When it comes to pumpkin carving and painting, a Jack Skellington pumpkin is one of the best! We have detailed instructions for how to make an amazing jack o lantern, with plenty of free printable Jack Skellington pumpkin stencils for carving or painting!
After all, his real name is Jack Skellington Pumpkin King. His head is an actual jack-o-lantern, and his theme song is This is Halloween. You couldn’t ask for a better fit!
It’s pretty obvious I love Disney pumpkins. There’s one Jack Skellington printable pumpkin template in my huge list of over 130 Disney pumpkin carving patterns. There’s also a great Jack Skellington painted pumpkin in my list of 50 Disney pumpkin painting ideas.
But Jack Skellington (and just about everything else in The Nightmare Before Christmas) is a character who makes a perfect Halloween decoration.
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About The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmas is a partnership between Tim Burton and Disney. It’s an animated film that tells the story of Jack Skellington, a living skeleton from Halloween Town who finds a door to Christmas Town.
Characters in The Nightmare Before Christmas
It’s no secret that characters can elevate a movie from mediocre to amazing, and the characters in The Nightmare Before Christmas bring so much to a movie that’s already incredible.
(Note: I got my information for the following characters from a few places: Source / source.)
Jack Skellington
Jack Skellington is the leader of Halloween Town, but he’s tired of Halloween and scaring people. His body is a skeleton and his head is a carved pumpkin. He lives in a creepy haunted house.
Note: People often confuse his name and think it’s Jack Skeleton. It’s not.
Oogie Boogie
Oogie Boogie is the boogeyman. He lives in a treehouse and lives for scaring. He’s also responsible for the shadow on the moon. He’s thought to oversee Halloween candy collecting.
Zero
Zero is Jack Skellington’s ghost dog and his best friend. He has a glowing orange pumpkin nose. He’s always there for Jack as a loyal companion. On a personal note, Zero is my favorite character in the movie!
Sally
Sally is a “nightmare” creation and prisoner of mad scientist Dr. Finkelstein, only to be kidnapped and taken prisoner by Oogie Boogie in the movie. She’s in love with Jack Skellington.
About Jack Skellington pumpkins
This article will share two different methods of making Jack Skellington Halloween pumpkins:
Jack Skellington pumpkin carving. This where you use a stencil or drawing to cut a design out of your pumpkin.
Jack Skellington pumpkin painting. This is the no-carve method of using paint to create a pumpkin with Jack Skellington’s face. Or body. Or any other design you want.
Each one requires a different set of supplies.
Supplies for pumpkin carving
- Your printed pumpkin carving stencil
- A pumpkin that will fit your stencil (keep your design in mind when you’re at the pumpkin patch)
- A pointed serrated utility knife
- Antibacterial wipes
- Push pins
- Graphite transfer paper
- A ballpoint pen
- A fine-point Sharpie
- A Kemper ribbon tool for scraping the outer layer of your pumpkin
- A linoleum cutter set for detailed scraping
Supplies for pumpkin painting
- A pumpkin
- Clear coat to seal your pumpkin
- Acrylic paints (especially black paint and white paint)
- Painter’s tape
- An assortment of paintbrushes
- A template, design or pumpkin stencil
Now that you know the different kinds of Jack Skellington pumpkins AND all the supplies you’ll need, it’s time to get to the actual Halloween pumpkin designs!
Jack Skellington Pumpkin Stencil
The great thing about these pumpkin stencils is that you can use them for either a pumpkin carving stencil or a template for your painted pumpkin design.
It’s easy to think that if you’ve seen one Jack Skellington printable stencil, you’ve seen them all. Because his face isn’t a super complicated one to make into a carved pumpkin. The character itself IS a carved pumpkin!
But I was surprised at the wide variety of stencils I was able to find and gather up for you. All told, I found 33 different Jack Skellington pumpkin ideas. Thirty three! I thought I’d find a handful, but there’s a huge variety for you to choose from.
