Carved pumpkins are classic Halloween decorations and are easy to make. Every year, different people try to come up with some creative carved pumpkins. Pumpkins with interesting carved patterns, and carved pumpkins with some special effects, or creative painted pumpkin faces can be seen every year during holiday. If you are a beginner to carving pumpkins, then worry not! Because, with some simple pumpkin carving patterns anybody can make awesome looking carved pumpkins. You can just do a little image search to find printable pumpkin carving templates. There are an array of free patterns available online. You can find simple to intricate free pumpkin carving stencils online. Or you check out the pictures in this article to get an idea. Just pick up 3-7 patterns when carving pumpkins. If you are a beginner to carving pumpkins, then pick solid silhouettes of pumpkin designs. However, if you wish to create some intricate looking pumpkins, then consider going for some more detailed carving patterns. If you don't have Internet connection, or you wish to be completely original, then why not draw your own patterns? Simple patterns like evil skull drawings, tree drawings, or silhouettes of witch's hat, stars with moon, witch on a broom, alien face, spider shape, all look great. Or you can go with the simplest and most popular of all the Jack-o'-lantern pattern, you can draw a smiling face, frowning face, face with fangs, scowling face, sad face, etc. Another way to get stencils for creating carved pumpkins, is to go to a superstore or a stationery store. You will find many Halloween crafts items in the store. Just pick up a few stencils of easy shapes or intricate shapes and use them to create carved pumpkins. These stencils cost only a dollar or two. Once you are done collecting your favorite pumpkin carving patterns use these steps to create carved pumpkin Halloween decorations. Firstly, select good small-sized pumpkins. Small-sized pumpkins are perfect for creating carved pumpkins or creating painted pumpkin faces. As they are easy to handle, faster to work on and they stay in good shape for long. Pick up pumpkins which have no gashes or blemishes on them. If you are picking pumpkins from a patch, then pick pumpkins which have two to three inches of vine sticking to the stem. Then prepare the pumpkins for carving. Carve out the top stem of the pumpkin, and with a medium-sized spoon scoop out the insides of the pumpkin. This will give the carved pumpkin a good depth. Then take a print of the pattern you want to carve. Then stick the sheet of the pattern onto the clean pumpkin surface with a sticky tape. Then use a push pin, and make holes along the edges of the design. This will serve as an outline for your carved pumpkins. Work on this outline to create the carvings. Use a carving knife and with a steady hand, carve the pumpkin. Keep newspaper sheets on the floor when carving the pumpkins, to avoid the floor from getting messy. This way create as many carved pumpkins for Halloween as you like. Apart from creating pumpkins using these patterns, you can also consider adding some special effect. You can smear some ketchup near the mouth for a scary effect. You can also place some fake webs and spider toys to add more to the spookiness. You can also use spun sugar to create web-like structure around the pumpkins. Gather lots of twigs and use it to give a more creepy look to the pumpkins. You can even create a nest from twigs and place the pumpkins over it. Use tea light candles and place them inside the pumpkins to give it the depth and make your carved out pattern stand out. Place the tea light in a votive to keep things safe, if you can't find votive just use a glass from the kitchen. You can buy colored votive to make the pumpkins looks other than yellow. For example, carve an alien face on pumpkin and place green glass votive with candle in the pumpkin. This will give out an eerie green alien light out of the pumpkin. So, come up with some creative ideas to create cool carved pumpkins for Halloween. Apart from the typical orange pumpkins, you can consider experimenting with red, yellow, white, tan or green pumpkins too. Enjoy!