Halloween Marathon #2 Mason Jar Monday Monsters

Background story: The grandkids and I are into growing our own pumpkins. Well, okay, maybe not actual pumpkins - but lots (and lots and lots!) of vines, plenty of pretty blossoms and a handful of onion-like creatures spaced here and there among the ample foliage. The results we achieved come from believing that the seed packet instructions calling for "full sun" do not apply to us. Guess our "sunny smiles" don't count! So, we don't really have pumpkins to harvest this year, but what the heck! We are having a Family Halloween Harvest Party anyway! And these Maca-moldy Mason Jar Monsters will be served to all 15 ravenous guests!

Pint size wide mouth jars make very generous single serving portions. They are tied at the top with raffia scraps and a narrow ribbon bow. A pair of holiday print paper napkins and a plastic fork are slipped in at the side. Cut 1" green paper circles and glue (Elmer's) them side by side on the face of the jar. Make eyelashes, too, if you like. Keep in mind that these are monsters...who says two eyes are the limit? When circles are dry, use a stronger glue (such as Gorilla brand) to secure gooey eyeballs to the paper circles. Those eyeballs are slippery little buggers.....you can sub wiggle eyes if you like. Fill the jar with homemade mac and cheese, using white cheddar instead of yellow. Tint the cooked pasta with green (or purple) food coloring. The "trick" part of "trick or treat" for the kids is using thin strips of carrot and/or celery sticks as crazy monster hair to also get a few veggies down the hatch! Mini-tomatoes are good to sneak in. And I think the jars would be cute filled with gelatin too....or maybe "gan-green" oatmeal on Halloween morning! You can also poke a name card onto the times of each fork if you'd like.

Nervous Grandma Note: Make sure the kiddoes don't eat the gooey eyeballs! They are easy to peel off to play with, though.

Our Harvest Party and the Mason Jar Monday Monsters are both inspired by the original ideas of my grandma blogger friend, Connie, at Family Home and Life  I love her annual Family Harvest Day gathering and plan to use her basic idea for my event, but I'll spin it into a Halloween affair. Several months ago Connie also alerted her readers to the fun that people have using Mason jars for crafting, serving food, and gifting.  "Mason Jar Monday" is her challenge to all of us to use them creatively and then virtually "store" the original results in the "pantry" on her site. So far, all of the others kept there are dainty, flowery designs. That pantry sooo badly needs my little ruffian maca-moldy monster to stir things up a bit - and that's exactly where this goofy little dude is headed right now! Will we see you over there too?