Halloween Games for Kids' Parties

Maybe your child has a birthday on October 30 or 31, and you want to have a party. Or you are having a traditional celebration in party form and are looking for ways to keep the kids entertained safely. There are lots of Halloween games for kids, both active and quiet, that will keep them occupied and having fun. Here are some ideas.

Monster Freeze

Put on some Halloween music. It can be funny and upbeat, or slow and scary. Tell kids to move the way the music feels. When the music stops, they have to freeze. Kids love Monster Mash and Michael Jackson's Thriller songs.

Pin the Nose on the Witch

This is a variation on Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Use a large picture of a witch, and paste it up on a wall. Give each kid a nose made from construction paper, with a loop of masking or painter's tape on the back.

Blindfold each child in turn, spin them around three times (kids love the spinning best of all), and then point them in the direction of the witch poster. They stick the nose on when they think they have it in the correct position.

Pass the Jack-O-Lantern

Divide the kids into two teams, and line each team up. Give the first person in each line a jack-o-lantern. You can use an orange with a face drawn on with black marking pen. Or use orange balloons with or without faces.

The first child puts the fake pumpkin under their chin and keeps it there, without using their hands. They have to pass it along, from one child to the next in line, from chin to chin, without using any hands. The first team to finish wins.

Spooky Telephone

Again, using teams in two lines, say the same spooky message to the first child in each line. They need to whisper the message to the next kid, and so on, down the line. At the end, the last kid has to tell you what the sentence was. Kids love to hear the funny things they end up saying.

Cookie Decorating

You can make or buy sugar cookies and decorate them with icing, sprinkles, and small candies, such as M and Ms. If you spread round cookies with orange icing, then give kids black or brown, they can decorate them to look like jack-o-lanterns.

If you use black or brown frosting, then give kids white icing, they can make spider webs. You can top those with gummy worms or bugs, to make them super gross.

Remember, if you have very young children at the party, keep the toys and favors large, to prevent choking. And in general, the grosser, the better. Kids love yucky! Using these simple Halloween party games, you can keep the kids amused and safe this year.

School Halloween Party Entertainment and Activity Ideas For PTO and PTA Groups

There is lots for elementary schools to celebrate in October - pumpkins, apple cider, autumn leaves, and of course, Halloween. These exciting fall traditions are perfect opportunities for PTO and PTA groups to plan fun and enriching activities for their students and school families.

Halloween parties are the classic elementary school Halloween event. Many schools, however, have chosen to move away from the traditional school Halloween party in favor of an event that is themed more to "Fall Harvest Time". The "Fall Harvest Time" parties have more of an emphasis on pumpkins, apples, and cider rather than ghosts, skeletons, and witches.

Whichever party theme your PTO or PTA group chooses, hosting a successful October party, requires a lot of volunteer time, organization, and planning. It is important to know that you have support from parents in your PTO group who are willing to volunteer time and resources to make the party a success.

Once you have your volunteers in place, you can begin planning the activities and entertainment for the party. You should also decide whether students will be allowed to wear costumes at the party, and if there are certain restrictions on costumes that they can wear (no masks, no weapons, etc).

Your school Halloween party could include a variety of entertainment options. Our personal favorite is a "Haunted Classroom", where a simple "not so scary" haunted house maze is created by hanging black plastic from the ceiling. Along the way, students encounter teachers who are dressed up in silly costumes and acting out funny Halloween scenes.

Trick-or-treating from classroom to classroom is always a hit with students. You can encourage creativity and class spirit by inviting each class to decorate their room to a Halloween theme.

Many schools hire a DJ to play Halloween music as "entertainment" at their parties. Generally, however, elementary students are going to be more interested in other activities and games than dancing to Halloween tunes. Therefore, the expense of a professional DJ (usually $100+ an hour) for an elementary school party is not necessary. With advances in digital music players, a PTA parent volunteer could easily create a fun play list of Halloween songs on their iPod or computer and have that play during the party.

Halloween party entertainment such as a magic show or puppet show can be a hit with students and parents, but it should not be scheduled at a time that would conflict with other activities at the party. Instead, it is best to schedule the Halloween party entertainment at the end of the party. This will provide you with an entertaining finale to your event, and encourage families to stay for the whole party.

An alternative to having your October party at the school is to have the party at a location that offers a Halloween or Fall themed activity. You will not have to look very far to find a local hayride, pumpkin patch, farm or corn maze that would be happy to host your school group. Many of these locations have already planned "Halloween party packages" that include food, games, and tickets for their attraction or activity. At first it may seem cost prohibitive to have the party outside of school, but if you compare with what your PTO would be spending on food, decorations, and entertainment for an in-school program, you may find that there is very little difference.

As a bonus, PTO and PTA planned parties that are hosted outside of school often are better attended, as you are offering families a unique entertainment experience.

There are many assembly presenters who have school shows that are written with Halloween and Fall time themes and messages. Hiring a Halloween assembly program or show is the easiest and most hassle-free way for a PTO group to bring some Halloween and Fall festivities to their students. A professional assembly presenter company will arrive at your school with everything they need to put on a program, so there are very few resources or volunteer time required.

Halloween and Fall Time assembly programs range from musical reviews and plays by Youth Theater groups to magic and illusion shows. The content of these shows are usually very lighthearted depictions of Halloween, with the focus on "silly fun" instead of anything spooky or scary. Many times, the presenter will also weave Halloween and Trick-or-Treat safety messages into the show.

Unfortunately, there are many horror stories of Halloween assemblies that have had an entire Kindergarten class in tears because the presenter was presenting content that was not age appropriate. Blood, gore, overly-scary images, and swords and knives do not have any place in a show for elementary school audiences, but they unfortunately end up in shows of performers who are inexperienced with entertaining young audiences. Be sure that you are hiring a professional entertainer and using a reputable school assembly booking company to avoid any unpleasant surprises the day of the show.

No matter what Halloween activity your PTO / PTA group chooses to do, early planning is the key to ensuring a successful and headache-free event. October 31st may seem like a long way away at the start of the school year, but with the excitement of back-to-school time, open houses, and fund raising kick-offs, Halloween can sneak up on you. If at all possible, decide on a Halloween planning committee before school gets out in June, or at least by August. If you are planning on hiring a Halloween assembly, the longer you wait to book, the fewer choices for dates and times you are going to have to choose from.

Have Fun With a Pumpkin Halloween Party

Pumpkins and pumpkin carving are one of the main highlights of Halloween. This year plan a Halloween party focused solely on pumpkins!

Your colors will obviously be orange with accents of black. For decorations feature orange tablecloths and napkins, orange and black crepe paper streamers, as well as balloons. Orange colored candles in black candle holders, black or pumpkin shaped serving bowls, along with any other decorations you use should fit into the color scheme and theme of the party.

Line your walkway to the house with flickering eerie pumpkin faces and scenes. Carve out your creations using either real pumpkins or the Fun-Kins carvable foam pumpkins. There are many wonderful patterns available for free on the Internet that you can print out and use.

Your menu could consist of pumpkin related foods such as pumpkin pie, bread, and cookies. Put together sandwiches cut into the shape of pumpkins using cookie cutters and serve orange flavored punch.

Take typical party games and transform them into pumpkin related activities. For example, children can play Pin The Nose On The Pumpkin or Pumpkin Bowling (use a child's bowling set, paint the bowling ball orange and add a pumpkin face). Adults could try their hand at a pumpkin trivia contest. For prizes hand out foiled covered pumpkin chocolates, gum, plastic key chains, pumpkin shaped cookies, or treat bags featuring pumpkin designs.

Not into pumpkins? Use these basic party planning ideas to come up with some other fun themes such as an all ghost party with white and black as your theme colors. How about a skeleton party or perhaps a glowing eyes theme where neon green and yellow are the main colors against a black background? Look around at Halloween sites and the various decorations featured for some great ideas on what items you can focus your party around. It's pretty simple, yet will make your Halloween party unique and fun to plan.

