eaiser drawing the

outline in marker pen to connect the dots useful. Some people also ﬁnd it

easier to draw an X in the parts you’re removing as it can get complicated!

9. Carve your design. Use your carving tool or knife to carve out the parts you

have drawn. If you accidentally cut any parts off, you can use a toothpick

to reattach the part back to the pumpkin. Don’t worry about cutting these

designs perfectly, it’s all about having fun.

10. Insert your light source. Put in tea lights or battery-powered lamps to light

up your creation.

11. Place your pumpkin in your window or outside your front door to show

your support for blood and organ donation.

12. Share your handiwork! Don’t forget to share your photos with us on

social, we can’t wait to see them. Remember to tag us @GiveBloodNHS

and use the hashtag #DonorPumpkin.

Halloween

pumpkin stencil