Jack-O'-Lanterns on Parade

The Second Annual Team Grondul Pumpkin-Carving Extravaganza is drawing closer, so here are some ideas for making something other than the same old jack-o'-lantern. These ideas all come courtesy of MAKE and the "softer side" of MAKE, CRAFT:

• If you're a danger to yourself and others when wielding a knife, perhaps you should consider simply decorating the outside of your pumpkin, like Bert and Ernie here.
  
• If pumpkins are just too messy for you---though personally, I think the mess is half the fun---then you might want to buy a rubber foam pumpkin. Since these often come already "carved"---by which I mean "molded"---I'll expect you to do something creative with yours. Perhaps you can make a porch-light cover out of it, like this one.
  
• Plastic is another option for the real-pumpkins-are-too-messy crowd. That's fine, but, again, I'll expect you to do something clever. Here, for example, is a solar-powered plastic JOL.
• If you're more of the needle-and-tread type of person, you could crochet your jack-o'-lantern. If your design come out well, you can submit it to this contest at Monster Crochet.
  
• And finally, if you just want to carve up a really kickin' JOL, then you should check out Extreme Pumpkins. (I know I mentioned this site before, but no pumpkin-carving roundup would be complete without it.)