I have a thing for carving pumpkins.

It all began when I worked with a bunch of really spirited Halloween coworkers.

Costumes on Halloween were encouraged and there was always a pumpkin carving contest.

Being a Type-A overachieving woman, I prepped for the competition by planning my pumpkin weeks in advance.

No, I didn’t use a template.

But I did make some pretty decent pumpkins – one with an upside down mouth (by accident) which actually turned out pretty good, and one that was supposed to be Yoda:

I also made a pumpkin of my son’s face, dramatically lit for the sake of carving.

I made a template in Photoshop and then transferred it to my pumpkin.

It turned out okay, here’s the original image, the pumpkin, and the pumpkin all lit up:

Well, this week my company had a pumpkin carving contest and I won for the scariest pumpkin:

I made. Jack Skellington pumpkin and my only regret is that I was so busy carving I didn’t have time to go around and collect pumpkin seeds, which make a delicious fall treat when toasted with a little salt and garlic.