Set the Scene for Halloween

Guest Post by Ann Martin

There’s a chill in the air, and Halloween is just around the corner. This fall holiday has increasingly become one of the most popular American celebrations. It’s come a long way from just trick-or-treating. Adults love the spooky atmosphere, as well as the chance to dress up and pretend to be someone else for an evening. Throwing a creepy party for your friends takes some effort, but you might just find yourself hosting it annually after the first one.

Image: sxc.hu

Setting the scene is one of the most important things to do for your Halloween party. Decide if you want it to be goofy, spooky, or downright creepy. I prefer spooky, so I have furry bats, ghosts, and witches hanging from the ceiling. Homemade Jack-o-lanterns (or store bought ones) play a part in the much needed mood lighting, as well as the flicker light bulbs that mimic real flames. Candles are always great mood lighting, and now you can even use flame-less candles in luminaries, a great way to show the path to the bathroom.

Make sure you don’t neglect the bathroom when you are decorating. Everyone will end up in there at some time during the night. It’s the perfect place to change out your light bulbs for black lights and have a cackling motion sensor to give your guests a little scare.

Inside or out, strings of lights are becoming a common sight for Halloween. In addition to the usual colors, look for some peeper lights to put on the trees or shrubs by your house. The pairs of eyes flash independently. They turn your front yard into a haunted forest. Add some fake tombstones, lit carved pumpkins, and a few luminaries to lead your guests into your lair. You can add a surprise pirate that has a motion senor that lowers it to talk up close with your guests.

Each year, add a few pieces to your collection, and before you know it you’ll have more than enough to make your own little haunted house. Don’t forget to check the sales after Halloween. Items are usually marked down by half off or more. I pack them up with the decorations I used that year. When I open up the storage box the next year, I’ve left myself the perfect Halloween surprise!

If you don’t have any decorations yet and are on a tight budget, get some construction paper, brown paper lunch bags and some scissors. You can cut out bats, pumpkins, and ravens to tape on your walls and doors from black construction paper, and make luminaries out of the paper bags. Even Martha Stewart is doing groupings of plain, black silhouettes in her Halloween collection this year.

Another one of my favorite bargain decorations is to make scary face luminaries. Use aluminum foil and tear off a piece long enough to go around a small bowl or salad plate. Place it on your face and lightly press the foil to get the landscape of your eyes, nose and mouth. Once you take it off, mold the foil so that the features are more pronounced. Cut holes where the mouth and pupils would be. Tape this around a bowl or plate and light a candle to create scary monster luminaries.

Now that you have the perfect atmosphere, you need to think about a drink that fits your theme. Food2.com has some great cocktail recipes to get you started. Candy Corn Cordial, Split Your Melon Open, Bobbing for Apples or Thyme Martini are all worth considering. If you are looking for a non-alcoholic drink for your guests, think about trying out Martha Stewart’s Shrunken Heads in Cider without the rum. It does double duty as a perfect table decoration and a tasty drink.

Set up your Halloween snacks on dark plates to add to the mood. My two favorite styles are made by Noritake, Black Pepper and Stone Charcoal. The black plates and serving platter are great to show off your green guacamole dip and they even make Cheetos look like a fancy treat. You can search on Food Network or Martha Stewart’s site for tons of Halloween recipes to surprise your friends with. Just make sure that they are still appetizing as well as creepy or you’ll find yourself with tons of leftover food!

Dress up and put on some scary music to make sure you’re in the Halloween mood. After all it’s your party, so make sure to enjoy it.