Veggie Pumpkins

1. Download the free stencil in the link below. (You'll need to log in or register first.) Transfer the design to the pumpkin (prick the stencil outlines with a pin), then carve the face.
2. The simply carved features on this pumpkin are perfect for an amateur carver. A quarter-moon mouth is studded with garlic-clove teeth. Use florist's pins or toothpicks to attach the teeth. (No garlic? Use marshmallows or even white cardboard.)
3. Fill each arched eye with a red radish cut in half. Attach the radishes with a toothpick or florist's pins.
4. Use an apple corer or an electric drill to create holes for hair and ears. Fill these holes with broccoli stalks for hair and small artichokes for ears.
5. Choose a yellow gourd to use for a nose and hold it in place with toothpicks.

PDF pattern for Curly Locks

 

1. This funny fellow is all ears! Download the free stencil in the link below and carve the facial features.
2. To make these elephant-size examples, saw a large gourd in half from stem to stern; securely attach each ear to the head with long, T-shaped florist's pins.
3. For the eyes, pin a radish into the top of each egg-shape eye.
4. Hot-glue or pin a coiled-moss-nest "hat" to the top of the pumpkin. Positioned at a rakish angle, the next makes a soft spot for a bird to perch on jumbo garlic-clove eggs.
5. Purchase an artificial bird at a craft store, or make your own from a gourd with clove-studded eyes and a green onion tail (drill a small hole in the back end of the gourd and insert the head of the onion).
6. To form the nose, dab red glass paint on a clear glass marble or florist's glass bubble. Let dry. Cut a hole the right size to fit the marble and insert it. When the pumpkin is lit, the nose will glow red. (NOTE: No marble? If using an electric light instead of a candle, try pinning a piece of red cellophane inside the pumpkin.)

PDF pattern for this pumpkin stencil