Jack-0-lantern tip....

I've been setting out a few of my Halloween things and had this good idea for stabilizing candles in your jack-o-lantern jars.  Use Epsom salts (or any other salt).   I thought of this idea after remembering this cute tip for holiday jar candles.  I have used mason jars with Epsom "snow" for Christmas, but never thought of using it for Halloween.

 

When the kids were all at home, we made these cute jar-o-lanterns.  Martha Stewart had this idea on her site and we liked it so much we gave them a try.  They were quite simple to make.  We used orange spray paint on the inside of the jars and printed out Martha's stencils for the faces.  Some of the more creative kids designed their own faces.  In her how-to instructions, she says to print off the jack-o-lantern faces on adhesive paper, but we didn't have that.  Instead, we printed off the faces on regular paper, then put masking tape on the jars where we wanted our faces to be.  We cut out the paper faces and taped them onto the masking tape part or drew the faces onto the tape with a Sharpie.  When we were happy with the face placement, we took an Exacto knife and cut away the eyes, nose, and mouth and then painted the open parts with glossy black paint. Let the paint dry and peel away the tape.  You can use the jars to hold treats or add a tea light inside like we did.  I put Epsom salts in the bottoms of our jars to raise up the candle a bit and to keep the spills and melting wax from melting onto the jars. 

Tonight Skelly is peeking out from the picture window and Scarecrow is welcoming visitors and trick-or-treaters by the front door.  Our only trick-or-treaters will be the next door neighbors -- the grands.  Now I'm off to bake up some Halloween Sugar Cookies.

Happy Halloween!