Life,  At Home,  Family

Unique Pumpkin Carving Ideas to Inspire You

September 22, 2020 /

Every year around this time I google “pumpkin carving ideas” for jack-o-lantern inspiration. Over the years we have come up with some creative pumpkins, so I thought I would share them here – just in case you are searching for “pumpkin carving ideas.” 🙂 We are not super skilled carvers here, so all of our ideas are definitely doable for inexperienced and experienced carvers, and everyone in between!

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Pumpkin carving ideas

We have carved more “traditional” jack-o-lanterns with just faces (including one three-eyed monster!).

pumpkin carving ideas faces

They range from happy faces, to scary faces, to silly faces. The kids also insisted that we add a cat face one year for our dog’s pumpkin.

pumpkin carving ideas

Recently, L has wanted to carve her favorite things, rather than a face. So two years ago we had a giant squid (fondly nicknamed the pirate squid),

squid pumpkin carving ideas

and last year she created the solar system (shocking!). She carved both of these pumpkins by herself – with VERY minimal help from me.

solar system pumpkin carving ideas

Little Man saw what his big sister was carving and also wanted one of his favorite things. So, I present, the excavator.

excavator pumpkin carving ideas

I didn’t want to be left out, so I continued the trend with mountains.

mountain scene pumpkin carving idas

Two years ago, I made the BEST discovery. Did you know you can use a drill to carve a pumpkin?? It’s amazing. And fast. And gives you a really fun pumpkin!

polka dot pumpkin

If you’re a sports fan, you can always carve your team’s logo!

Red Sox pumpkin

Another great option for carving pumpkins is using a Pumpkin Masters Carving Kit. We have used these many times and created some great pumpkins! This witch was one of my favorites,

witch pumpkin

as was this spider.

spider pumpkin

So what are the best pumpkin carving tools? While we do have the little saws and scrapers that come in pumpkin carving sets, I really prefer things that I have around the house. To clean pumpkins, I really think that soup spoons are just the best. Maybe it is because that is what we always used growing up, but I just think it does the best job scraping pumpkin guts.

For carving, I always use a small hand saw like this. It’s easy to maneuver and is super sharp so it easily cuts through the pumpkin. L uses the little saws from pumpkin carving kits.

If you’re thinking about using a drill for your pumpkin, make sure to use a large bit; the holes created by small bits don’t let enough light out. You can also use hole saw bits like these. Be aware, that pumpkin does get on/in the drill, so make sure to clean it out well when you are done!

For lighting the pumpkins, I always just use the big scented candles I have around my house. Not only do I not have to worry about them burning out, but my front porch smells good!

For another fun Halloween idea, make sure to check out my post on How to Make a Planet Costume.

What creative pumpkin carving ideas do you have? Let me know in the comments!

I hope that this post gives you some pumpkin carving ideas and inspires you to get creative with your pumpkins!

unique and easy pumpkin carving ideas

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