Congratulations to the Jack-O-Lantern contest winner

Readers of the Del Mar Times, Rancho Santa Fe Record, Solana Beach Sun and Carmel Valley Leader have named Del Mar resident Diana Hooker the winner of the online Jack-O-Lantern contest.

Diana, who is a senior traffic coordinator for MediaFLO USA, got the idea for her carving from a book of pumpkin designs.

“I like that there were multiple images in the design and how the window frame broke up each item, but still kept them together as one picture,” Diana said.

While her design came out the way she wanted it to, Diana admits carving the pumpkin wasn’t easy.

“I used a small pumpkin carving knife, that actually broke several times while I was carving,” Diana said. “The tiny metal teeth kept coming out of the plastic handle.”

Diana has carved at least one pumpkin per year since she was little. Going to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin was something her family did every Halloween season.

All that pumpkin experience is about to pay off.

Diana will receive a $50 gift certificate to Cupcake Love in Solana Beach.