Free Halloween Games For Young Spooks to Enjoy

Halloween is a great time to put a new twist on favorite games that are reliably fun but affordable to. These Halloween party games can be done for minimal cost and effort, or free with things that are commonly found right in your home. For example, instead of playing musical chairs, play Black Cat Boogie. Take a tape player or CD player with some fun boogie music for the kids to walk/dance around to. Tape spots down on the floor (maybe in the shape of pumpkins, ghosts, or witches hats) and then one spot that's a black cat. There should be one less spot than there are children at the parties. Select a "leader" to start the game. The leader is responsible for playing the music and deciding when it will stop. Kids will move around the circle stepping from spot to spot during the time the music plays. When the music stops, the child standing on the cat becomes "out" and is the next leader. Continue playing until most children have a chance to be the leader.

Scavenger hunts are also a lot of fun for Halloween party ghouls - young or old, this one is called Skeletons and Pumpkins. Before the guests arrive, create 15-20 bones and 15-20 pumpkins out of construction paper (or on the computer) and hide the paper bones and pumpkins throughout the party area, Divide the guests into two teams and assign them a search target. See which team can find the most pumpkins or bones within the allotted time. That team wins. If this seems to easy for the age of your party guests, make it harder by turning out the lights and give each team one flashlight. Then, have the guests search for their items using only the light of that flashlight. Feel free to make the search items out of other materials besides paper if you have the time and budget. Clay bones, real miniature pumpkins, etc. will make it more difficult to find in a short amount of time as they become part of the party decorations.

Have fun at your Halloween Party!

Halloween Party Theme Ideas

This Halloween, you might be thinking about having a party. Sure, you can do so without a theme, and just ask everyone to come as they are. Or you could make it a little more challenging, and more fun, and have a unifying theme. You can use the theme either as a basis for the decorations and food, or as costume suggestions for your guests. Here are some ideas.

Think of a category, such as movies, and ask everyone to come as a character. Or think of something you consider to be part of the holiday, like a jack o lantern, or pumpkin, or black cats, or witches. Use that thing as the featured motif in your decorations.

One of the most popular themes is spiders. You can easily spread fake cobwebs across your rooms, add tiny spiders to the tablecloth, and incorporate spiders into your food and tableware.

What about skeletons or mummies? Serve mummy dogs (pigs in the blanket) and mummified skin chips (pita chips) with your grossest dip.

For kids parties, think about what kids love, then think of ways to make that scary or fun. Ghosts are popular. Kids can make ghosts during the party from napkins and small balls, or balloons and pieces of cheesecloth or fabric.

Pirates are a huge hit with both girls and boys alike. Have a cake that looks like a treasure chest, and throw candies on it, to look like jewels. Have them make eye patches during the party, or play Pin the Hook on Captain Hook (a version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.)

For adults, retro is always fun. Have a 60s party, complete with groovy decorations, hippie costumes, and gogo dancers. Or a 70s party, with black lights and psychedelic colors. Do an 80s party, with big hair and jewelry, shoulder pads, and 80s music, of course.

If you like to dance, do a zombie jamboree. Create a cemetery scene in your yard, complete with arms clawing their way out of the ground. Have your guests dress as zombies. Then you can all learn the moves from Michael Jackson's Thriller video and dance that together!

Don't forget your pets. Have a people and pets party. Be sure to have special pet-safe treats for the animals. Never feed them regular human trick or treat candy or desserts. They may contain things like xylitol and chocolate, which can be very dangerous, or even kill, your pets.

Let your imagination run wild. Look at pictures, or just remember what you used to do as a kid. You'll be able to come up with a great Halloween party theme for this year's celebration. Have a spook-tacular time!

Halloween Is A Favorite Holiday For Kids Everywhere But With Crafts It Can Be Even More Fun

Halloween will always be a favorite holiday with kids everywhere. Decorations are a big part of this holiday. Why not let your kids have fun and make their own decorations for this favorite holiday? They are easy to make and your kids will enjoy them more knowing they made them themselves.

One very easy but fun Halloween craft is the egg carton bats. You will need egg cartons, crayons or markers and scissors. Googly eyes are great to have too. The first thing they will need to do is to separate 3 cups from their egg carton. Then they need to cut out part of the bottoms from 2 of the cups so that they look like bat wings. Now they can draw the eyes and mouth and decorate their bat however they want to. The last thing they will do is to attach a string or rubber band so that they can hang up their bats.

A second craft is the egg carton spider. You will need to have egg cartons, crayons or markers, scissors and pipe cleaners. You can use googly eyes if you want to. Separate one cup from the egg carton. With scissors you want to make 8 small holes at the base of the cup. Make sure there are 4 holes on each side. Then put the pipe cleaner into each of the holes so that there are eight legs. Now draw the face and decorate how you want to. These two crafts make Halloween more fun for kids of any age.

Hosting A Halloween Party With Ease

Putting together a costumed Halloween party for adults is not as difficult as it might sound. With the right tricks up your sleeve, the resulting party is a treat to lead.

Some of the best ideas for creating a masquerade party that is a hit involve nothing more than a little careful planning. The keys lie in the invitations, the menu and focusing on the theme. When shortcuts and easy ideas are followed, the entire event will almost plan itself.

The first thing to do is to get the invitations out early. The beginning to mid part of the month generally works well. If a high-end masquerade ball is anticipated, September is not out of the question either so guests have the time to really pull together their costumes. Make sure the invitations include response cards and be certain to highlight the costume requirement. If the event is Bring Your Own Brown Bag, say that to avoid any confusion later.

Planning the menu will hinge a lot on the style of the party and the number of response cards. Easy ideas for foods include finger sandwiches, deli platters, restaurant catering and even lots of homemade treats. For higher end parties, consider catering to take the extra burden off hosting the gala. Do wait to order or start planning until the number of guests is reasonably in hand.

Decorations for the holiday virtually plan themselves. Think streamers, balloons and plenty of ghosts, goblins and jack-o-lanterns. If dancing is desired, push the furniture in the living room back to the wall, but leave plenty of seating open for those who do not want to cut a rug.

If an extra holiday flare is really desired, a horror movie marathon running on a screen or two in the house is not out of question. Ideas to keep this a little sequestered include offset family rooms, porches or even screening rooms if they are located in the house. Pull out the classics and some recent favorites and just keep them loaded up for the enjoyment of your guests.

To give the party a little extra zing and pizzazz make a contest out of the costumes themselves. When guests arrive, give them a ballot. Let them vote on their favorites. Before the evening winds down, tally the numbers and hand out prizes to the top three party people. Ideas for prizes include Halloween themed decorations, gift baskets and even a bottle of fine spirits in keeping with the season.

Hosting a costumed Halloween party is a great way for adults to get into the season. The effort does not have to take a ton of time, money or work to really pull off. Keep it simple by planning things ahead and taking shortcuts so personal enjoyment is also ensured.

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10 Ways To Dress It Up For Halloween

Don't use the same ole traditional halloween candy bowl you have used year after year. Let your creative juices flow and seek out something fun and unique this year. Here are 10 ideas sure to get the party off to a higher spirit.

1. Basket case. Hollow out a pumpkin to use as a fun filled candy basket and to finish it off, make a basket handle out of cut vines. Any backyard vine with stiff stems will work great. Clean out the pumpkin and let it sit for approximately 24 hours to make sure it is dry before filling it with treats. Bend the vines into a handle and secure them to the pumpkin with wire poked into each side.

2. Truckin. Let your creativity flow, find a vintage dump truck at your favorite antique store, second-hand store, maybe a flea market or a garage sell. Fill it full of bright, colorfully wrapped halloween candies, use halloween stickers to decorate the vintage dump truck doors, such as a cute little pumpkin. This makes for a great accent piece.

3. Conversation piece tray. Find a vintage tray with dividers or maybe a drawer with built in dividers, at your local hardware store, or an old wooden crate with dividers in it to display a variety of colorfully wrapped halloween candies, in some of the larger divided sections, full-sized wrapped candy bars work well, maybe find vintage wrapped candy bars. For health reasons, just remember to use only wrapped candies.

5. Strange and interesting vases. Seek out unique containers at a garage sell, maybe at a second-hand store, import stores, furnishings store or an antique store. Look around, you may have something special at home that would be ideal. These will make for great halloween foil-wrapped candy holders. A good example of one would be a wire umbrella type so the candies will stand out in a crowd.

