I tried pumpkin carving with cookie cutters

I saw a post on Instagram where someone had a dog shaped cookie cutter and they used it to carve their pumpkin. Looks dead easy I thought, so I set about trying it for myself. Here’s how I got on with pumpkin carving with cookie cutters. Spoiler alert – I hated it!

This post contains some affiliate links. This just means that I may get a commission on any sales made from links on this page and this is at no extra cost to the seller or you.

All you need is a hammer (or something similar to bang the cutter in) a cookie cutter and of course, a pumpkin!

I was so SO excited to try this cat themed diy but actually forgot to buy pumpkins until the day after Halloween (bad mum alert). Well I didn’t forget, I just couldn’t get round to it on time and then when I did go they were all gunky so I gave it a miss.

Anyway, I tried a few places and woohoo I found some reduced to 10p and they were in pretty good shape 😻🎃

So yeah, first off you’ll need to take out the snot and afterbirth contained inside the pumpkin. This is a laborious job if you’re one of those people who doesn’t have a whisk, and yeah, I don’t have a whisk 😿

How to carve a pumpkin with cookie cutters

When I saw the pumpkin cookie cutter post online it just said bang the cutter in with your hammer and voila, a quick and easy way to create stunning pumpkins.

Let me tell you, and I’m not sure if you’re picking up on my tone here, but it’s neither quick nor easy. My pumpkin appeared to be made of concrete whilst simultaneously being on the verge of cracking from the blunt force of my hammer rage. Also, as a pumpkin has a curved shape, the cutter slips a little (in my frustrated experience) before you get it through.

An alternative to cookie cutters

Ok so yeah. I did not enjoy this method of pumpkin carving and if you managed it then bully for you, I’m genuinely happy for you. I don’t know where I went wrong, maybe spending over an hour gutting pumpkins just sucked the life out of me.

Anyway! Ever the optimist (with a small peppering of impatience) I decided to just trace around the shape of the cutter and scrape the top of the skin off.

This actually worked quite well. It also meant I was able to join my family around the dining table as I was no longer wielding a hammer* so we had a great time working on our pumpkins together.

*Hammers and small children do not mix

My smallest designed a monkey pumpkin and my eldest made a sheet ghost on his. My husband, deep in concentration did the Jurassic Park logo

How easy is pumpkin carving with cookie cutters?

Well, it certainly looked easy from all the cookie cutter pumpkins I saw online, but for me it was just a pain in the ass. I’m sure if I’d kept going with it I could have made it work, but sometimes when you’re crafting you just have to adjust your designs slightly when things aren’t going to plan.

And hey, it’s just a bloody pumpkin, right? Check out the rest of my Halloween crafts, I promise they’re easier 😻