Pumpkin Fun

Did you know that Irish immigrants brought their tradition of Halloween and the jack o’ lantern (that o’ should have clued me in that it was an Irish custom) to America almost two hundred years ago?

According to legend, the jack o’ lantern began with a man named Jack.  Jack died and was rejected from both heaven and hell.  He then asked the devil to at least help light his path as he was forced to wander the earth.  The devil threw him a live coal from hell and in order to keep it from blowing out in the wind, Jack put the coal inside a turnip (a root vegetable) he was eating.

Consequently, "Jack of the lantern", shortened to jack o'lantern, has become a symbol of a doomed soul and is said to frighten away evil spirits.  

Despite this cheering and inspirational story (I kid), 

I am a bit partial to the fun and whimsical side of pumpkin carving/decorating.

Here are a few fun pumpkin ideas, including ours from this year:

A stencil and a black paint pen (+ my unsteady hand) made this happen.
I love the white pumpkins, but  I'm still contemplating a face for my jack-o-lantern.

Which was inspired by my neighbor's

A little wonky, I know.  But super cute.  

I love this UGA (University of Georgia bulldog) pumpkin.
I made a Georgia "G" pumpkin one year (but didn't photograph it, boo hoo).

One time I used crescent and star shaped cookie cutters to decorate my pumpkin. That was fun. 

Mine wasn't as cute or elaborate as this, but you  get the idea.  

Another year, I painted pumpkins and used them for a ring toss game at my son's preschool Halloween party.  They're still among my favorites.    

A little pink pig, a princely frog (with limes for eyes) and a smiley faced fun guy.  

Happy carving!