6. Stand alone candies. If you would like to decorate with special halloween stand alone treats, as they are referred to, use a coated black cast iron decorative trivet to place on an end table or on a small serving table. You can also use a 2 or 3-tiered serving tray. Place pumpkin shaped or skeleton shaped suckers on it. Maybe choose some candied bones mixed with gummy body parts and scatter them all around on the trays. Use your imagination, this is the time of year to get a bit crazy.

7. Well, well well. Choose a gourd or a pumpkin in your desired size but with a nice deep well in the top of it and trim off the stem to make a ready made candy dish for loose chocolate-coated sesame seeds, roasted pumpkin seeds, or decorative halloween wrapped candies or a combination of these. Use your imagination and just have fun.

8. Haunted house candies. Ever thought about maybe turning a dollhouse, or perhaps a new birdhouse, or any kind of shelter-style accessory into a spooky wicth's lair. Paint the house with black and dark green paints, them prop a witch figurine at the door. Tuck candies into the windows and doors. Pile up a bunch of candy in the middle of a room and combine some of those stand alone type treats.

9. Spooky garden planters. Find a unique looking, maybe an aged or weathered looking garden planter at a garage sell or a second-hand store and re-use it Maybe you have something that would work well in your own garden shed. Of course, make sure you wash it thoroughly and then use a food-safe liner, such as a plastic bowl or a bag to fit snuggly into the container to pour the halloween candies in to. Sweet.

10. Wired. Seek out an old second-hand inexpensive bicycle or a tricycle, the more run down it is, the better. Attach a large wired basket to it, or even an old fashioned inexpensive weave type basket will work. Fill the basket full of a large variety of halloween candies and set it by the front door for your guests to enjoy as they enter. What a great conversation piece.

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Halloween Favors - Choose Among Many Options

Halloween parties are gaining in popularity for kids and adults alike. Costumes have become more sophisticated, decorations much improved and the quality and selection of Halloween favors are better than ever.

Edible Halloween favors will always be beloved. And if you make them yourselves they are low in cost. Need inspiration for some homemade treats? Turn to Google Images for endless possibilities. Go to Google.com and then select Images from the choices in the upper left corner of the webpage. Type in either "Halloween Cookies" or "Halloween Cupcakes" and you'll be amazed by how many cookies and cupcakes you can choose from! Print out the ones you like best and then go for it! You can obtain terrific Halloween cookie cutters at many stores and certainly online.

Other easy and fun treats include decorated caramel corn balls, dipped pretzels, and rice crispy treats.  Place each item in a cello bag, tie it with a black or orange ribbon, and you have a finished Halloween favor.

If your baking and decorating skills are not your strong suit, or you don't have the time to do it yourself, leave it to the professions.   They have some really impressive offerings including bat cookies, skeletons, ghosts, monsters and, of course, pumpkins!

Non Edible Favors: Candle favors are perfect for this holiday. Search for votive holders that have a 'Halloween' motif including black and orange. An orange colored votive is perfect for the holder! (Black, too, if you can find them). Halloween party cups have also become popular. These are made from acrylic (so durable) and typically have a Halloween motif on them. Ultra cool party cups have 'compartment' bottoms that include a Halloween scene within the compartment.

If your party is before Halloween, you can give away glowing or blinking bracelets, necklaces, or buttons. They are both fun and practical, as they can be used to be spotted on the evening when you will be trick or treating.

Cool Party Favors, copyright 2009

Joyce Kreger is a party planner and recommends these fun Halloween Favors offered at Cool-Party-Favors.com

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How to Host the Creepiest Halloween Party on the Block

It's just the right time of year to start making plans for Halloween. If you don't have small children, or if the weather just isn't right for trick-or-treating, you might want to consider hosting a fun and spooky Halloween party. Of course you'll want to use your own creative spark when hanging decorations and baking snacks, but here are a few basic ideas to get you started.

Decorations

You don't need to spend a lot of money to convert you house into the kind of creepy crawly locale suitable for Halloween. All it takes is a few supplies and a little imagination.

The first step is to choose a theme for your decorations. A little organization can lead to a much more appealing (and frightening) effect than simply taping scary images up. You can host your party in:

· A haunted mansion
· An eerie graveyard
· A mad scientist's laboratory
· A monster's lair
· A meeting place for fairy tale witches
· Any other place you can think of!

The next step is to gather your supplies. Of course, the kind of decorations you want to make will depend on your party's theme. If you're not sure what decorations would work best, or how to create the effect you want, there are plenty of websites with lots of great tips.

Refreshments

As we all know, refreshments are the lifeblood of a party. You don't want to serve any drab snack for a special night like Halloween. Fortunately, there are plenty of easy ways to dress up your favorite foods to create the perfect spooky snack.

For example, let's say you're serving deviled eggs - the perfect food for a scary party, right? After you've prepared the eggs, get some black olives and cut them in half. One half can be placed domed side-up on the egg yolk. The other can be cut into slivers and arranged around the other half. There is now a swarm of huge spiders on your food table.

As you can see, anything you may be preparing can be turned into an appropriately awful surprise for your guests. Simple cookies can become bones, fingers, eyeballs, and bugs. Gelatin can be easily molded into delightful shapes, from brains to space aliens to ghostly ectoplasm. Even harmless homemade breadsticks can become gangly skeletons or witches' brooms.

For more information about party hosting and refreshments, visit http://www.cdkitchen.com

Joseph Devine

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Throw a Dracula Dinner Bash for a Frightening Halloween Party

All set to sink your fangs into a Halloween sit-down feast?

Step #1: Plan your celebration for the actual day of Halloween -- Sunday, October 31st.

If that date doesn't work for you, think about dining on the every bit as scary eve of the full moon on Saturday, October 23rd.

Step #2: Setting The Table

Orange, Black & white, and blood red are the traditional colors of the damned, which means that you should set your stage in accordance with that. Begin with blood-red, orange or black placemats or a table runner, all with coordinating napkins and napkin rings. Color- coordinated dinnerware will have monsters' mouths watering, and blood-red crackle-glass stemware delivers a gothic, medieval feel to your table. Designed for your centerpiece, load a tall container with willow branches that you have glittered, encircled with votive candles and fun Halloween confetti. For placeholders, use red apples with your guests' nametags skewered to the stems.

Step #3: Choosing The Meal

Oh, wait a minute -- vampires of the underworld never consume food! Which will mean you are going to have to get imaginative with a few blood-inspired dishes. Begin with a soup of cool homemade borscht (and never mind the gagging, it's actually quite tasty) capped with a spoonful of sour cream. Either good rare lamb chops or perhaps steaks (not to be confused with stakes) are usually always welcome. For a side dish, some spaghetti topped by a hot and spicy red sauce always goes great. Oh, and don't neglect a salad to keep the annoying vegan vampires happy. As a dessert, consider Red Velvet cupcakes with a yummy cream cheese frosting.

Step #4: Pouring The Drinks

Ah, it really gets fun now! You can make bloody-looking goblets simply by dipping the rims directly into corn syrup mixed with red food dye and then turning them upright to let the goo drip on down the sides of the glasses. After this has had a chance to set, fill the glasses with cranberry juice and ice cubes made with red food coloring (and you can even freeze plastic bugs or spiders inside them, if you dare). Or perhaps forget about ice altogether and just go with a good Pinot Noir, Merlot, or Cabernet. Everybody knows the undead really love their spirits.

Step #5: Designing The Decor

Consider decorations that are luxurious and captivating, like vibrant red, gold or purple (or even black) window curtain panels. Gleaming glass flower vases packed with apples or shiny glass beads of coordinating colors. Make bloody candles by simply dripping melted red candle wax onto white candles. Group plastic or silk plants and trees all around the party room for a woodsy feel, and then spice them up with tiny white twinkle lights to help take advantage of the magic. Finally, put on a creepy music soundtrack and take a seat at the dinner table.

Bone appetit!

For all your Halloween party decorating needs, visit the UltimateHalloweenSite.com

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Halloween Food Ideas: Three Cute Cupcakes to Make

If you are looking for dessert ideas for your Halloween party or kids party, you don't need to go through a lot of work. What could be more popular these days than cupcakes? These three cute cupcakes are easy to make, and the kids can even help with them.

Start with cupcakes baked in liners. You can find specially decorated holiday-themed paper liners for sale in the grocery or specialty stores. You can even purchase some already made, and just do the decorations yourself, if you prefer.