Jack Skellington Printable Pumpkin Stencils – Just Faces
Our first group features free printable Jack Skellington pumpkin stencils with only the face of Jack Skellington, Pumpkin King.
His stitched mouth is so iconic, a set of eyes and a nose are pretty much all you need to carve or paint to identify his character!
Pumpkin face – official printable provided by Disney – download here.
Jack Skellington pumpkin carving – official from Disney – download here.
Jack Skellington stencil – official Disney printable with Hocus Pocus and other pumpkin patterns – download here.
Printable face stencil – wide smile – download here.
Face only – scary pumpkin carving stencil with wide open mouth – download here.
Face only – Jack Expression #2 – download here.
Pumpkin face – simple pumpkin carving design – download here.
The Pumpkin King’s face – just eyes, nose and smiling mouth – download here.
Face – scary face, jagged mouth – download here.
Jack’s face – mouth with uneven stitches – download here.
Face stencil – open mouth smile – download here.
Pumpkin face – open mouth smile #2 – download here.
Pumpkin face – angry eyes – download here.
Face only pumpkin pattern – wide smile – download here.
Face pumpkin stencil – thin smile – download here.
Jack Skelllington pumpkin carving patterns
These stencils include more details or more of Jack’s body than just his face or head.
Pumpkin template – face with frame – download here.
Jack’s face – with bats – download here.
Jack Skellington pumpkin stencil – head and neck with bats – download here.
Pumpkin pattern – Headless Jack – download here.
Simple pumpkin pattern – upper body – download here.
Easy Jack Skellington pumpkin – upper body 2 – download here.
Jack Skellington pumpkin carving – Jack on Spiral Hill – download here.
Pumpkin King – standing on a spiral, arms out – download here.
Printable pumpkin stencil – Jack Skellington with his spider snowflake – download here.
Jack Skellington pumpkin carve – head and shoulders 1 – download here.
Jack – head and shoulders 2 – download here.
Pumpkin King Jack Skellington – head and shoulders 3 – download here.
Jack Skellington stencil – holding a carved pumpkin head – download here.
Sally with Jack Skellington pumpkin stencils
Reminder: Sally is in love with Jack in The Nightmare before Christmas. So these printables show two characters together and in love.
Jack and Sally – on Spiral Hill – download here.
Sally and Jack – with heart – download here.
Jack and Sally – on Spiral Hill with the moon – download here.
Jack and other characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas
Lock, Shock and Barrel – faces – download here.
Jack and Zero – on Spiral Hill – download here. Note: I would add a little space between his legs and the hill. Leave a little bit of pumpkin between them.
Jack Skellington pumpkin painted ideas
You can use any of the above printable pumpkin carving design ideas as a stencil for your Jack Skellington painted pumpkin.
By the way, painting small pumpkins is a great craft idea for a kids Halloween party! The supplies are inexpensive and the party goers get to bring home a sweet Halloween decoration.
Anyway, I thought you might want inspiration for your own pumpkin, so here are a few of my favorite Jack Skellington pumpkin painting ideas.
Get the instructions and a printable template for these Sally and Jack Skellington pumpkins here.
The glow in the paint adds another dimension to this Jack Skellington pumpkin. Get the instructions here.
This simple Jack Skellington pumpkin is enhanced with wide ribbons tied around the stem.
Here’s a Jack Skellington pumpkin inspired by a sugar skull.
These painted Nightmare Before Christmas stacked pumpkins even features Zero as the star on top of the “tree”!
This painted Halloween pumpkin is a tribute to Jack!
I love this painted pumpkin that’s half Sally and half Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas!
These two stacked Nightmare Before Christmas painted pumpkins are actually made with foam pumpkins from the dollar store!
Elizabeth says
Hi,
Thank you for sharing.
Do you have a link that works for the painted half of Sally and Jack? The link attached there does not work.
Thanks!