7 pumpkin carving ideas for the whole family

First, prepare your pumpkin

They’re pretty easy to come by once Halloween season rolls around, so pick up a couple from your local supermarket. Out of stock? Read on for some brilliant alternatives!

To prepare your pumpkin for carving, use a sharp knife to cut a circle around the top of the pumpkin and remove it like a lid. Next, grab a spoon and get scooping! You want to remove all the seeds and stringy stuff from the inside of the pumpkin.

Top tip: rinse the pumpkin seeds, lay them on a baking tray and roast in the oven until golden. Now you have your own batch of healthy snacks!

Once your pumpkin is carved, all that’s left to do is put a candle or a light inside, pop the lid back on, and turn the lights off for a spooky surprise!

An easy carving method

You don’t need much to carve your pumpkin – just a small knife will do.

However, you may find it easier to draw your pumpkin design on first with a marker, or scratch the design onto the surface with a knife or pencil. Then, poke around the lines with a skewer or toothpick, making sure to go all the way through the pumpkin wall. You’ll find it’s much easier to cut!

Without further ado, here are our favourite pumpkin carving ideas!

1. Go classic

A good old Halloween face with triangular eyes and a toothy grin is a classic for a reason – probably because they’re so easy to do!

You’ll find this recognisable pumpkin design on almost every pumpkin decoration out there, so grab your nearest one (or check online) and copy the design, adding your own twist by changing the size of its features.

2. Pumpkin pets

If you’re looking for a different spin on the classic Halloween pumpkin, why not immortalise your furry friends in the face of a pumpkin?

Cats are particularly good, as their distinctive eye shape and whiskers come across very well on pumpkins – not to mention they’re loved by witches!

There’s no limit but your imagination: dogs, mice, goldfish… even the outline of an animal can look really good if their face is a little challenging.

3. Try a logo

Got a sports team you love? Car fan? Or maybe there’s a band you’re obsessed with? You can carve their logo on a pumpkin!

Depending on how complex your chosen logo is, you could use a mix of cuts that go straight through the pumpkin as well as sections where just the top layer is removed. These will pick up the light from your candle differently and gives a pro finish.

4. Go 3D!

You’ll often see people using the filling from their pumpkins to gruesome effect with their carvings, especially if it’s spilling out of the character’s mouth. And although this may look good in pictures, it doesn’t half leave a mess all over your porch!

If you’re after a sickly-looking pumpkin, get creative with Halloween sweets instead.

5. Combine with other Halloween Decorations

For an easy and effective way to add even more Halloween charm to your pumpkin design, you could add a witch’s hat, spiders and cobwebs, or even fake blood to your pumpkins for some added spook.

6. Ditch the carving

If you don’t fancy hacking at a pumpkin with a sharp knife (we don’t blame you), you can do away with carving altogether! These are also great ideas for young kids who you don’t want to give knives to.

You can play with colour by using water-based acrylic paints and a brush to create your own pumpkin designs, or cut shapes out of coloured card before sticking them on with PVA glue.

Even using a pack of Halloween stickers is an easy way to jazz up your pumpkin without the mess.

7. No pumpkin? No problem!

If your local shop’s out of stock, there are plenty of alternatives to pumpkins that you can carve instead.

Other autumn veg like turnips can easily be carved in much the same way. In fact, historically, this is what they would have used before pumpkins!

Failing that, you can carve pineapples, watermelons, peppers… just about anything! So, get creative and try something new. You could even mix-and-match for a varied pumpkin display.