The Most Kentucky Jack-o-Lanterns Ever
Remember when you were a kid and carving a pumpkin was, more or less, just about adding some eyes and jagged teeth? Yeah, it seems the game has stepped up a lot since then.
Here in Louisville, there's the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at Iroquois Park, where 5,000 intricately carved pumpkins line a 1/4 mile walking trail to create a nighttime art installation. Over in Lexington, my alma mater, Transylvania, is hosting its fifth annual PumpkinMania tomorrow night.
Image via Transylvania University
Clearly, an old-school snaggle-toothed pumpkin just doesn't cut it these days. In honor of National Pumpkin Day and the upcoming Halloween holiday, I set out to carve the most Kentucky Jack-o-Lanterns ever. I went with three patterns that symbolized some of my very favorite aspects of my Kentucky life: my team, my city, and my dogs. I started with three pumpkins and a little fuel.
Then, I thought of some of the designs that would work best for my skill level and my love of the Commonwealth. I had a few ideas:
School Spirit
Here in the Bluegrass State, we love our sports teams a lot. Your college (or high school) logo makes a great pumpkin design. I downloaded this Kentucky Wildcats pumpkin template. I also found a WKU Hilltoppers, and it would be easy to create a template from this Louisville Cardinals logo or this UPike Bears logo.
Max investigates the pumpkin-carving process.
Famous Kentuckians
This takes a level of pumpkin-carving skill that I simply can't master, but famous Kentuckians would make for a kick-ass set of Jack-o-Lanterns. Here's an Abe Lincoln pattern. This guy could easily be converted to Colonel Sanders. I even found a Johnny Depp pumpkin on Pinterest and a Loretta Lynn in a country music magazine!
City Specific
Of course, here in Louisville, we have the fleur-de-lis to symbolize our city; this one belonged on my front porch for sure! With a little creativity, you could make a bourbon barrel, a racehorse, a bridge, or a local landmark!
Country Livin'
If you love the Kentucky country life, you could create a barn or a deer, or any other critter you like. If you follow HerKentucky on Instagram, you know that I'm obsessed with my dogs. I downloaded a Labrador Retriever stencil for Max and Sophie; you can find many popular breeds here.
Here's to a Happy Halloween, y'all! Hope you carve the perfect pumpkin for your Kentucky Home!