1. Nummy Mummies

Use any flavor cupcake you like, and a light or cream-colored frosting. You'll need two brightly colored, small round candies for eyes, two per cake.

Spread some frosting along the top edge and a little ways down the cake. Think of this as the bandage going over the mummy's head. Leave an unfrosted area below that, just large enough for the eyes to peek out.

Add more frosting below the eyes, to cover the rest of the cake. Dip the eyes into a small amount of frosting to help them stick, then place them on the cake.

2. Vampires

Use any flavor of cupcake and a light colored frosting. You'll also need either red gel icing or frosting, plus some fruit leather, chocolate modeling clay, or a darker frosting, but that's optional. You can make the whole thing in red.

Spread frosting all over the cake. With the red icing, draw a curved line for a smile. Then make two triangles from either red icing, or cut them from fruit leather and add them to the mouth.

Use two dots of frosting, or balls of modeling chocolate for eyes. To make hair, use a narrow triangle, either cut from fruit leather, or use frosting. Have the narrow point down, towards the eyes, to look like a widow's peak.

3. Skulls

Use any flavor of cupcake, plus a light frosting. You'll also need a darker frosting or chocolate modeling clay.

Spread frosting in a skull shape. Make a figure eight shape, but keep the upper section bigger, and make the lower section with straight sides.

Using frosting or chocolate clay, make two ovals for eyes. Make two tiny ovals or lines for nostrils. And make three narrow vertical lines below that for the teeth.

There you have it. Three easy, cute Halloween cupcake decorating ideas that you don't need any fancy skills to make. They'll be a hit at your next party.

Want to see more?

Find more Halloween cupcake decorating ideas and photos at http://halloweenpartystuff.net/halloween-cupcake-decorating-ideas-easy-cute-cupcakes/

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Lift Up the Mood of the Dining Area on This Halloween

Liven up your dining area while hosting the Halloween dinner for your guests. Have something different by keeping the dining area free from the spooky stuff. Here are some easy tricks to spruce up the area without much ado.

Light Them Bright

As a contrast to the dark and dingy party area, keep the dining area brightly lit. Try to make the most out of the corners. Corners should be highlighted with soft lights while the dining table should be brightly lit.

Chandeliers are the right option to add more panache to your dining room. Do not jumble up the place with colorful lights in outrageous colors.

Drink Away To Glory

Be creative and serve the drinks with style. Practice your bartending skills before hand and prepare scorching cocktails to woo your guests list. Nothing works better than innovative cocktails served in style. Place some exotic flowers like wild roses and alstroemeria in vases.

Also remember to garnish the cocktail according to the requirement of the day. Ensure that you have an ample stock of liquor in your bar. Do not forget to polish the glasses especially the crystal. Keep ample stock of ice as a safe option.

Bright Tableware

Decorate the dining area by using lots of color instead of the monotonous neutral shades. Go for bright colors like red and mauve et al. Instead of lace stuff, go for bright mirror work with slight sequined work. Place some exotic flowers like pink orchids and alstroemeria for the decorations. Avoid bunches of small flowers as it will yield a shoddy look.

Be creative and deck up your dining zone to impress your guests this Halloween.

Jasnav is an expert relationship advisor and a party lover who gives extremely practical advice on making relationships last a lifetime.
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All Set For a Sexy Halloween Party

If you are planning, or going to, an adult Halloween party then why not turn it into a Hot Halloween affair with a sexy theme, or at least a sexy interlude later in the evening. What can you do, though, to add a bit of spice to the annual horror fest, without drifting too far from the traditional Halloween themes and practices?

Setting the Sexy Party Scene

To achieve a sexy Halloween atmosphere for your party, you can make use of many of the usual Halloween props. If you are the host or hostess, then all is under your control. If your friends are hosting the party, then you could always take the initiative, suggest the sensual ambience, and then offer to help get it all set up.

Creating a sexy atmosphere for Halloween is not necessarily that difficult, as lighting can play an important role in both a frightening Halloween scene set, and also a romantic and seductive atmosphere. So, if your home, or one room of your home, is set for a traditional Halloween scene, with low lights, and hidden horrors, it need only take one catalyst to turn that very same atmosphere into a sensual one.

As far as the lighting goes, some Halloween props are ideal for this dual role. Strips of black lights can be very effective at creating horror effects, illuminating fluorescent paint graphics, and they can also make white surfaces glow and dark surfaces disappear. But those same lights, charged by the sexiness of the atmosphere, can be sensual too.

The same applies to strobe lights. Pulsating in the darkness or subdued light, they can create some strange effects against the walls and ceiling, where you may have your Halloween scene setters, wall and mirror grabbers, and hanging decorations. They can also help to provide the mood for a more sensual interlude later.

There are two more types of lighting that can be appropriate for the sexy and scary Halloween atmosphere. Glow bulbs are a great innovation for some really weird lighting effects. When exposed to any light source, the special silicone film shines a vivid neon, and these can be especially effective with strobe lights shining on them intermittently. Finally, never forget the candles, associated with romantic evenings, seduction, witches brewing their evil brews, and vampires drooling over their poor victim in the dungeon, about to sink those fangs into her defenceless neck. In fact, candles can be the ultimate lighting prop for any Halloween party.

Dressing For A Sexy Halloween Party

If you are inviting people to your home for a Halloween party, then you can advise them in advance that it will be a sexy theme. In other words, "please come dressed in the sexiest Halloween costume you can find".

Finding that outfit will be much easier for the women than the men. The sexy costumes sold online all seem to be for women, but come on guys, use your imagination, I am sure it will be appreciated.

Popular girls' and women's costumes that are most popular with the guys can also serve for Halloween. Seductive woman cop costumes, and this year especially, sexy pirate costumes are the vogue. There are loads more ideas to choose from, though, including seductive schoolgirls, revealing nurse's uniforms, French maids. With a more Halloween touch, vampires, wizards and witches can be transferred into alluring and irresistible women with the right costume, and yes, you can find them. The only problem for the ladies is choosing from such a vast range of possibilities.

Adding the Sexy Catalysts to the Party

You have the lighting set up for horror or sensuality; your guests have taken the request seriously and turned up dressed to kill in their alluring, tantalizing, evocative and seductive costumes. With all that sexiness on view and display, it would surely be a sexy Halloween party. But what else could you do to take that sexiness to a higher level?

One thing you could do is to play some horror dance music, if you can find it; if not, some other fun dance music will do. Then, have a sexy dancing contest for men and women. With the strobe lighting and revealing costumes, that could be an enjoyable prelude to a party game, such as Pervartistry, an adult, but tasteful, form of charades which is sure to take the sexy mood up to a new level. Just imagine playing that game, and the dancing, in a sexy Greek toga or other sexy Halloween costume!

Whatever you decide, have fun!

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Five Monster Fun Halloween Ideas

So are you thinking maybe you want to have a Halloween party or maybe want to impress a group of friends by bringing a creepy, unique looking Halloween dish that will be quite a conversation piece?

Here are some fun easy ideas that can make ready-made foods into awesome festive snacks people will love.

1. Ritzy the snake. You got it, ritz crackers, with a touch of M & M minis, black ball nonpareils, used to decorate cookies which can be found in any grocery store, laffy taffy and peanut butter. Stretch out a line of ritz crackers just as you would a falling line of dominos join each ritz cracker together with peanut butter, with the last ritz cracker laying down flat and half a ritz cracker up right in the middle of the flat cracker, this will be used as the snakes face. Use the M & M minis as the snake eyes with the black ball nonpareils as the tiny eyeball pupils and as the snake nostrils. The M & M minis can be used as buttons on every other ritz cracker on the snakes body with the peanut butter as the glue. Cut a long, narrow strip of either green or red laffy taffy as the snakes slithery tongue, creating a small hole as the mouth to place the laffy taffy in and tah dah, an adorable decorative snake sure to be a conversation piece.

