According to Hallowe'en -- History and Traditions of the Holiday, the jack-o-lantern custom originated with Irish folklore.

A notorious trickster and drunk, named Jack, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. When Satan was in the tree, Jack carved a cross in the trunk, trapping the devil. He agreed to let Satan down if he promised never to tempt Jack again.

When Jack died, he was denied entrance into both Heaven (because of his evil ways) and Hell because he tricked the devil. Satan gave Jack a single ember to light his way through the darkness and the ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer.

The Irish originally used turnips as their `Jack's lanterns', but when they immigrated to the US, they found that pumpkins were more plentiful than turnips -- thus the pumpkin jack-o-lantern was born.

Whether its a simple face consisting of two triangle eyes, a triangle nose and a crescent-shaped mouth or an elaborate design like the ones pictured here (designed by Hope Robbins and her family), there are a few things you need to keep in mind when carving your jack-o-lantern.

Here are some handy tips to keep in mind when carving a pumpkin: For young children, get a thick black marker and draw eyes, nose and a mouth onto the pumpkin. Sparkles, felt and beads can also be glues onto a pumpkin to make it a one-of-a-kind jack-o-lantern. Decorating a pumpkin is much safer for young children than carving one; Older children, who are capable of carving a pumpkin safely, should use a sharp paring knife -- not a knife with a long blade; To prevent the lid from slipping into the pumpkin, slice off the lid on a slant; To allow the smoke from the candle to escape, cut a notch at the top where the lid meets the pumpkin; Ice cream scoops are an excellent way to hollow-out a pumpkin; Before you start carving, have your child sketch the face on the pumpkin -- that way they can make any desired changes to face; and Never try to completely force a knife into a pumpkin. Make an initial cut and then make a second, deeper cut. If you still have not fully cut the pumpkin, make a third cut.