Ready to create an Oogie Boogie pumpkin for Halloween this year? Pumpkin carving stencils will make it so much easier to make a jack-o-lantern that looks just like your favorite character from Disney's Nightmare Before Christmas.

Free downloadable Oogie Boogie pumpkin carving patterns

We think that a traceable pattern is the easiest way to transfer your Oogie Boogie design onto a pumpkin, so we made a free printable Oogie Boogie pattern that you can download and use.

Our easy paper pattern comes in two sizes to work on different sizes of pumpkins. If you have a smaller pumpkin, choose the smaller, one-page version of our pattern. If you have a larger pumpkin, choose the larger, two-page version, and just tape the pages together to create a large Oogie Boogie pattern.

Once you have your chosen pattern printed, you can use it to put the Nightmare Before Christmas's main character onto your pumpkin on one of two ways — as a pattern or as a stencil.

Method 1: Using the design as a pattern:

If you want to use the design as a pattern for tracing, all you need is a sheet of carbon transfer paper. Put it under the pattern and lay both sheets on the pumpkin. Then trace along the pattern's black lines to transfer the design onto the pumpkin.

Method 2: Using the design as a stencil:

If you don't have transfer paper, you can also use this pattern as a stencil. Just use scissors to cut out the design's background, eyes, and mouth. The paper you have left when you're done is your stencil.

Place the stencil onto the pumpkin and trace along the cut edges to create the design's outline on the pumpkin.

Once you have your design transferred, it's time to turn it into a Jack-o-Lantern. There are two ways to do this — carving and painting.

Carving Oogie Boogie into a pumpkin

For the classic Halloween Jack-o-Lantern look, you'll want to carve your Oogie Boogie pumpkin.

If you're using a real pumpkin, reach for your favorite pumpkin carving tools. Adults may choose a sharp knife, but children and beginning carvers should use kid-friendly pumpkin carvers that are easy to handle and less likely to cause injury.

As you carve, you'll find straight lines are pretty easy with any knife, but for curved lines, you'll definitely have an easier time if you use specialty carving tools that work great on rounded shapes.

If you don't want the mess of carving a real pumpkin, or if you want to use your Oogie Boogie pumpkin over and over, you can choose a faux pumpkin instead. Be sure you get one that's labeled as "carvable" so you know that it's hollow inside. (Many of them are solid foam all the way through and those don't work well for carving!)

To carve a faux pumpkin, regular carving tools might work just fine, but for the best results and smoothest finish, I like to use a hot knife. It just melts right through the foam and cuts cleanly.

Painting Oogie Boogie onto a pumpkin

If you want to skip the carving altogether, you can also just paint your design onto your pumpkin with acrylic craft paints. This is a great kid-friendly approach if you want to avoid sharp tools altogether.

Painting the background black and the eyes and mouth yellow can give this Oogie Boogie design an awesome look. The yellow eyes mimic what it would look like if it were carved and lit from inside.

Other Nightmare Before Christmas pumpkin ideas

Here are some more ways to bring Oogie Boogie into your Halloween decor,

• Oogie Boogie cookie stencils
• Oogie Boogie reusable Mylar plastic stencil
• Oogie Boogie vinyl decal
• Oogie Boogie face painting stencil
• Oogie Boogie bumper sticker