2. The green evil eye. Use carved out green apples with gummy fruit pieces as eyeball parts and black frosting as eyebrows and pupils with white frosting as accent and to act as the glue. Begin with a nice crispy green apple at room temperature making it easier to carve a round shallow hole out and making it easy for parts to stick together, place a gummy fruit circle in the middle of the carved out hole in the apple using the white frosting as the glue and painting the gummy fruit circle black with the black frosting. In the center of the black painted gummy fruit circle build up an eyeball with the white frosting, put a black dot in the center of the white eyeball with the black frosting or maybe use a dark-chocolate chip as the dot if that would be easier. Use a cake decorating tool to paint a black frosting eyebrow around the top of the carved apple edge or maybe a black ready-to-use fondant, a cake-decorating ingredient available in craft stores if drawing is not your thing. You can create as many evil apple eyes as you like and all pieces and parts are edible.

3. Brains, gooey brains. Peeling away the rind, use a honeydew melon to create a very realistic monsterous brain. Use a paring knife or an X-Acto knife to cut deep slashes or deep long cuts into it, just as you see on a human brain. Then place the melon into a large mixing bowl. In a second mixing bowl, mix up four 3-ounce packages of strawberry-flavored or a red Jell-o of your choice, per the directions given on the back of the package. Pour the Jell-0 over the melon until the deep grooves are each filled and the melon is completely covered with the gelatin. Refrigerate overnight, then scoop out the size of melon, or brain you desire, with a large spoon or spatula and scrape away some of the gelatin.

4. Ghostly. This little decorative idea is very simple, but soo much fun. Use a clear plastic or glass drinking glass, fill it up with milk. Decorate the drinking glass with black fabric tape or with black electrical tape cutout eyes. Cut out oval dots in the desired eye size, then cut a C-shape at the top corner of the oval black dot, and place them 3 or 4 inches down from the top edge of the drinking glass. Simple, yet very cute little ghosts.

5. Monster spiders. Begin this little project with a dark chocolate clear plastic dessert cup for the spider body, and fill it with ready-made dark chocolate mousse, piped from a decorating bag fitted with a 1 m tip. Break chocolate-covered pretzels into pieces to use as spider legs. Use a chocolate truffle as the arachnid head and attach small candy icing eyeballs with a tiny amount of melted chocolate in the center of the white candy eyeball. Use melted chocolate as the glue to attach each piece. On the spiders back, use 4 or 5 brightly colored red or orange M & M minis and line them up in a straight line as a creepy spider spine. Before placing the spider on a plate, use a white plate and with a bamboo skewer draw long u-shaped lines of raspberry and yellow mango dessert sauces on the entire plate to look like a large web, then place the spider in the middle of the plate. Tah dah, a gnarly looking edible spider.

Discover more free fun Halloween ideas by visiting the links below.

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How to Choose a Halloween Party Theme

When deciding on a party theme, there are several factors to consider. Not all of them will apply to your party, but it might be a good idea to give them a thought just in case.

Guests

The first thing that you will want to consider is your guests. Probably the most important aspect is the age group. If the party is going to be composed only of adults, then you have a little more leeway in picking a theme and planning food and drinks. If kids are going to be present, be sure to let the other guests know so that they can plan appropriate costumes. As the host, it is also your responsibility to provide entertainment for the kids, so you should have some fun Halloween games, and maybe a prize or two, ready to go.

Decorating

Some themes are much easier to decorate for than others. When was the last time you tried to make your house look like a view from under the ocean? While complex themes like space and the jungle can be fun, and can provide people with great costume opportunities, they're also hard to decorate for. Themes like a decade, i.e. the 50's and 60's, are much easier to decorate for, but are also already popular themes. Some themes, like a Greek theme or an Egyptian theme, are somewhere in between.

Food

Along the same lines as decorating, food can be tough to prepare for themes that push the traditional boundaries. Luckily, a quick search on Google will usually turn up at least a few themed recipes for almost any idea, but some of them can be time consuming and require advanced baking skills. Certain themes have lots of foods associated with them already, and you can always take a few shortcuts and just make cookies that look like something from the theme.

Activities

The more space you have for your party, the easier it is to come up with activities. Most party games can be tweaked to make them applicable, but certain themes just lend themselves to games better. Once again decades are really easy to plan for, especially if most of the guests lived through the decade that you choose. If only adults are attending the party, you might not need activities, but it can still be fun to play a game or two as the night goes on. If you can't think of one or two activities for your theme right away, you might have to do some research.

Party Theme Ideas

The Traditional Party

A traditional Halloween party takes the themes that most people associate with Halloween and puts them into party form. Decorations are usually geared towards the haunted house look and guests are asked to dress up. One of the great things about throwing a traditional Halloween party is that people can dress up however they want. You can also set a theme, but it makes more sense to decorate for a certain theme if you want people to all dress in a similar fashion.

Prehistoric Party

Cavemen, Cavewomen, dinosaurs and sabertooth tigers, what could be more fun than a prehistoric party? Unfortunately, planning a party with such an elaborate theme can be time consuming. Decorating for this theme is especially hard. Make foods simple, think foraged berries and nuts as well as some kind of meat; kabobs are always a big hit. For activities you can play Spell that Dinosaur.

Undersea Party

Like the prehistoric party, the undersea party has great costume and decorating potential if you're willing to put time into it. Once again food is pretty easy, just serve seafood and fish crackers! For games you could have a Go Fish tournament.

Space Theme

Prepare to have your house invaded, there are sure to be plenty of aliens that show up. This theme also has the added bonus of having a rich history of characters like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. Decorating is pretty easy, just put up some stars and a few planets; food is the real struggle with this one. You could make oddly shaped brownies and have them be edible moon rocks.

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Halfway to Halloween Celebration

Halloween is an exciting time of year for people of all ages. Children get to dress up and stroll the neighborhood for candy, teenagers feel mature the first Halloween they spend giving out candy instead of taking it. Young adults dress up and party or go to bars, and parents and grandparents get to watch their children get excited over new costumes and adventure.

Unfortunately, this time of year only comes once ever 365 days. Dressing up and disguising your self as someone else is a fun and timeless activity that many would do more if the occasion was around. This is why many people are now having Halfway to Halloween celebrations during the summer.

Halfway to Halloween is usually held in May, June, or July as it marks the halfway point to the holiday. A Halfway to Halloween celebration can mean a party, a get together, a contest; essentially anything that can be done on Halloween, minus the trick-or-treating random neighbors part. Here are some ways to celebrate Halfway to Halloween:

-Throw a house party that is Halloween themed. Have the guests wear costumes and bring candy to share with everyone. Decorate the house with spooky decorations like ghosts, skeletons, witches, and pumpkins.

-Have a costume contest. This can be held at a club, a party, a neighborhood or company function, anywhere there is people. Gives prizes to the best dressed, most unique, scariest, etc.

-Have the costumes be summer themed, since it's halfway, or combine parts of summer with Halloween, such as a hula girl skeleton, or a masked surfer.

-Organize a block party in your neighborhood where children can dress in costumes and get candy from neighbors. Have fun summer music, a pool, and a barbecue for the summer feel.

-Have a specific costume theme for the party or get together, such as masquerade, celebrities, or careers. Other ideas are costumes that must have something to do with the color blue (or any other color), or a letter of the alphabet. For example, if your theme is a costume that starts with the letter B, people can dress as bees, babes, Britney Spears, etc.

There are many reasons why having a Halfway to Halloween celebration is beneficial and fun, here are some reasons:

-Costumes can be made of contemporary celebrities that would otherwise be outdated come Halloween, such as politicians, musical celebrities, and 15-minute wonders.

-Costume parties can break up the summer monotony of having the same celebrations over and over.

-Anyone of any age can participate.

-While most Halloween specialty stores are closed, there are still many places to get materials to make your own costume, or buy one online, such as Yandy.

In summation, if your summer is boring, or you have a costume idea you're dying to do, having a Halfway to Halloween celebration will elicit fun and is uniquely refreshing in the summer.

-Tegan Louise http://www.yandy.com

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Have A Home Bar Halloween Party

When that time of year rolls around when the days get gradually cooler and the trees change color, It is time to plan a Halloween party around your home bar. Home bars are great "centerpieces" in which to focus on the theme of your party. They are a natural place for guests to get acquainted and food and beverages to be served.This article will focus on some ideas for party themes, favors, decorations and entertainment.

When all is said and done, a Halloween party would not be complete without costumes. Your decision on costumes has everything to do with the selection of the theme of your party, and the guests you intend to invite. Some party themes will probably require that you and your guests rent or purchase professionally designed costumes. If you feel renting or purchasing costumes will be necessary, consult with your guests first. On the other hand, some party themes will be easily suited to homemade costumes. Let your imagination be your guide.

