Halloween jack-o-lanters

By Mike Macauley October 20, 2018 Holiday No Comments

pumpkin-carving-header Pumpkins are an iconic face to this frightful holiday. This year, bring Alagaësia into your Halloween celebrations by carving your favorite dragons into the front of a pumpkin using one of our Inheritance Cycle stencils! Follow our steps below to print your templates and carve your own pumpkin!

You can use our pumpkin carving templates to get started. You’ll have two options: you can fully cut out the outline of the dragon, or you can use scraping techniques to create a carving the same type as shown in our example pumpkin photos.

Here are some steps to help you use the stencils to create your pumpkin:

Printing and transferring the stencil

Print the stencil from your computer. Tape the stencil to your pumpkin, then transfer the stencil’s shape by poking small holes through the stencil’s design. Tools such as wooden skewers, nails, or any sharp, pointed object (be careful!) work best. Cheap pumpkin kits also offer similar tools and can be found at most stores during the holiday season. We recommend having two stencils printed, just in case the first one gets messy!

Option 1: Completely carve your pumpkin (BEGINNERS/EASY)

The easiest method to create your pumpkin is to simple carve the stencil out around the edges, leaving a large dragon-shaped hole at the front of your dragon. While epic, the scraping method will yield cooler, more interesting results (especially with the dragon stencils). We’re sure you don’t need any directions on carving your designs! Of course, don’t forget to “gut” your pumpkin before you start the carving process.

Option 2: Scrape-carve your pumpkin design (MEDIUM DIFFICULTY)

For a more elegant design as seen in the photos above and below, you’ll want to use a “scraping” technique to have several layers to your pumpkin, allowing light to shine through in various levels of brightness. To carve, use a tool that allows for scraping (wood carving tools, knives, screwdrivers, kitchen gadgets, or anything else that will let you peel away the pumpkin’s flesh will work!) and slowly peel away the pumpkin’s flesh in the areas designated by your stencil. Darker areas call for deeper peeling and allow more light through, whereas lighter areas will create a darker glow. Need more help? This Youtube video covers the shading techniques used for this kind of pumpkin carving!

Pumpkin Carving Templates

Time to get started! You can download our stencils by clicking on the stencil thumbnail below (right click on the large image and select “Save as…” to download the stencil):