Pumpkin Carving Ideas

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Looking for creative pumpkin carving ideas? We’ve rounded up our favorites we’ve found online to give you lots of inspiration on ways to carve a jack-o-lantern this Halloween!

1. Classically Cute Jack-o-Lantern Faces

You can never go wrong with a classic jack-o-lantern face!

pumpkin carving ideas
Nothing spooky about this – just 100% cute!

2. Add Dry Ice for Dramatic Effect

pumpkin dry ice

Think a plain old face is boring? Add some dry ice inside the pumpkin for a spooky fog effect!

dry ice pumpkin 2

3. Carve a Mini Pumpkin

Why only carve one jack-o-lantern when you can carve two? These are some great examples of ideas for what you can achieve when you combine smaller decorative gourds with larger pumpkins!

creative creature

This little pumpkin doesn’t look too happy to be lunch for the bigger pumpkin!

pumpkin in jail

Hey, let me out! This is a clever design where the larger jack-o-lantern serves as a jail cell for the smaller one stuck behind bars.


4. Try Etching Instead of Carving

Pumpkins have a very thick outer shell that can be etched with all sorts of different elaborate designs.

If the idea of “pumpkin guts” and seeds everywhere sounds messy to you, this is a great way to enjoy the carving process without all the goop.

pumpkin carving skull
This sugar skull is a beautiful design to combine traditions of Día de Muertos with the traditional pumpkin carving.

5. Turn That Frown Upside Down

Sometimes just changing the angle and place you carve can give you some fun and creative results.

A pumpkin turned on its side can give you great opportunity to use the stem as a nose!

sideways pumpkin dace
Look how happy this pumpkin is to have a nose!

6. Add Decorations & Accessories

Almost any type of carving can be dressed up with the right accessories! You can use natural materials like pine cones, sticks, twigs, and other plants from your garden.

funny halloween pumpkin ideas
This one is definitely ready to party.

Want to keep it organic. This creative creature below has snap peas for horns and a cucumber for a nose!

crazy garden
This one almost seems like perfect horror movie character, except its hard to take someone seriously if they have snap peas sticking out of their head.

Of course, not all decorations or accessories need to be elaborate. I love this adorable “baby” punkin with a pacifier!

baby pumpkin with pacifier

7. Create a Creature!

Here’s a fun and playful frog creature made by creatively stacking different sized gourds together.

funny pumpkin frog
Ribbit, Ribbit

We will continue to update this list with new ideas as we find them – it’s always fun to see what people think of!

Did you carve a pumpkin you’re proud of that you’d like to see included in this list? Send us your best Halloween pumpkin carving ideas here and of course tell us which pumpkin is your favorite in the list below!

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