Warmly lit hearts, luminous stars, glowing clovers, and twinkling diamonds -- try carving any or all of these shapes onto this year's pumpkin lantern. Since you're using cookie cutters to stamp out the designs, just about any shape you want can be easily created. You can achieve even more dramatic results when you use unusually colored pumpkins, such as white-skinned Lumina.

1. Cut a hole in the pumpkin's base, and hollow the pumpkin out. Hammer small cookie or canape cutters into the skin to create a pattern of deep outlines. Remove cutters with pliers; finish holes with serrated knife.

2. Line your walkway or front porch with Christmas lights, plugged into an outside socket or heavy-duty extension cord, and position a pumpkin over each lightbulb.

3. When you're finished carving, conceal the utility cord with pine needles or leaves.