A theme that is easily adapted to your home bar would be a "wild west" theme. All your guests should be given a particular "character" to play. The females should probably uniformly be "saloon girls", as they were the only women allowed in saloons. If you have a friend with a bushy mustache, he could be the bartender. Just slick back his hair and give him an apron or vest. A fun form of entertainment would be to have a "gunfight" between a designated marshall and a wanted "bad" guy. Water pistols only, of course! Tables could be set up for poker and black jack games, with an appropriately dressed dealer. Whole peanuts in the shell and pretzels are perfect snacks "of the day."Make sure that you have mugs for the beer and old fashioned shot glasses for decoration.

If your home bar has a "retro" theme, a "Star Wars" theme could be great fun. Most of us remember the famous futuristic bar scene from Star Wars. You could attempt to duplicate some of the characters who appeared in the scene, as well as the traditional members of the cast. For a "Star Wars" theme, you are probably going to need professional costumes and props.Fun drink selections would consist of the imaginative use of food colorings."The music might be hits from the 50's or 60's, which is certainly ironic in a futuristic gathering. Another fun activity would be to play charades in costume. That is always good for a few laughs!

A couple of final party theme ideas would be a "gypsy"theme. You could have Tarot card and palm reading as entertainment. Or even a 60's and 70's theme, complete with bell bottoms and "Beatle" wigs. The point of the party is to have fun and "cut loose."Please remember to plan ahead, Halloween is right around the corner. Happy Halloween!

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Doing Hard Time At Your Kids' Halloween Party

Of the many different kinds of Halloween parties a hard-time party is bound to be intriguing. Appropriate invitations for this type of party are written on torn pieces of brown paper decorated with a black-cat sticker. Black cats, witches, and bats from the dollar store make effective home decorations.

Pictures can be hung at an angle or upside down. The dressing table may boast a shiny pie tin used for a hand mirror along with an old comb minus many teeth. Gunny sacks make lovely window curtains for this hard-time affair.

Such a setting entails very little expense, not too much effort and creates an atmosphere of hilarity that starts the party off with a bang.

A game that all young people will enjoy is a game o£ "Halloween Ten Pins." In keeping with the hard-time motif use ginger ale bottles for pins and solid heads of cabbages for balls. Set a certain score for game and let some expert bowler keep score for the crowd. Don't keep at one game too long.

Halloween is synonymous with fortunetelling. No Halloween party would be complete without some sort of fortunetelling stunt, especially for teenagers. "Goblet Fortunes" are fun to do. Place a goblet on a table. Tie a ring to a string. Let each guest drop the ring to the bottom of the goblet while he recites the alphabet. Immediately when the ring strikes the side of the goblet the person stops. The letter with which he or she stops is indication of the name of the person he or she will marry.

"Halloween Hags" are lots of fun. Draw on a sheet a life-size witch with stringy hair, peaked hat, etc., with a hole where the face should be seen. Hang a sheet in an open doorway. Let the girls stick their heads in the opening, making faces to disguise their identities. Boys write their guesses as to who each one is. Then the girls take their turns at guessing whose face they see. It is surprising how hard it is to guess each face. The youngsters are very good at face-making and have a grand time doing it.

At the conclusion of the games serve your guests a hearty meal. Have the dining table set with a clean ragged cloth or brown paper doilies. Cracked and nicked dishes are in order along with old and odd pieces of silverware. Candles stuck into empty pop bottles may be used for table lighting.

Colored magazine ads that represent each of the guests may be used for place cards. This causes a riot of fun and you'd be surprised how quickly each guest will spot his place.

John Lenaghan writes about Halloween party ideas and other party-related topics for the Party Ideas 4u website. Read more at http://www.party-ideas-4u.com

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Let Your Kids Go Batty This Halloween

Although there really is nothing to fear about bats, and they don't really attack people to drink their blood nor are they blind, it's fun to let your imagination run wild, especially around Halloween. The days are growing shorter, the air is crisp, and the leaves are dying-the perfect conditions to let your kids go batty. This year, forget the ghosts and witches and take a cue from Edgar Allan Poe and plan your Halloween party around these scary black mammals. Find everything you need for a "horror-ble" party that will drive your guests batty, from invitations, to crafts, to games.

Invitations

Use a white paint pen to write party details on black bat-shaped cut-outs. Glue onto orange craft paper and send out to guests. Decorations Set the mood for your party by hanging inverted bats made out of black construction paper from trees or the entrance to your house Trim the front door with bat decals or cut-outs. Add a banner with a scary saying. Carve bat shapes into pumpkins and display on the front porch and inside the house. For an extra ghoulish effect, light candles and place inside the pumpkins. Using black and orange ribbon, hang bat shapes from the ceiling along with black and orange balloons. Make a bat banner out of construction paper For your a table center decoration paint a large, bare tree branch black and attaching black construction paper or plastic bats to it. Spread bat-shaped confetti on tabletops and counters.
Bat Hunt Game

Hide some toy bats or construction paper bats around the house inside or outside before guest arrive. Give each guest a paper bag and a flashlight and turn off the lights or go outside. Have guests search for the hidden bats. The person who finds the most bats is the winner. Give a small prize to the winner if desired. (Variation: You could have one special bat for guests to find, and the person who finds that bat gets a prize too.)

Owl and Bats Game

You will need either some plastic or rubber bats. There should be one less bat than the number of players. For example, if you have 6 players, use 5 bats. Before the game, color or paint a spot on the bottom of each bat. Have children sit in a circle. Put the bats, marks facing down, on the floor in the middle of the circle. Have children choose one bat. The child without the bat is the "owl." Have the "owl" sit in the middle of the circle. The "owl" points to one child and tries to guess the color of the spot on that child's bat. If the "owl" guesses the correct color, the child with the bat runs around the circle and the "owl" tries to catch him/her before he/she sits down at his/her spot again. If the "owl" catches the child with the bat, he/she will be a bat again. If not, the "bat" takes a turn to be the "owl."

Party Favors

Visit your local party store or discount store, looking for inexpensive bat-related novelties such as key chains, plastic toys, jewelry, etc.

Bat Cookie Decorating Activity/Snack

Let children decorate their own bat-shaped sugar cookies. Set up a table with paper plates, plastic knives, napkins along with sugar cookies cut in bat shapes, different colors of frosting, sprinkles, candy corn, etc.

Snacks/Drinks

Ice cupcakes with black and add bat-shaped edible decorations. Use bat-shaped cookie cutters to make bat sandwiches or pancakes. Using a bat shaped cookie cutter, cut flour tortillas into bat shapes. Lightly brush both sides of each bat shape with oil. Place tortilla shapes on cookie cutter and place in oven. Broil tortilla shapes, flipping chips once when they begin to brown. When brown on both sides, sprinkle lightly with salt or a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Bat grog: Combine 2 cups grape juice, 2 cups lemon-lime soda, lime sherbet, and lemon sherbet. Chill.

Jolanda Garcia is a former teacher and educational content designer. Her goal is to provide parents and teachers with quality resources to promote their children's development and creativity. Visit her websites at: Preschool bat crafts and activities, and Halloweenparty ideas.

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Easy Kids Party Decorating

Kid party decorations can be cheap and easy, yet impressive, if you follow these simple guidelines and use a little imagination and advance planning. Get rave reviews with our fun decorating ideas!

GREETING SIGN

A greeting sign in your front yard or on your door is a nice way to welcome party guests. Match it to the party theme and colors. For a construction party write "Caution: Work Zone" in black on a yellow background. For a luau party, draw orange, yellow and pink leis around the word "Aloha". A western party sign could say "Welcome to the O.K. Corral".

With just a little imagination, a homemade sign can be better than a store-bought one and you'll be complimented on your ingenuity to boot!

BALLOONS

Balloons are a must for every kids party. They are cheap, colorful, and every kid loves them! Choose the balloon color to complement your party theme. For example, two shades of green for a jungle party, orange and black for a Halloween party, yellow and orange for a construction party, and so on.

