6 Unlikely Pumpkin Carving Tools You Probably Already Own

Carving a pumpkin is all fun and games...until you realize you don’t have any of the tools. Well, here’s an unexpected Halloween treat for you—you don’t actually *need* any fancy pumpkin carving equipment.

No really—all you need are just a few kitchen essentials like bread knives, ice cream scoops, and cookie cutters. They can cut the top of the pumpkin, scoop out seeds, and easily carve out any shape you can imagine. 

Ready to carve your pumpkin? Here are six unlikely, but immensely useful, pumpkin carving tools you probably already have. 

1. Food52 Five Two Essential Knives, $49-$139

No need to grab a special carving knife—just use what you’d use for dinner. A serrated knife can cut through thick pumpkin rind with ease, while a paring knife can detail the most minute cut-outs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Kitchenaid Chrome Ice Cream Scoop, $8.97

Use an ice cream scoop to grab all the pumpkin seeds, make half-moon crescents, or even detail eyes and polka dots. Once you’re done, wash it out and dig into your fave ice cream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Ann Clark Cookie Cutters 5 Piece Halloween Cookie Cutter Set, $10.99

If you’re not patient enough to carve ghosts and vampires, just reach for a cookie cutter to make things a million times easier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Estwing Deadhead Rubber Mallet, $17.97

Grab your favorite reno tool to pound cookie cutters into the side of the pumpkin *without* the mess. Go easy, though, to avoid smashing the pumpkin to bits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. STABILO Woody 3 in 1 Pencil, $21.95

If you’re just decorating the pumpkin without carving into it (smart move—there’s no mess to clean!), these wax crayon/marker hybrids are washable and mess-free, so even little ones can join in on the fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. VonHaus 16pc Wood Carving Tool Set, $29.99

Or if you want to add tons of detail, a wood carving set has all the tools you’d need for pumpkins and any other project you have on the horizon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This post was updated in August 2021 to include more unexpected pumpkin carving tools.

 

How do you like to carve your pumpkin—spooky or silly? Drop some inspo in the comments below!

 

This post contains products independently chosen (and loved) by our editors and writers. Food52 earns an affiliate commission on qualifying purchases of the products we link to.