AnchorMommy

BOO! Jack O’ Lantern Jars

October 9, 2009 by Shannon

These warm and whimsical jack o’ lantern jars are an easy way to decorate for Halloween on the cheap. Start saving your pasta sauce and jelly jars, or dig some out of the recycling bin!

What you’ll need:

• Clean glass jars in a variety of sizes (I saved containers for pickles, jam, salsa and pasta sauce.)
• Black tape (I used masking tape and duct tape. You could also use electrical tape.)
• Scissors
• Candles
• Red lentils or orange jelly beans

1. Remove all labels from the jars. I soaked mine in hot water, scraped off the paper and rubbed them with an abrasive cleaning pad. For the tough-to-remove adhesive, I also sprayed on a little De-Solv-it. You could also use some Goof Off.
2. Cut a number of triangles from the tape.
3. Rip off several long strips of tape and cut off the ends to turn the rectangle into a half-moon shape. Cut out a few squares from each one, to look like a toothy grin.
4. Line up the jars. Give your child a choice of which smiles, noses and eyes to put on each jar.
5. Fill the jars with red lentils, orange jelly beans or candles.

Aren’t they cute? Kellan had a great time turning the jars into jack o’ lanterns, and I love that the smiles, eyes and noses are all a little bit crooked. Gives the lanterns more personality, I think. Plus, this project is a LOT easier than carving a big, messy pumpkin! (Although I’ll probably still do that. I guess some Halloween traditions shouldn’t be messed with.)

I think our jack o’ lantern jars will be gracing our fireplace mantel, but you could also line them up outside on Halloween night — just make sure you don’t put ‘em anywhere where little hands or feet could tip them or otherwise goof with them.

Need another easy Halloween craft? Check out this Ghostly Ghoul Wreath!