Assorted helium-filled balloons can be bunched and anchored in the middle of the party table as a centerpiece, or attached from the light fixture in the center of the room. I always get a special birthday mylar which relates to the party theme and tie it to the birthday child's chair.

A balloon arch is an impressive way to direct guests to the party area. Simply attach helium-filled balloons to a ribbon about every 12 inches and secure it to the ground on either side of your doorway. Remember to attach a few balloons to your mailbox to show guests where the party is. Be sure you have enough balloons to give one to each party guest as they leave.

CREPE PAPER

Another cheap and easy party decoration is crepe paper. Tie four to six pieces from the center light fixture in the room extending to the corners and walls. Twist as you go and

secure with masking tape or rubber cement, both of which are easily removed after the party is over. For an extra fancy effect, twist two different colors of crepe together. Attach a couple of balloons over the crepe paper ends to cover any tape or glue.

Hang crepe paper strips in doorways similar to the 60's beaded look. Alternate colors for more visual interest. Balloons and crepe paper alone are enough to give your party area a fun and

festive atmosphere.

TABLE DECORATIONS

Personalize your party table with some homemade embellishments.

Start with a tablecloth designed by the party child. Cut a length of butcher paper and let him or her decorate it with colorful markers, crayons, pictures cut from magazines, construction paper shapes - let the imagination run wild! Then, sandwich your child's creation between a colored

plastic tablecloth and a clear one, so it can be appreciated by all, yet protected from spills.

Use one or more of your child's toys relating to the party theme as a centerpiece. For example, a large teddy bear for a teddy bear picnic party, a grouping of Barbies for a dolly party, a cowboy hat for a western party - you get the idea. You can even anchor a balloon bouquet to your unique

centerpiece.

Curl several lengths of curling ribbon and lay on the table surrounding your centerpiece. Add a few sprinkles of party confetti - it even comes in different themes - to complete the effect.

COSTUMES

You may not think of costumes as decorations, but they are! They just happen to be adorning people, not walls or tables! It's fun for the party hosts and party child to dress with

the party theme, even if it's just a hat, funny glasses, or themed T-Shirt. This conveys a playful mood to get your party going in a festive spirit.

If you plan your theme several months ahead, you can anticipate your needs and take advantage of sales and discounts to keep the cost of decorations down. Keep a storage container of party

decorations you see on close-out throughout the year. If you throw an annual party on Halloween, Valentine's Day or other holiday, shop the day after the holiday for deeply discounted items and save them in your party container for the following year's party.

Follow these simple kids party decorating tips, and you'll reap the benefits with rave reviews from party guests and parents alike!

Copyright 2004 Kids Party Paradise All Rights Reserved

Patricia B. Jensen is a mother of three and kids party enthusiast. She is the webmaster and owner of Kids-Party-Paradise.com - a complete resource for kids party ideas including invitations, cakes, decorations, games, costumes, favors, and food.

For all the latest party news, read her Kids Party Blog.

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Decorating Your Home On Halloween

Halloween is one of the most anticipated occasions for me and my family, though not many people have the same feelings towards it, but it also depends on how you perceive and associate yourself with it. Every individual is different and had different opinion about many topics; one such could also involve festivals and other cultural occasions.

Halloween as everybody knows brings about an occasion of trick or treat. It provides opportunities for kids and adults alike to dress up in not a formal or informal rather in something which is totally not appropriate, just to have fun and to keep the very sprit of Halloween alive.

We take Halloween as an opportunity to enjoy and have lots of fun. The most enjoyable part is getting dressed up and decorating the entire place with stuffs like spiders which in ordinary days no one even thinks about putting them up, but again its Halloween and that's the best part about it.

It is exciting to see others also participate and decorate their homes nicely with innovative ideas like turning homes into grave yards, placing trees, spider webs and also creating fog through a fog machine. All these things make the entire occasion spooky and exciting which in turn enhances the whole idea of Halloween. Besides the 'treat' part is also given considerable thought and exceptional goodies are distributed. Coming up with innovative ideas and brilliant idea is not easy its quite a task it has to be taken seriously and at the same time be enjoyed as well other wise; why go through the trouble.

It is the uniqueness in the decorativeness and the excitement created by it that parents take their children for trick or treat to different homes. But children are not sent alone as it is not safe and there are party spoilers who make the party lose its fun for everyone.

Halloween is the only time of the year where you could let your imagination run wild and be inventive. Though you are restrained by your budget but interesting things and objects could be found from specialty shops or could be surfed online for different things which you might have not even thought about.

Your dreams can take a practical shape. By the increase in innovation and the total cost of products have come down due to out sourcing of product to countries like China and other places it provides opportunity for people who cannot afford that much also to buy some thing. Through internet surfing many things could be found around the world, which would surprise many people as theses things are not sometime available in their home countries and also increased facilities like home transport and deliveries, from which you could order anything at anytime sitting at your home and you could also avail and utilize the product in a shorter time period.

He entire purpose being to keep the sprit of Halloween alive by ordering and buying stuff and also deco rising homes in such a way that it give a totally different look and doesn't give an old look all the time.

Have you enjoyed this article on decorating? Adam Peters is a consultant who writes on similar consumer topics for http://www.home-decorating-reviews.com . A focused website that offers the best articles on art deco interior design and art deco.

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Planning a Halloween Party That Elementary School Kids Will Love

Every family celebrates Halloween differently. Some parents are too busy to prepare a grand party and simply carve out a pumpkin face, put a candle inside and position the scary pumpkin in a window facing the street. However, if your child is attending a school Halloween party and you're going to participate, you have to think of more Halloween ideas to contribute. Here are some suggestions:

"Scary Face" Painting

If you have a week or so before the party, you can learn the basics of face painting and use your skills to make Halloween more fun and memorable to the kids attending your Halloween party.

If you're not the artistic type, you can hire two face painting artists for the day and put up a stall in the venue for face painting. Some kids will be lacking in the costume department, and face art will make up for what they lack. Divide the kids into two and line them up to have their face painted. Let the kids choose the designs by giving out flyers with a list of the images they can ask the artist to paint.

Create Your Painted Pumpkin Family

You can use paper mache pumpkins or real ones for pumpkin painting. The objective is to give younger kids something to do with Halloween pumpkins without exposing them to sharp edges, knives and the other dangers associated with jack-o-lantern carving.

If you're ordering pumpkins, ask the supplier to pick out large, medium and small sized pumpkins to represent each member of the child's family.

For school events, however, the kids can have one pumpkin to paint and bring home after the party. Prepare supplies like glues, acrylic paints, permanent markers, colored paper, old newspapers, eye-drawing cut outs, ribbons, colorful stickers and party hats. Let the kids paint funny faces on their pumpkins and decorate them using the supplies you provided.

Freeze Dancing

One of the best activities that a group of elementary kids can participate in at a Halloween party is Freeze Dancing. Choose a lively Halloween CD and let the kids dance for a while before stopping the music. Each child has to "freeze" when the music stops. You can designate two or three teachers or parents to supervise the game and eliminate kids who move even a little while the music is not playing. The last child standing is declared the winner.

Snacks

You can turn any snack (cookies, rice pudding and ice cream) into a creepy, crawly Halloween treat just by using green or orange food coloring and serving with candy corns.

There are a variety of other activities you can do at a Halloween party like dance dance revolution or halloween carnival games.

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Plan a Halloween Party They'll Never Forget!

Have you noticed that Halloween isn't just for kids anymore? It can be a great night for the whole family and particularly if you want an alternative to trick-or-treating. Throwing a Halloween Party is a sure fire way to get both adults and kids excited about Halloween.

Halloween party invitations are very important. They are the best way to get your guests excited about the party. Send out some great hand made Halloween party invitations, it will get the kids involved, and you can be sure your party will stick in people's minds. Two weeks in advance is the best time to send them. Let them know there will be prizes for the best costume or scariest pumpkin (more about this later *)

- Create a cute ghost card using your kid's footprint. Use some black construction paper and fold it in half. Have your child dip his/her foot into white paint and stamp the card with the footprint. Let your cards try. With a black marker a face to your ghost. Write a message with a gold pen inside your card.

- Use some of our printable Halloween invitations and write your message with a shaky hand, then wrap it in a little cob webbing and enclose little black plastic spiders for extra creepiness.

