The Most Amazing Creative Pumpkin-Carving Stencils Ever

With pumpkin-carving stencils, pumpkin carving has become an art form. If you have ever seen an unusually creative jack-o'-lantern, you know what I mean. Pumpkin-carving stencils have given carvers the ability to carve very intricate, 3-D images into their pumpkins.

Be sure you have the right tools for pumpkin carving before you start. You will need a thin-bladed boning knife, a paring knife, various gutting tools and scoops, an exacto knife, a keyhole saw, poker, and grease pencils for drawing the pumpkin-carving stencils on the pumpkin if you are doing your own design. Pumpkinmasters.com sells pumpkin-carving kits, even including a power tool kit!

Most of us usually cut a top "lid" for our pumpkins and then scoop the insides out. Another way to do it is to cut a hole in the bottom and scoop out the pumpkin seeds. Your pumpkin will have a cleaner look to it and will sit on the ground more level and stable.

You can then set the finished pumpkin right over a candle. If you do this, you will need to poke a hole in the top for a chimney. To figure out where that hole should be, place the hollowed-out pumpkin over a burning candle. Take it off after a few seconds and look at where the soot has collected. This is where the smoke is trying to get out and the perfect place to cut in a chimney hole.

Clean and scoop out your pumpkin. Make the back wall of the inside of the pumpkin as flat as possible, so it will reflect light better.

Next, lay your pumpkin-carving stencil on the pumpkin. Where necessary, trim the pattern or fold it slightly so that it fits on the pumpkin face perfectly. You can moisten the pattern to make it more flexible. Tape the pumpkin-carving stencil to the pumpkin. Using your poker, poke holes into the stencil, outlining where you will need to carve.

Take the pumpkin-carving stencil off and poke a large nail into the pumpkin where you want to start carving. For these more intricate designs, it's better to start somewhere in the middle so that later on, you won't be putting a lot of pressure on the areas you've already carved.

Now it's time to actually start sawing. Saw slowly and carefully. If you hold your saw like you hold a pencil, your cuts will tend to be more precise. Sawing around your pumpkin-carving stencil should be as easy as connect-the-dots.

The following are great sources for free pumpkin-carving stencils. They also have the option of becoming a member for a nominal fee and will give you access to even more pumpkin-carving stencils.

Carvingpumpkins.com

For free pumpkin-carving stencils, click on "patterns". Besides pumpkin-carving stencils of Obama and McCain, the free pumpkin-carving stencils are broken down into these categories: traditional Halloween, kids and cartoon patterns, famous movie monsters, the Addams family, the Simpsons, Family Guy, patriotic patterns, various movie-related patterns, sports teams, musicians, TV and political celebrities, Thanksgiving, and miscellaneous.

They also have pumpkin-carving tools for sale and will even make custom pumpkin-carving templates for you. I can't say enough about how great and varied this site's pumpkin-carving stencils are!

Pumpkinglow.com

Pumpkin Glow offers free PDF file pumpkin-carving stencils in the following categories: I love America, Christian, animals, famous people, comedians, musicians, fantasy & medieval, and much more. This website is a must-see. I especially liked the fantasy and medieval pumpkin-carving stencils.

Pumpkinpage.com

When you first open this page, check out the amazing skull-and-bones pirate carving! Pumpkin Page has ten free pumpkin-carving stencils, but the members' pumpkin-carving stencils are plentiful and plain incredible. The pumpkin-carving stencils categories include: classic Halloween, kid-friendly, scary, animals, dinosaurs, logos, TV personalities, famous faces, astrological signs, states, fall, and Thanksgiving. If you are willing to pay the $5.97 membership fee, you will gain access to all of these pumpkin-carving stencils and more!

By looking at these three sites, you are sure to find something you like. Even if you aren't going to carve a creative pumpkin, I highly suggest you look at the pumpkin-carving stencils on these websites just for fun. They are truly amazing!