Toggle Background Video Playback Cornelliana Our Latest Jack-o’-Lantern Stencil Celebrates a Famed Big Red Prank Stories You May Like Which Big Red Ghost Are You? With Our Custom Pumpkin Stencils, ‘Red’ Is the New Orange! Why Early Cornell Students Took a Sepulchral Shortcut Put a pumpkin on McGraw Tower—on a pumpkin—for a meta interpretation of a Halloween legend! By Joe Wilensky This year’s Cornellians’ custom pumpkin-carving design is gourd-eously self-reverential. The famed 1997 prank that saw a pumpkin mysteriously appear atop McGraw Tower during the Halloween season—and remain there for 158 days—is now lovingly captured in a bespoke design that you can download and carve. Canine intern Buster (who happily assisted with cleanup) poses with the completed carving. Each October, Cornellians has been helping alumni get into the seasonal spirit with original pumpkin-carving design templates inspired by Big Red traditions, symbols, and imagery. From a snarling Touchdown entwined with a “C” to a moonlit clocktower (sans pumpkin) and a brain in a jar (referencing the Hill’s brain collection), these stencils bring the spirit of the Hill to your seasonal décor. Each October, Cornellians has been helping alumni get into the seasonal spirit with original pumpkin-carving design templates inspired by Big Red traditions, symbols, and imagery. The new design visually re-creates the pumpkin atop the tower—though admittedly, the gloriously oversized gourd depicted is not to scale. The delightfully bold lines of the tower and its roof also serve as an homage to the famed campus landmark, which recently completed a significant two-year renovation. See the design come to life in our time-lapse video! To help ensure your carving results are Big Red-worthy, Alexandra Bond ’12—our talented associate editor and carver-in-chief, and a fourth-generation alum—once again stars in a time-lapse video highlighting how she brings a design to life. Additional insights on using a stencil to mark the pattern on the pumpkin and successfully carve it can be found in our original instructional video—and our last two years of designs are featured in our 2024 and 2023 videos. Download the Stencil! And be sure to read Alex’s step-by-step guidelines below! To peruse not only this design but others from past years, visit Alumni Affairs’ pumpkin-carving stencils page—plus, check out their roundup of Halloween-themed fun! Pumpkin Carving Tips By Alexandra Bond ’12 • Choose a pumpkin that’s about the same overall shape as your stencil. • Print out the stencil. (You may need to adjust the scale of the print-out to more or less than 100%, depending on the size of your pumpkin; some trial and error may be required.) • Gather your tools and supplies: multiple sharp knives in various sizes, a spoon for scooping out pumpkin guts, tape, scissors, and something to poke through the stencil and into the pumpkin. • Carve a hole in the top of the pumpkin (be sure to include a notch in the cut around the top, so you can easily tell which way it fits back in). • Scoop out the innards and scrape away some of the inside wall on the side on which you’ll be carving; this makes it much easier to cut through the wall later on. (Optional: save the seeds to roast for a tasty snack!) Stories You May Like Which Big Red Ghost Are You? With Our Custom Pumpkin Stencils, ‘Red’ Is the New Orange! • Using scissors, make a roughly two-inch cut into each corner of the stencil paper; this will allow you to overlap the corners so the paper fits on the curve of the pumpkin. (See photo below.) • Tape the stencil onto the pumpkin. • Transfer the pattern onto the pumpkin using a pointed tool to poke holes along the lines. (Tips continue below.) Gather your tools! After scooping out pumpkin "guts," seek professional assistance with cleanup. Taping the stencil to the pumpkin—with the cut corners allowing overlap—is key. Can you spy the design in tiny pinhole dots? The carving begins. The design is nearly complete! • Remove the paper (but keep it for reference as you carve). • Using a small serrated cutting tool, start by carving from the center out. • Focus on the smaller detailed areas before moving onto the larger sections. • Continue on with bigger cuts, cleaning up the edges as you go. • For a cleaner look, neaten up edges by cutting at a slight inward angle. • If anything goes wrong—don’t panic! You can use toothpicks to support any pumpkin pieces that have fallen off or that don’t sit exactly where you want them to. • Illuminate your masterpiece by candle or electric light (rechargeable or battery powered), and enjoy! (Photos and video by Joe Wilensky / Cornell University.) Published October 6, 2025 Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Ask the Expert Confused By Crypto and Digital Dollars? Dyson Prof Has Answers Students Identical Twin Mechanical Engineers Reach for the Stars Ask the Expert Marketing Wisdom, From the Alum Who Helped Turn Domino’s Around