These Funny Pumpkin Carving Ideas are Insanely Clever (2024)

Junk Food Jack-O'-Lanterns

These grinning pumpkins are perfect for the junk food lover in your life. To create the laughing pumpkins, carve your favorite design. Add embellishments to the funny pumpkin carving faces by gluing on licorice, taffy, and cheese puff hair.

Adorable Animal Pumpkins

A few craft supplies are all it takes to create these adorable animal pumpkins. These funny pumpkin faces are created with gouging tools, card stock, pipe cleaners, and glue. For the cat face pumpkin and the elephant pumpkin, place the pumpkins on cylindrical vases wrapped with paper.

Funny Floral Pumpkins

Full of big grins and fresh accents, these festive floral designs put a lighthearted twist on Halloween pumpkin carving. Creating them is simpler than it looks: Cut off the top or drill holes to tuck in flowers and branches (cucumber slices, carved potatoes, and ferns make other fun options). Attach other accents with pins, toothpicks, or glue for adorable smiling pumpkins!

Editor's Tip: Make sure to use battery-operated lights with these funny carved pumpkins to avoid fire risk.

Witch's Legs

A little bit funny, a little bit spooky, these witch's legs stand tall with black paint, ribbon, and shallow carving, courtesy of gouging tools. Accent this witch pumpkin design with a broomstick for outdoor decor that comes together easily.

Smiling Pumpkin Trio

Who says Halloween has to be scary? Little kids in particular will appreciate the wide grins, googly eyes, laughing pumpkins, and seasonal words of this funny pumpkin carving trio.

Baby Pumpkins

A pacifier is all it takes to create these funny pumpkin faces. Simply make a small hole and insert. Add painted or carved eyes to create the baby face.

Fun Frog Pumpkin

Hop to it! Part painted pumpkin and part carving project, this fun frog starts with a coat of green paint. Cut a wide mouth and glue on small white pumpkins for eyes. Cut legs from patterned paper and glue to the back of the funny pumpkin.

Not-So-Scary Skeleton Pumpkin

A white Lumina pumpkin works perfectly for this silly, skeleton pumpkin face filled with fall golden flowers. Use this funny pumpkin carving idea for a doorstep decoration or festive centerpiece. To make, cut out large circles for the eyes, a small triangle for the nose, and make a line for the mouth that's just big enough for light to shine through. Small vertical teeth slits finish this silly skeleton.

Pumpkin Birthday Party

Spice things up this Halloween with a pumpkin birthday party! Download the party pumpkin stencils and carve out the smiling faces on pumpkins. Shape scrapbooking paper into cones, creating a variety of tall and short hats. Use tape to secure the paper in cone shapes and decorate with an assortment of patterned paper circles. Trim some of the hat edges with paper fringe. Hot-glue the hats to the heads of the funny pumpkin faces.

Happy Face Pumpkin

A smiling jack-o'-lantern is a cheerful addition to your fall front porch. This funny pumpkin carving is each to make thanks to our free pattern.

Scared Pumpkin

Aah! Even your pumpkin can get scared by all things spooky this Halloween. Use our pumpkin carving and crafting techniques to create a Halloween pumpkin that looks like it has seen a ghost.

Cheese and Mice

Use a faux or real pumpkin to create this funny pumpkin carving: a gourd invaded by mice! Light yellow spray paint turns this pumpkin into a block of cheese, and drill bits make it easy to create different-size holes.

Grinning Pumpkin Grouping

If you have multiple carvers in your household, then these silly pumpkin carving ideas are perfect for each of them to create a unique design. This grouping is forgiving of any flaws, with wide grins, big eyes, and goofy expressions.

Dog Pumpkin Stencil

Pay homage to your favorite pooch with a funny pumpkin carving. Choose from one of our free dog pumpkin stencils and look for a pumpkin with a smooth, flat front for easy etching.

Cat and Mouse Pumpkins

What's better than one grinning cat face pumpkin? A little mouse pumpkin to pair with it! Download the patterns for these cute critters below. After carving the kitty, don't forget to attach some black felt ears.

Sly Vampire

This smiling vampire stencil could seem scary at first, but he's a friendly, funny monster: just look at that grin! With a hooked nose and dramatic eyebrows, this vampire pumpkin is all fun and games.

Pug Pumpkin

This funny carved pumpkin is doggone cute! To attach the eyes and ears to the pumpkin head, make holes in a large pumpkin, two white pumpkins, and gourds with a hammer and nail. Use pieces of a wire hanger to secure them. Paint a leftover piece of pumpkin red for the tongue.