Okay as I write this post about carving pumpkins I have a major confession to make which I will share it with you below. Meantime let’s talk about this ultimate, mega list of FREE stencils and templates for carving your pumpkins.
I have included a roundup of websites that are chock-full of these stencils: from stencils for beginners to more advanced pumpkin carving techniques that you will need some serious skills for.
So how do we get started with pumpkin carving?
Well, first, you need a pumpkin (yes, you do!) and then you need some carving tools. Don’t be fooled into thinking any old kitchen knife will do, as that is a sure-fire way to lose a finger.
Use proper Pumpkin carving tools. and I highly recommend some chain gloves 
too to prevent any incidents that involve hospitals and stitches and blood, unless of course, that is the Halloween costume you are going for.
Do you know the origins of pumpkin carving?
I didn’t until I began writing this article, but that has something to do with my confession.
It is believed that the custom of making jack-o’-lanterns at Halloween time began in Ireland. In the 19th century but it wasn’t pumpkins – it was potatoes. I am glad that is not still the tradition because can you imagine how small the design and the intricate carving involved would be in carving a potato or a turnip?
No matter whether it is a pumpkin or potatoes why did people do it? It was to scare away evil spirits and a lump of coal was placed inside the carved potato. Now we tend to use candles or flickering battery lights
.
Now that you know the origin of carving pumpkins, let’s get back to downloading free stencils and templates that we are here for! All of these carving stencils below were/are free at the time of writing this article. Sometimes websites change their freebies, so if you see a Halloween carving stencil that is no longer free, drop us a comment below and we will update the link. Likewise, if you find a great carving stencil send us a link too.
Darth Vader Pumpkin Carving — CraftBits.com
FREE Paw Patrol Pumpkin Stencils
13 Free Baby Yoda Pumpkin Stencils for the Best Star Wars Halloween
DLTK’s Crafts for Kids Pumpkin Carving Patterns
1,000 FREE Pumpkin Patterns to carve you Halloween Pumpkin!
Printable Pumpkin Stencils | Better Homes & Gardens
28 Halloween Cat Pumpkin Stencils for a spooky Halloween
Free Pumpkin Carving Patterns – Stencils for Scary, Not so scary, Creative, Cartoon Pumpkins
Easy Pumpkin-Carving Ideas | 99 Free Pumpkin-Carving Patterns for Beginners
How to Carve a Military-Themed Pumpkin: Free Pumpkin Stencils
Free Pumpkin Carving Patterns, Stencils, and Templates for Halloween
Pumpkin Carving Patterns and Stencils
Halloween Pumpkin Carving Patterns | DIY
Download Pumpkin Carving Stencils from WWF
Free Pumpkin Carving Patterns and Stencils
Halloween Pumpkin Carving Ideas & Free Stencils, Templates & Patterns Archives
Did you scroll down to learn more about pumpkin carving or to hear about my confession?
Well, the truth is I have never, ever carved a pumpkin!! Not even tried! This year I intend to give it a go and will update you on my carved pumpkin as soon as I am done and share some photos of it too. Heck, I might even use a stencil to carve a potato too (highly unlikely to actually happen).
I am not a newbie to decorating for Halloween though, I just cheat and used an oil-based sharpie pen
with a bold point to draw on my designs. Seeing as we are having Halloween confession time I will let you in on another confession: my pumpkins are always plastic. In my local area, they want up to $5 a kg for a pumpkin and no amount of whining children is going to make me buy a pumpkin at that price, so we go plastic and re-use them each year on our front porch. One year we had collected a few too many pumpkins so we handed them out to kids who had minimal costumes or no candy bags and told them to go and decorate their porch. The following year we helped decorate our elderly neighbours front porch by sharing our pumpkins, the kids even set them up and packed them down for them.
If anyone is after a great pumpkin recipe, keep it simple: cream, butter, and pumpkin are all you need to make the best pumpkin soup!
