59 Cool and Cute Pumpkin Carving Ideas for Halloween 2023

Even beginners can make these easy ideas.

It's no secret that we love Halloween, and a super-creative pumpkin is the king of fall porch decorations. So brush up on some pumpkin carving tips—as well as techniques using a linoleum carving tool—and be ready to pull out the drill and craft bin too. From cute to funny to scary, these easy pumpkin carving ideas will show the neighbors that when it comes to Halloween, you know what's up.

You'll find plenty of clever, beginner-friendly designs here, including fun pumpkin face ideas for a twist on the traditional grinning jack-o-lantern. But don't be spooked by the more elaborate looks—the techniques are all simple, and many also include pumpkin carving templates.

Just don't forget to save those pumpkin seeds for fall recipes (and invite us over for a snack). If you'd rather skip the carving altogether, we've got plenty more pumpkin decorating ideas and wickedly creative DIY Halloween decorations up our sleeves. But we bet you'll fall for at least one of these carved creations.

Requiring minimal carving, these pumpkins (well, honeynut squash) mimic vintage apothecary jars. Display them on a shelf or buffet alongside real jars and autumn foliage.TO MAKE: Remove the stem from the squash and use a pumpkin carving tool to hollow out a hole. Insert a wine or champagne cork into the hole. Use flat finish Mod Podge to attach vintage apothecary labels (you can also print out copies from the internet) to the squash.

Little hands will love helping create this sweet little gourd cottage and keeping an eye out for the fairies and gnomes that are sure to move in.

Get the tutorial for our pumpkin fairy house .

Adding paint to an etched faux-bois (the artistic imitation of wood) pumpkin helps the colors pop in this sophisticated design.

TO MAKE: Lightly sketch a faux-bois pattern on a pumpkin with a pencil (for a similar look, use this template). Use a linoleum carving tool to etch out the pattern. Once complete, paint un-etched part of the pumpkin with brown acrylic paint. If you get any paint in the etched grain, you can remove it with the carving tool once dry.

RELATED: 66 Easy Painted Pumpkins to DIY This Halloween

Three different night sky scenes will light up your front porch or party table with seasonally appropriate motifs.

TO MAKE:

Harvest Moon: Cut a hole in the bottom of a medium heirloom pumpkin; scoop out the pulp and seeds. Cut a round opening in the front of the pumpkin. Cut a piece of white vellum paper that is just larger than the hole and draw the craters of the moon on it with a gray paint pen. Insert the vellum in the pumpkin, and center it over the opening so that the design faces out; attach it with straight pins. Attach a few lengths of twine around the opening with hot glue. Wrap a bundle of dry wheat or grass with twine, and attach to the pumpkin with hot glue.

Crescent Corn Moon: Cut out a crescent moon shape from a piece of cardboard. Remove the kernels from a few ears of flint corn, and attach to the crescent with hot glue. Glue a piece of colorful twine around the edge of the moon to cover up the cardboard. Glue a loop of twine to the back of the cardboard, and loop around the stem of a pumpkin to hang.

Stars and Constellations: Cut a hole in the bottom of a medium heirloom pumpkin; scoop out the pulp and seeds. Lightly draw constellation shapes with a pencil. Using an awl or electric drill with a small bit, drill main points along the constellations. Thread orange waxed twine between the points with a large-eye sewing needle. Use a large and medium drill bit to create single stars and a linoleum carving tool to create starbursts.

This ode to the iconic Ball Mason jar features "fireflies" courtesy of string lights. TO MAKE : Cut a hole in the bottom of the gourd and scoop out pulp and seeds. Tape transfer paper onto the surface, followed by our downloadable jar sketch. Trace design using a pencil; remove papers. Using an X-Acto knife, follow the transferred image to chisel the outline of the jar onto the pumpkin, then use a linoleum cutter to gently shave the surrounding area as shown. For fireflies, cut several holes with a small clay hole cutter, then illuminate with battery-powered lights.

Think completely outside the box with this honeycomb design. We guarantee the unique look will impress your guests!

TO MAKE: Cut a hole in the bottom of a medium-size orange pumpkin; scoop out the pulp and seeds. Draw a honeycomb pattern on the front, and use a linoleum carving tool to etch out the design. Cut out a few of the combs and paint the remaining combs with yellow craft paint. Lean a honey dipper against its side.

