SIMPLE SMILE -- Harkening back to the era when pumpkin carving didn't require lasers! (Click the picture to discover the mess-free pumpkin alternative).

When I was a kid, there were no “Pumpkin Carving Kits,” just Dad, a steak knife and a black Magic Marker.

We were thrilled with cutting out triangles and circles and almost always gave our Jack-O-Lanterns poor dental habits — letting them have three teeth at the very most!

These days, the artistic stakes and expectations are much higher — as carvers are using specialized tools and stencils to bring these gourds to life.

Check out the Barack Obama and Simon Cowell designs created by British pumpkin farmer David Finkle, who was featured in the UK Daily Mail:

From the White House to The X Factor -- Who gets more people to vote, Barack Obama or Simon Cowell? (Source: Cavendish Press)

The subtleties of shading are achieved when the artist scrapes off the dark orange pumpkin skin and gets into the light orange meat instead of the traditional method of slicing and dicing through to the core.

If you want to get really fancy with the pop culture references, the celebrity gossip site TMZ offers free stencil downloads allowing you to decorate your doorstep with characters such as Madonna, Steve Jobs, Charlie Sheen, Chaz Bono, Betty White, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber.

Cute, but I’m still a Halloween purist and prefer traditional geometry when I make my cuts with my children.

Large peel-and-stick removable Halloween wall decals with interchangeable faces! (Click the pic for more details).

Which is why I am delighted to share WallCandy’s new Halloween Wall Stickers that represent pumpkins of every body type!

This removable wall decal kit taps into every child’s core desire to make funny faces — and it comes without the need of knifes, metal scoops or scrapers.

With these removable, restickable, repositionable pumpkin face stickers, there’s no such thing as a mistake. You can turn your Halloween friends from happy to puzzled to surprised in an instant. Try doing that with the 25-pounder on your doorstep. No candles to burn your little ones’ hands or batteries draining energy.

We’re not suggesting that Halloween Wall Decals totally replace traditional pumpkins. I still have fond memories of squishing out the pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin guts and goo and shooting them (squeeze slippery ones between your thumb and forefinger) at my younger brother.  But these removable wall decorations won’t wilt or rot a few days after your sugar high comes down.

What are your favorite pumpkin creations of all time?  Please show us your Jack-O-Lanterns and Halloween costumes on the WallCandy Facebook page!