Pumpkin carver's Halloween side-hustle brings in £20,000 a year

Jamie Jones, a 41 year old professional pumpkin carver from Chester, has revealed that his Halloween side hustle brings in up to £20,000 annually for just two weeks' work. Jamie, who lives with his wife Gemma and their two daughters, discovered his passion for pumpkin carving at the age of 30 and honed his skills by practising on 30 to 40 pumpkins each year "until his fingers bled".

Rather than cutting shapes out of the pumpkins, Jamie uses a unique shading technique to create a three-dimensional effect. After winning a pumpkin carving competition at York Maze in 2018, he launched his business, Pumpkin Freak, in 2019, creating commissions including logos for big-name brands such as Warner Brothers.

Each October, Jamie takes two weeks off from his full-time job as an events and media sales manager to craft around 75 pumpkins, featuring designs of horror icons like Pennywise, Freddy Krueger, the Terrifier and even notorious figures such as Jeffrey Dahmer. His business’ annual turnover is between £10,000 to £20,000 with £4,500 covering costs and £5,000 going to him this year, which is the first time he has taken a cut – because of this, he has been able to cover the costs of his Christmas.

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Jamie told PA Real Life: "This year I wanted to practise carving a face and, quite frankly, I found them both, Putin and Trump, terrifying people so I thought ‘I’m going to stick them on a pumpkin’.

“It was a bit of a trend a couple of years ago, the Trump-kin, so when I realised he was running again this year, I thought: ‘This is the year’.

"My main goal, though, is for this not to feel like a chore and a job.

"Moving forward I want to do fewer commissions but higher value ones that I can get passionate about and put a lot of effort into, instead of just churning out company logos."

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Jamie said his penchant for drawing and painting has long been part of his life, yet it wasn't until he reached 30 that his love for pumpkin carving truly blossomed. During a family Halloween gathering, Jamie opted to carve some pumpkins to decorate the venue and found himself utterly enthralled by the experience, discovering the vast creative potential within the craft.

Over the years, Jamie’s designs have grown more intricate, inspired by the American TV show Halloween Wars – where teams of cake sculptors, sugar artists, and pumpkin carvers compete to create the ultimate Halloween displays.

Describing his process, Jamie said: “I start with a stencil from something I’ve drawn or an image.

"I’ll print that out and use transfer paper or draw over it, and then the tools I’m using are lino cutters primarily in a few different sizes and hand wood carving chisels, and micro chisels, which have very fine points."

“And then the principle behind it is quite a simple one – you’re not cutting all the way through the pumpkin, you’re just shaving to different depths."

He explains how light manipulation works on his creations: "So the brighter areas are cut deeper into the pumpkin, and I often use cross hatching to scrape away at the pumpkin, and it’s all about going slowly."

To practise, Jamie would carve 30 to 40 pumpkins each year, “until his fingers bled”.

In a turning point back in 2018, he was offered £50 by a friend to carve a company logo onto a pumpkin, sparking the inspiration to turn his hobby into a lucrative side-hustle. That same year, he won a pumpkin carving contest at York Maze with his Beetlejuice-themed pumpkin, netting him £300 prize money that he invested to launch 'Pumpkin Freak' in 2019, setting up a website to showcase and promote his designs.

Within the business' first year, Jamie was thrilled to forge partnerships with major brands such as Warner Brothers and Pets at Home, tailor-making pumpkins featuring their logos for use in promotions and social channels. He dedicates two weeks of annual leave every October to focus solely on carving, supported wholeheartedly by "very supportive" colleagues and family.

On a personal note, Jamie admits: "My wife is suffering – I couldn’t do it without her, because they take so long to carve, she has to pick up more childcare."

His children appear unfazed by his seasonal obsession: "My kids are a bit numb to it, they’ve grown up with it happening every year so I think they thought everyone was this crazy about pumpkins! " His labour of love now leads to the sale of approximately 75 pumpkins each season, generously supplied by a local farm.

Jamie's pumpkin carving business boasts an impressive annual turnover of £10,000 to £20,000. This year, he reinvested £4,500 back into the enterprise for expenses such as hiring additional carvers, while £5,000 served as his personal earnings.

He said: “I can pay for Christmas with that, which is amazing, and I always said if I could pay for Christmas by carving a few pumpkins then I’ll be happy.”

He has also brought on board four fellow carvers from a Facebook group dedicated to the craft. The intricacy of the designs means they can take anywhere from seven to 27 hours to complete.

Among his most cherished works are those depicting Pennywise from Stephen King’s 'IT', and this season he's ventured into political satire with pumpkins carved in the likenesses of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

“I’ve done Pennywise four times now; I started in 2016 and I’ve done one this year so looking at the progression of all four of those, the improvement year on year has been quite satisfying for me," he shared.

“I’ve also been practising portraits a lot this year – I’m fairly pleased with the Penguin one that I did, and also the Putin one was okay."

However, not all creations meet his standards. "I was really unhappy with the Trump one that I did; I think it looked like a weird hybrid of Trump and Kim Jong Un, so that’s probably my least favourite, I definitely want to get better at that."

His artistry receive a lot of praise online, and he showcases about eight pumpkins on his front lawn, drawing locals who often pause to snap pictures.

Pumpkin carving expert Jamie has shared his tips for those keen to try their hand at the Halloween tradition. His advice: use a lino cutter for intricate details and remember "the most important thing is patience".

To keep his pumpkins fresh, he resorts to cleaning them with a water and bleach solution; as they start decaying, he places them at the bottom of his garden, laying out the seeds for the squirrels.

Looking to the future, Jamie is keen to explore foam pumpkins to create carvings outside of pumpkin season, ensuring his passion can continue all year round.

He said: “In the pandemic, instead of watching Tiger King and making banana bread, I was locked in my garage experimenting with foam pumpkins, so it would be great to finally get around to adding that to the business properly!”

To find out more about Jamie’s creations, visit: www.instagram.com/pumpkinfreakart and www.pumpkinfreak.co.uk.