Why go for a store-bought candy bowl when you can get creative with this DIY dispenser?

TO MAKE: Trace the bottom of a wide glass cylinder or storage container onto the front of a medium-size pumpkin. Cut out around tracing, then scoop out the pulp and seeds. Insert the container, making the hole slightly bigger if necessary. Attach a piece of thick rope around the opening with hot glue.

Can carved pumpkins also be a DIY backyard game? Yep. The whole gang will have a blast playing bean bag toss at your harvest celebration.

TO MAKE: Cut a large hole in the bottom of one large and one medium pumpkin; scoop out the pulp and seeds. Trace our face template on the pumpkins, scaling up or down as necessary. Cut out the faces, and then stack the medium pumpkin on top of the large one, using skewers to help hold them in place. To play, toss beanbags into your gourds' mouths, awarding 10 points for the bottom and 20 for the top.

Light up the whole neighborhood with this bright and cheery pumpkin marquee.

TO MAKE: Cut a large hole in the bottom of an oblong pumpkin; scoop out pulp and seeds. Carve desired word or phrase—think BOO, WELCOME, or your last name—or download our FAIR template and trace on the long side of the pumpkin, scaling up or down as necessary. Chisel out letters and border. Remove the bulbs from a strand of globe string lights. Cut holes along the border of the chiseled area for the light sockets; insert sockets then bulbs. Plug in lights and prepare to amaze your trick-or-treaters.

No cabin evening is complete without a roaring fire.

TO MAKE: Cut a hole in the bottom of an extra-large pumpkin, and scoop out pulp and seeds. Trace the stove door template on the pumpkin, scaling up or down as necessary. Chisel out the outline, and use a knife to cut out the windowpanes. Paint the pumpkin (excluding chiseled section) black. Fill with sticks longer than the hole, and top with battery-operated tea lights. Remove the stems from four small pumpkins, and paint pumpkins black; place stove pumpkin on top. Rest a piece of solid, expandable drain pipe over the stem; attach pipe to the wall or ceiling to help it stay upright.

COMPLETE THE SCENE: Paint and decorate mini pumpkins to resemble the faces of a moose, bear, and fox; mount on wood slices (find details in our pumpkin painting ideas). Make "s'mores" with cardboard cutouts painted to resemble graham crackers and chocolate, with white mini pumpkins serving as marshmallows.

Celebrate your favorite feathered friends with this sweet, simple duo.

TO MAKE:

Hen Pumpkin: Cut a hole in the bottom of a large pumpkin, and scoop out pulp and seeds. Trace the hen template. Use a knife to cut out the body and a pencil to lightly trace the comb. Paint comb with red acrylic paint. Tie together several strands of raffia and hot-glue in place to create the tail. Insert a piece of white chicken wire behind the hen's body, then adhere twigs with hot-glue to create legs and feet.

Chicks Pumpkin: Trace the chick template onto a smaller whole pumpkin. Use a potter's needle to indent the outline, then chisel out using a potter's ribbon tool. Insert a black pushpin for the eye; adhere twigs with hot-glue for the feet.

Keep the kids entertained with a DIY jigsaw pumpkin.

TO MAKE: Cut a hole in the bottom of a pumpkin, and scoop out pulp and seeds. Trace the jigsaw puzzle template on the pumpkin, scaling up or down as necessary. Use a knife to cut out the puzzle pieces. Use craft paint to paint the puzzle pieces. Challenge kids to complete the puzzle for candy prizes.

You've been to the pumpkin patch and you're ready to display that haul. Create a home for all those mini pumpkins and replicate your favorite possession: that 1959 Ford F15o!

TO MAKE: Turn an oblong pumpkin on its side, then trace the truck template. Use a potter's needle tool to indent the outline. Chisel out the truck's window and outline using a small potter's ribbon tool, then paint truck desired color using acrylic paint. Stain three mini wooden craft sticks with wood stain; cut off rounded ends (reserving two) and cut one in half. Use hot-glue to attach the sticks on truck bed (trimming as needed) to create the railing and rounded ends to create bumpers. Hot-glue buttons for wheels. Attach a toy trailer and fill with mini pumpkins.

