I’m going to carve Kang or Kodos (can never tell them apart) on one and a mean-looking Mr. Burns on the other.
I love Halloween!
Dont know yet this year. Last year I did an alien face-
sort of 2 big eyes and a small o mouth, with a small slice
around one side, sort of like a ), to define the face.
In years past, I’ve done a pirate, which is VERY easy
with a slit across with one side carved out for an eyepatch,
and a bandana and earring-need a flashlight instead of a candle though. I’ve also done moon stars etc all over a whole pumpkin, which was beautiful, and my favorite easy
pumpkin, Groucho Marx, with eyeglasses and a moustache carved out.
Guess I’d better decide this years design tonight!
Using directions found here, I am going to try to carve my son’s likeness in the pumpkin tonight. Wish me luck and if it turns out, I will post pics 
I put my own face on mine. I don’t have PaintShop, so I had to do the contouring by hand. Pain in the butt, but big fun!
PS - I live in the LA area. This amount of narcissism is perfectly normal.
Did mine this past weekend. It was done from a pattern in a kit I bought but for my very first time carving a pumpkin I don’t think it is too bad.
I have two this year.
One is the headless horseman, it actually turned out rather well. The other is the head of the Statue of Liberty with an American Flag on the back. I just thought it looked cool because when you place the pumpkin in front of a wall with a cendle lit, the flag is reflected on the wall. I do one like that every year.
For my class, we always decorate a pumpkin for the pumkin decorating contest. Last years was the best, and my idea, too. We took back paint and painted a big pi sign (yes, the sign for 3.14…) on it. Pumkin… Pi… Hehehe… we won.
This year, we smashed it, splayed pumkin goo and seeds all around it, slapped it on a lunch tray and made a little sign to put under it: “Oops…”
I crack me up…
Thanks for that link, Tequila Mockingbird. They gave me a great idea–hanging the pumpkin in a hanging plant holder. I have two (and I have two pumpkins!) that have terra cotta bottoms and heavy wires; they should be perfect.
No Problem, bluethree. Glad the link was useful for someone as my son decided he wanted a big scary spider on our pumpkin rather than what I wanted to do. Maybe I’ll get another one to do how I’d like, seeing as I’ve already eaten all the roasted pumkin seeds. (Though the “Oops” one is hilarious, I think.)
I carved a black cat with arched back on mine. I made it half-way deep, so it shows as yellow instead of empty. It’s quite effective.
Sunday we had a pumpkin carving party at my house. We got this cheesy kit that had some patterns and little saws (which actually worked pretty well). I carved this really cool cat face, fairly detailed with very narrow pieces of intact pumpkin holding it together, and it looked great with a couple of candles in it.
Then I wake up this morning. The minor decomposition that a carved pumpkin normally undergoes has completely wrecked my cat. The eyes have sagged down and the piece that gave definition to the nose has dropped completely out of sight inside the pumpkin. It now looks like some sort of Lovecraft Chthulian cat. 
Those saws are great. They work on pumpkins, but they aren’t so sharp that you have to lock a toddler in the other room to keep him safe. My little guy was right in there with me as I cut.
I did three pumpkins this year. For the first time, I just freehanded it; no drawing some guiding marks first. I just went for it. Two of them are crazed/evil in appearance. The third is very traditional (three triangles for nose/eyes, grin with three teeth). This is the pumpkin that I grew myself, and I’m very proud of it. It was almost painful to carve it.
My jack-o-lanterns came out so well, I’m practically hopping up and down with excitement. Too bad I don’t have a digital camera, or a scanner, or the know-how to post pictures.