Free Jack-o'-Lantern Patterns: Printable Templates

Carve Your Pumpkin the Easy Way

Written by
David Beaulieu
David Beaulieu is a garden writer with nearly 20 years experience writing about landscaping and over 10 years experience working in nurseries.
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David Beaulieu
Updated 10/06/20
Halloween pumpkins on wooden table
gpointstudio / Getty Images

Painting or carving a pumpkin can be a bit intimidating if you aren't much of an artist. That's where these free jack-o'-lantern patterns can come in handy. They feature a variety of faces to make your pumpkin stand out from the crowd, and all you have to do is paint or cut according to the pattern.

Once you've selected your pattern, print it out and cut out the black areas of the face. To use the pattern as a stencil, tape the pieces of the face to your pumpkin. Then, paint the pumpkin flesh around the pattern pieces. The actual "face" will remain the color of the pumpkin flesh. Let the paint dry before removing the pattern pieces.

You also can treat your jack-o'-lantern pattern as a template. Tape the pattern pieces to the pumpkin. Next, trace on the pumpkin flesh around the pieces with a pencil. Remove the pattern pieces.

Then, use a sharp knife to cut along your traced lines to remove the pumpkin flesh in those areas, creating holes to the center of the pumpkin. (If you're handy with the knife, you can skip the tracing step and just cut directly around the pattern pieces.) Push the loose pieces of flesh through to the inside of the pumpkin.

Once you're done carving the pattern, cut a circle around the top of the pumpkin to create a lid. Then, reach inside to remove the pieces you carved, as well as the pumpkin innards, so you can light your jack-o'-lantern from the inside. Alternatively, if you prefer to paint instead of carve, you can simply trace the pattern pieces and then fill in the face with paint however you'd like.

The following stencils will create a face that is about 7 inches high and 8.5 inches wide when printed at 100%. You can always change your printing scale to adjust the size to fit your particular pumpkin.

Here are seven free jack-o'-lantern patterns that are bound to create a spooky and stylish pumpkin.

  • 01 of 07

    Jack-o'-Lantern Pattern With a Jagged Smile

    jagged jack-o-lantern pattern

    The Spruce / David Beaulieu

    This jack-o'-lantern pattern is fairly traditional, but it does have rounded eyes rather than the classic triangular eyes. Plus, the eyebrows give the face some expression and the jagged smile adds extra character.

  • 02 of 07

    Scowling Jack-o'-Lantern

    Stencil of a scowling face for a pumpkin

    The Spruce / David Beaulieu

    This scowling pumpkin pattern has quite the expressive face. And even though the features on this face are rather prominent, the simple lines make them easy to carve. The resulting jack-o'-lantern has a clearly grim air about it that's fitting for the holiday.

  • 03 of 07

    Silly Jack-o'-Lantern

    Jack-o-lantern face with a tongue sticking out

    The Spruce / David Beaulieu

    The face on this jack-o'-lantern pattern sports a wrinkled forehead and has its tongue hanging out. Your pumpkin will definitely lean more toward silly than scary with this face. This is a fun pattern for kids, though they might need some help carving the fine lines of the wrinkles.

  • 04 of 07

    Werewolf Pumpkin

    Template to use to carve a werewolf jack-o-lantern

    The Spruce / David Beaulieu

    This werewolf jack-o'-lantern pattern looks great either painted or carved on a pumpkin. It's something you don't typically see on pumpkins, but it still fits the spooky tone of Halloween. The curves of the eyes can be somewhat difficult to carve, so work slowly and carefully with your knife.

    Continue to 5 of 7 below.
  • 05 of 07

    Scary Pumpkin

    Scary pumpkin pattern with down-turned mouth

    The Spruce / David Beaulieu

    This is one mean-looking pumpkin face. However, the straight lines of this pattern make it quite easy to carve or paint. It is a great option for beginner artists to get into the Halloween decorating spirit.

  • 06 of 07

    Happy Jack-o'-Lantern

    jack-o'-lantern pattern with a happy face

    The Spruce / David Beaulieu

    Not all jack-o'-lantern faces need to be scary. This pumpkin pattern bears a rather happy and content face. It's a good choice if you like Halloween decorations that are more amusing than they are scary.

  • 07 of 07

    Medusa Pumpkin

    Medusa pattern to use for carving pumpkins

    The Spruce / David Beaulieu

    With the snakes in her hair, the mythological character Medusa can easily fit the tone of Halloween. This pattern is easier to paint than carve due to its detailed curved lines. However, when carved, light shining from the inside of the jack-o'-lantern through this intricate pattern can have a very cool effect.