When is a skull not a skull?

When it's Mr. Meat (my nickname for it). Also known as "Meathead," this decoration is not the result of my own creativity, but rather my version based on a variety of pictures from Pinterest and other sites. The execution was easy. The tough part was finding the parts in the sizes I wanted. Start with a skull. Mine was made of cardboard and came from Michael's, but I'm sure that plastic or Styrofoam would work equally well. I painted the areas that would show white, but green might ultimately be more interesting. Cut sliced prosciutto into strips and layer it on the skull. I actually had an image of cranial musculature in front of me to try for some realism. Next, for the eyeballs. I used gumball eyeballs, but again, anything that is the right size, edible or not, would be fine. I glued them in place with superglue, since Mr. Meat is meant for decoration, not for eating (see cons below). I used him to decorate a meat and cheese platter. I've seen pictures where people have tried to create entire bodies, but they didn't seem to have the same visceral impact.

Pros: Easy to make and keeps for several days in the refrigerator when wrapped in plastic wrap. My guests were totally grossed out - in a good way.

Cons: It was difficult to find a small skull for use on a serving plate. Also, I forgot to set out the prosciutto for eating, and several guests decided to partake of Mr. Meat. The result was even more frightful, with torn meat dangling off him, but I was glad that I had been very cautious when I used the superglue not to get it on the meat.