Bring the fields of flowering sunflowers to your front porch with a stack or two of colorful sunflower pumpkins

TO MAKE: Cut a hole in the bottom of two to three pumpkins, and scoop out pulp and seeds. Trace the sunflower petal and leaf templates onto pumpkins. Use a knife to cut out the petals and leaves. Starting in the center of the sunflower, use hot-glue to attach different colors of twine in a spiral pattern. For the stalk, attach green twine in a tight zigzag pattern with hot-glue. Remove the stem from the bottom pumpkin(s); stack as shown. (No wilting sunflowers here! Use wooden skewers to secure your stack.)

TIP: When scooping, carve from the bottom so the pretty stems stay intact. It also makes lighting candles easier; simply light and place your pumpkin on top.

Add homespun charm to your decor with our tepee and campfire cross-stitched pumpkins.

TO MAKE: Download and print our cross-stitch patterns. (Adjust pattern size as needed.) Tape onto artificial, carvable pumpkins. (Trust us: You'll want to display these year after year.) Punch through the pattern's cross-stitch points with an awl. Use a jab saw to cut an opening in the bottom of both pumpkins large enough for your hand to work inside. Cross-stitch using a tapestry needle and yarn. For tepee support poles and campfire logs, adhere twigs with hot-glue.

This pumpkin barrel is perfect for showing off your apple picking haul or filling with candy so that trick-or-treaters can help themselves.

TO MAKE: Cut off the top quarter of an extra-large pumpkin; scoop out pulp and seeds. Hot-glue three strips of ribbon around outside of pumpkin. Stuff pumpkin three-fourths full with Poly-Fil. Insert burlap fabric into the opening and fold over outside of pumpkin; hold in place with upholstery tacks. Fill with apples or desired items.

A twinkling twist on typical carved decor.

TO MAKE: Cut a hole in the back of a large pumpkin and scoop out pulp and seeds. Coat the surface with chalkboard spray-paint and let dry; season as instructed. Use white stick chalk to mark the Big Dipper, then drill through the points with a medium drill bit. Insert a battery-powered string of lights in the constellation points. Use white chalk to connect points, and draw additional stars on pumpkin.

These carvings look as if they're reaching from beyond the grave.

TO MAKE: Select a pair of pumpkins to form each arm-hand combo. Determine which gourd will serve as the arm (usually the taller one) and trim its stem so the other pumpkin can rest securely on top. Carve a hole in the bottoms of both, scoop out the pulp, and return the cut pieces.

Print our skeletal hand template and arm template, and resize them on a copier, scaling the images to fit your pumpkins. Cut out the outlined shapes from the templates to form stencils. Affix the arm stencil to the bottom pumpkin with masking tape. Trace on the design with a felt-tip pen. Repeat the process on the other pumpkin, using the hand template. Remove stencils, then carefully carve along the drawn lines with an X-Acto knife. Affix a battery-operated votive candle in the base of each pumpkin with adhesive putty.

Welcome guests with a pumpkin sign. Customize as desired by writing your family name, the year your house was built, or festive spooking sayings.

TO MAKE: Cut a large hole in back of an oblong pumpkin; scoop out pulp and seeds. Remove flesh so it's light enough to hang. Etch outline of desired phrase on long side of pumpkin. Color center of letters with a black oil-based paint pen. Paint two 2" by 1" boards black; once dry, use white paint for desired phrases. Hang from bottom of pumpkin with chain. Cut hole in oblong top of pumpkin. Cut 1" dowel the width of the top inside of pumpkin (parallel with words). Tie rope around dowel, and feed rope through hole; hang.

A passel of pumpkins provides the backdrop for an eerily quaint village scene.

TO MAKE: First, carve a hole in the bottom of each pumpkin, scoop out pulp and seeds, and return cut pieces. Print out our house templates, scaling images to fit your pumpkins. Cut out house and window shapes from templates to create stencils. Affix stencils to pumpkins with masking tape. Trace outlines of houses and windows on pumpkins with a felt-tip pen. Remove stencils, then carefully carve out windows with an X-Acto knife. Fill in houses using a fine-tip brush and black flat acrylic paint; let dry. Affix a battery-operated votive candle in base of each pumpkin with adhesive putty.

Finish the tableau with moss, crooked "fences" made from floral picks and wire, and "street lights" made of short black candles atop tall silver candlesticks.

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