Year 2012 Pumpkin Carving Stencils

Every year, I like to carve a pumpkin with the year in it and put it on my front steps. Often I see parents snap a photo of their kids in their costumes alongside the pumpkin. Years from now, when they look back on their photos, they'll know exactly when it was.

Year pumpkins are also great as a decoration for a Halloween party or just to have at your house.

I've made some printable stencils to pick from this year so you, too, can carve your own 2012 pumpkin.

When using any of these stencils, you will want to print it out and hold the pattern up to your pumpkin. If the pattern is too large or small for your pumpkin, then consider shrinking or enlarging it on a copy machine to get the correct size for your pumpkin.

Next, tape the pattern to your pumpkin. Flat photos never fit over round surfaces perfectly so you will need to fold some darts into it to fit your pumpkin correctly. Then you'll want to examine where the pattern got messed up by those little folds and hand draw corrections so the design has no jagged spots.

Using a toothpick, pin, or special pumpkin carving tool, poke holes through the paper and into the pumpkin along the black lines of the pumpkin carving pattern. Poke holes along all black edges close to each other until you can't poke any more on the lines. Now, peel off your pattern and begin to carve the pumpkin along the lines. Be sure to start at the most vulnerable spots - often the center of the design.