GHOST PUMPKINS
Ghost pumpkin carving ideas and stencils
A ghost is one of the easiest shapes to carve: a rounded top, a wavy bottom edge, and two eyes. Cut the body so it glows, then decide whether the eyes and mouth stay as dark pumpkin inside the glow or the whole pumpkin becomes the ghost's face.
Free stencils to print
Each one prints at actual size on Letter or A4 and passed our carving checks, so every piece stays attached. Black areas are cut away and glow.
Ideas
Glowing ghost silhouette
Cut a ghost body with a rounded head, arms out and a wavy hem so the whole shape glows. Leave the eyes and mouth as pumpkin inside the body, each joined to the edge by a thin bridge so they do not fall out.
Dark ghost on a glowing moon
Cut a big round moon and leave the ghost as a dark shape in front of it, attached to the moon's edge at the head and hem. Cut the ghost's eyes through so two small spots glow in the dark figure.
Ghost face pumpkin
Treat the whole pumpkin as the ghost's head. Cut two tall oval eyes and a long open O mouth, like a wail. Simple and quick.
White pumpkin ghost
Use a white pumpkin and carve only the ghost face: two oval eyes and a round mouth. Lit, the pale skin makes it look like a ghost without any body shape.
Etched ghost
Scrape the skin away in a ghost shape instead of cutting through. The ghost glows a soft, foggy yellow, and the eyes can be cut through to glow brighter.
Group of ghosts
Cut three ghosts of different sizes floating across the pumpkin. Keep at least a finger's width of pumpkin between them so the wall stays strong.
Ghost peeking from behind
Cut half a ghost showing around the side of the pumpkin, with one eye and one hand visible. It suggests the ghost is hiding.
Drilled ghost trail
Cut one small ghost and drill a curving trail of dots behind it, like a wisp. The dots add motion with almost no extra work.
Carving tips
- Make the hem waves wide and rounded. Narrow points at the bottom of the ghost snap easily.
- If the eyes stay as pumpkin inside a glowing body, attach each one with a bridge at the top so it reads as part of the face.
- Oval eyes set close together with a slightly open mouth read as a ghost more clearly than round eyes set wide.
- Cut the small features before the big body, while the wall around them is still solid.
- For a ghost scene on a moon, keep the ghost joined to the moon at its head and at two points along the hem.
More help: Easy pumpkin carving ideas.
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More pumpkin carving ideas
Stencils were drawn from AI-made sample images and illustrations. Glowing views are digital previews, not photos of carved pumpkins.