How to Make a Teddy Bear From Pumpkins

Replicate a teddy bear using pumpkins for an outdoor Halloween decoration.

Create a precious teddy bear using only carved pumpkins to stage on your front porch. They can be made to celebrate Halloween or integrate a touch of home to your decor. In lieu of a spooky jack-o'-lantern, please your children or the little ones in the neighborhood during trick-or-treat hours with your pumpkin teddy bear. Use six pumpkins and some pumpkin carving tools to create your masterpiece.

Things You'll Need

• 12-inch pumpkin
• Pumpkin carving tool
• Pumpkin scoop
• Pumpkin scraping tool
• 8-inch pumpkin
• Orange foam sheet
• Scissors
• Stapler
• 4 small pumpkins
• 12 wooden skewers
• 2 candles
• Candle lighter

Instructions

1. Cut an 8-inch circle around the top and stem of a large 12-inch pumpkin. Remove the lid, scoop out the pumpkin innards and discard the lid and innards. Leave a half-inch thickness on each inner side of the pumpkin.

2. Scrape the thick orange skin from the front of the pumpkin in an oval shape that connects with the open area at the top. This will be the teddy bear's stomach.

3. Cut the top circle around the stem of an 8-inch pumpkin to create a lid. Cut a 1-inch semicircle finger hole in the edge of the carved circle on the back of the pumpkin and break off the stem from the pumpkin lid. When replacing the lid onto the pumpkin, the finger hole is used to remove the lid again for lighting the candle.

4. Remove the innards and the inner pumpkin flesh to a half-inch thickness. Carve a two-inch rounded triangle nose, then carve oval eyes with a circle of pumpkin still left in them to create a teddy bear face. Scrape the rounded section of an upside down heart underneath the nose to create a teddy bear snout and mouth.

5. Cut two semicircles from an orange sheet of craft foam to resemble bear ears, and staple one to each side of the 8-inch pumpkin.

6. Press three wooden skewers through the bottom right side of the inside of the 12-inch pumpkin so that half of each skewer is inside the pumpkin and the other half is outside. Break off the stem from one small pumpkin and press the pumpkin against the skewers to act as a teddy bear leg and paw. Repeat this step on the left side of the pumpkin to create the other leg and paw.

7. Press three wooden skewers through the top left of the inside of the 12-inch pumpkin and press a third small pumpkin onto the skewers to create a teddy bear arm. Repeat this step with the right side and three more skewers.

8. Insert a candle into the 12-inch pumpkin, light it with a candle lighter and place the 8-inch pumpkin on top of the hole in the top of the 12-inch pumpkin. Insert a candle into the 8-inch pumpkin and light it as well. The scraped sections of the bear's tummy and facial features should be visible through the pumpkin flesh. Place the lid of the 8-inch pumpkin on top to complete the teddy bear.

Tips & Warnings

• Use smaller or larger pumpkins than those recommended if desired, but ensure that the pumpkins are proportionate to a teddy bear.

References

• Extreme Pumpkins; How to Carve Pumpkins; Tom Nardone
• Extreme Pumpkins; How to Carve Someone's Face on a Pumpkin; Tom Nardone
• Walt's Pumpkin Carving Secrets: Secrets to Better Pumpkins