How to Create Unusual Pumpkin Carving Designs

After carving your fifteenth smiley-faced pumpkin, it's easy to get bored. It only takes a little imagination and ingenuity to come up with a new and unusual pumpkin carving design. If you're artistically inclined, you can design it yourself with nothing but a pencil and piece of paper. If you're not, there are many free pumpkin carving patterns available on the Internet. It's a good idea to get some tools that are specifically made for carving pumpkins.

Things You'll Need

• Pumpkin
• Paper
• Pencil or computer printer
• Needle
• Tape
• Pumpkin carving tools

Instructions

1. 

   Draw your original and unusual design on a piece of paper. Measure the pumpkin in advance to make sure that your design is the right size. Some interesting ideas include a witch, a witch's cat, acorns, fall leaves, spiders and bats.

2. 

   Navigate to a website that offers pumpkin carving patterns for free if you won't be drawing your own. Search using terms like "unusual pumpkin patterns," "free pumpkin carving templates" or "unique pumpkin stencils." Then import the image into your favorite image processing program and resize it so that it prints out the right size.

3. 

   Carve out a hole at the top of the pumpkin. Spoon out the seeds and pulp from the inside. Wash and dry the seeds immediately if you'd like to roast them later.

4. 

   Attach the pattern to the pumpkin with tape. Take care to secure it firmly so that it doesn't slip while you're transferring your pumpkin carving design.

5. 

   Use a needle to poke tiny holes wherever you see dark lines in your carving pattern. After the entire shape has been outlined, remove the paper from the pumpkin.

6. 

   Use a small saw tool to carve out the pumpkin design. Work very slowly and carefully on intricate and tiny patterns such as spider legs and webs, veins of leaves and cat whiskers. Consider carving a shallow relief rather than removing entire slices of pumpkin. If you're using this technique, you don't have to scoop out the interior of the pumpkin. Spray your pumpkin daily with a pumpkin preservative to keep it fresh.

7. Light your pumpkin and admire your handiwork. Be sure to display the unusual pumpkin where it can be seen for Halloween.

Tips & Warnings

• Draw only one half of your pattern on a piece of paper. Scan it, then use your favorite image processing software to mirror the half, creating a perfectly symmetrical design.

• Use Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro to edit your pumpkin carving pattern before transferring it to the pumpkin. If you need a free image processing program, use GIMP.

Resources

• Incredibly unusual and unique pumpkin carving patterns
• GIMP image processing software
• Printable Pumpkin Carving Patterns