Create the spooky ambiance Halloween is famous for. Hairy spiders in webs in ceilings and corners is the classic but here are some other decorating tips:

- Cover tables with black table cloths and decorate with pumpkin cutouts and pumpkin garlands (you can get a pattern to make it yourself)

- Cover sofas and chairs with white sheets.

- Light essential passageways to the toilets or the bar with inexpensive rope lights but try to keep general lighting to a minimum, substituting black or red light bulbs.

- Have a pumpkin contest (announcing it in your invitation). * Ask your guests to bring their carved pumpkins to the party and you will have some of the best decorations delivered to your door.

- Make a pumpkin patch. Put some boxes on a table to get different heights for display, draping dark fabric over them. Add some real vines of leaves or green ribbons for contrast and of course use tea lights to illuminate. This could also be a good place for your snacks.

- Roll up orange napkins with black cutlery inside placing it inside a bat napkin holder.

- Place rows of tombstones with the names of your guests leading up to your door. Use decorated cardboard or cereal boxes.

- You can also hang Halloween lights around your front door and use a fog machine to welcome your guests (available at party rental stores)

Games and Activities can really make all the difference and they encourage people to mix. Don't forget to have lots of prizes on hand.

- Create a Halloween photo backdrop for everyone to get a picture taken.

- Have an area where kids can create their own frame for their photo.

- Have a dance contest to the Monster Mash song.

- Have a Halloween Lotto giving out prizes of miniature candy bars or party favors.

- Rent Halloween videos for later in the evening.

When it comes to food and refreshments, it's hard to know where to start. Serving chips and dips in black plastic cauldrons or floating a rubber hand in the punch bowl are just the beginning. There are many sites with great Halloween resources.

Halloween isn't just ghosts, witches and monsters or about candy or costumes. Halloween is a perfect time for spending time with family and friends. Having a Halloween party offers plenty of easy and interesting decorating projects and activities for kids as well as for adults.

Jolanda Garcia is a former teacher and educational content designer and runs several websites. Her goal is to give parents and teachers great resources to nurture their children?s development and creativity through crafts and activities. Visit her websites at:http://www.KidsSoup.com and http://www.HalloweenPartyBox.com

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How to Throw a Kid-Friendly Halloween Party

When I was a wee tot, I loved Halloween, even the scary side of it. When my friends were dressing in princess costumes for trick or treating, I was looking for the scariest costume I could find for a little girl.

That was decades ago. I'm now a grandmother to a wonderful grandson who loves Halloween, but dislikes the scary stuff. Witches, skeletons and scarecrows all give him nightmares. This got me thinking about creating a kinder and gentler Halloween party for little kids, say preschool age to about second grade--one that is heavy on the fun, but light on the fright.

If you're planning a Halloween party for a group of younger children, and you don't want to scare the pants off them, these ideas will come in handy:

Host a party for little ones during the day. This is naturally less scary, and if parents have plans to attend their own grown-up Halloween party in the evening, this won't interfere. If the weather is nice, you can have the party in the back yard.

If you want to have a party later in the day, arrange to take the children trick or treating early in the evening as a group (you'll want the help of a few parent volunteers). Then have all the kids back to your house for an hour or two after gathering treats throughout the neighborhood.

Encourage everyone to come in costume, but don't make the party about the costumes. Wearing a funny hat or a colorful wig can be just as much fun as wearing an elaborate costume.

Decorate for fun. Smiling pumpkins and happy ghosts are more fun for little ones than ghouls and goblins. Crepe paper in orange and black can be hung or arranged on tables. A table cloth in a fun motif, such as candy corn, happy jack-o-lanterns, or falling leaves will help set the tone and get the kids in the mood for Halloween fun. Or just go to the fabric store and buy some inexpensive orange fabric to cover your table with it. Disposable plates and napkins can easily be found in Halloween colors to complement your decorations.

For food, keep things simple. You can do anything from ordering in or making pizza, to creating a sandwich smorgasbord, to grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. Don't worry about making the food look gross or scary. If you want, you can call the pizza something catchy and Halloween-ish like "petrified pizza", or the hot dogs "horrifying hot dogs". Don't forget about the "screamingly scary sandwich smorgasbord". Serve punch that is "frighteningly fizzy". You get the idea.

Play Halloween music in the background--fun Halloween music. The Monster Mash, The Purple People Eater, Ghostbusters, and The Addams Family theme song are good examples of fun and friendly Halloween music. Let the kids make up their own funny dances to the songs, or teach them the words and let them have a Halloween sing-a-long.

For additional entertainment, you can have the kids play pin the nose on the pumpkin, or the tail on the black cat. Or purchase or make your own Halloween pinata and give each child a try at whacking the filling out of it. You could also have your young guests decorate Halloween cookies to take home. Just use Halloween cookie cutters to make a batch of sugar cookies before the party. Have orange, white and black frosting ready for use, and let each child decorate a few cookies.

If you want to give party favors or goodie bags to your guests, avoid the cheap plastic toys and more candy. Instead, give a small box of crayons and a coloring book, or a small package of Play Doh to each child.

For young Halloween revelers, keep it light and keep it playful. The scary and spooky stuff can wait a few years.

Lenore Ravenwood holds a degree in Landscape Horticulture and is fascinated by everything Halloween. You can visit her blog, Raven's Rest Halloween at http://www.ravenshalloween.blogspot.com.

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October is Halloween Party Time!

Why not have a Halloween party this year, after all, Halloween is the second most celebrated holiday in our country. Christmas is the first most celebrated holiday, and the most decorated. But October 31st is second in the house decorating department. You will see many houses with Spooky decorations and lots of kids in unique costumes...it's a real treat!

Are you wondering how to plan your Halloween party? Don't, it's easy and it's fun. Read about how to plan a party and give yourself plenty of time to arrange the details. Allowing yourself more time than you need to plan your party will help you to plan a stress free event! This means you can have fun right along side of your guests!

How to Plan a Halloween Party

Planning your Halloween party will be as easy as A B C, once you are familiar with the basics. The first thing to plan is how many people you are going to invite. So make a list of the people you'd like to come to your party.

Then decide what kind of party it's going to be. Is it going to be a costume party, a horror movie marathon or just a holiday get together with some interesting foods and a few parlor party games.

Party Invitations

Then buy or make your party invitations, fill them out with all the details...what kind of theme, time, date, place and an RSVP phone number. Now you can mail the invitations out! You can use snail mail or if you are a savvy computer user, send them out over the Internet using a service like Evite. (That will also save you the trouble of buying or making them!)

Decorating Ideas

Next, it's time to plan your decorations. This is the fun part. You can "window shop" online right from your own home. There are dozens of Halloween themes you can use. The difficult part is choosing one. Of course, there are pumpkins, monsters, witches, famous Hollywood couples, a fortune telling event and many more. Buy some colorful and fun theme party plates and cups, get some cut out decorations to hang up, and perhaps some orange lights for the outside of your home.

Fun Food Ideas

As the party date approaches it's time to begin thinking about the food you will be serving. You can set up a buffet table with some scary looking, fun food dishes like Deviled Eyes, or Graveyard Cake. Dips and appetizers are easy to make and serve and they are easy dishes to eat. Whatever you decide to serve make it look festive. You can put some raisins in your ice cubes and make it look like there are bugs in the drinks, or you can put a frozen ice hand in the punch bowl.

Get Out The Costumes

If you are having a costume party make sure to get some prizes for the best costume, the funniest costume, the biggest costume and the littlest costume! Have a dance contest and call it the "Monster Mash" or play some "Horror Movie Charades or Trivia". If you decided to have a Horror Movie Marathon, get some red food coloring and add it to your popcorn butter! Whatever type of party you decide have lots of fun this Halloween!

Ms. Party Ideas is Jillian Gallo and she writes about fun party stuff! Find all the unique party ideas and cheap party supplies at http://www.partyideasparade.com You can learn how to plan and organize your party ideas...all kinds of kids creative party ideas, delicious and easy party menu recipes and of course, fun party games is what you will find along with some great cake and cupcake decorating ideas! Make it yourself party food, invitations and decorations. You can find some great tips for a Halloween party at http://www.partyideasparade.com/halloween-party-decorating-ideas.html Jillian enjoys swapping good party ideas with you, so if you have a great party idea...please let her know!

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