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.

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 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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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.

For more free, fun Halloween ideas or special Halloween gifts and accessories, feel free to visit http://halloweenunique.com/artic1e/Fun___Easy_Halloween_Party_Themes_and_Ideas.txt

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Party Decoration Ideas For Little Pirate Scallywags

Avast there ye pirate scallywags! Ye need go no further than the Pirate Flag for ideas for your own Pirate themed party. For those of ya that want to add a touch of realism to yer party argh, we'd suggest that ye read on.

In other ships scrolls we've given ye ideas on creating yarrgh invitations and on how to make 'em the best around and now we're goin' to tell ye how to make the venue for yarrgh party look fantastic and give yarrgh some ideas on how to amuse yarrgh little scallywags until it's time for 'em to walk that there plank to 'ome.

Pirate Decoration Themes
Having adopted a pirate theme for your party, you have three options for the decoration theme. The first - and by far the most popular - is the Treasure Island. Next we have the Pirate Boat and lastly - and probably better for adults so not covered here - is the portside Inn. Once you've identified which theme your going to follow it's time to get working on transforming your venue and here are a few tips;

Treasure Island
The degree of realism will depend on whether you are indoors or outside. If you are lucky enough to be outside you could create a real island with a pile of sand which can be placed on some sand coloured cardboard to protect the surface. You can extend the cardboard to create the whole island by taping it together using strong tape on both sides and then when you have an area big enough to hold all of your little pirates, it can either be shaped to resemble the island outline or the remainder painted in blue to resemble the sea. You can mix some sand with the paint in-order to get a textured finish. To get enough cardboard you can ask your local supermarket for some cardboard boxes and then cut these open and join them together. This idea also works well for an indoor island.

On the edge of your island you may want to add some inflatable sharks and you could extend the sea up your walls by hanging some blue sheets or crepe paper and then attaching some pirate ship cutouts and fish.

To decorate your island you need some inflatable palm trees, a collection of various sized boxes, paint some as treasure chests others as packing cases - these can be stacked for best effect. To create a packing case, seal the box and then paint it all over with a light brown colour. Using a thin paintbrush create the slat effect horizontally around the case. If you want to you can create the shadow lines about 2" from the top and bottom for the lid and base covers - alternatively these can be constructed simply from 2"x1" wood cut to length and then screwed (from the inside) to box. Adding a washer to the inside prevents the batten being ripped off too easily. Double sided tape on the outside also works well. These battens can be painted. To all painted surfaces, using a marker create knotholes and a wood grain effect. Stack the completed packing cases for the best effect.

Add some coils of rope and barrels if you can find any. Add some plastic pirate rum bottles or an assortment of bottles to complete the scene. Bottles can be made from paper mache (a mixture of torn newspaper and paste) which can then be applied to a wine bottle which has been previously smeared with Vaseline. Build up layers of paper mache but keep the shape of the bottle and leave the bottom uncovered - so that the bottle can slid out. Leave to dry. When dry slip the fake bottle from the real bottle and repeat the process as many times as required. Level the base (so they stand) and paint as you wish incorporating skull and crossbones etc into your design. If you want the bottle to lie on their sides or be propped up, add a circle of card as a base attached with tape or more paper mache strips. This is best done before painting. For an authentic look, drip a coloured candle wax over the top of the bottle to represent the seal.

If you are inside and looking for an craft project for your party, make loads of fake bottles in advance and paint them the basic colour. With lots of paper spread out, get your guests to decorate their own bottle - the painted result can also be part of their party bag at the end.

If you have a tree or post available, attach lengths of bunting from this to various points around the edge. If indoors use the bunting across the room. The bunting can either be homemade using colourful rectangles of plain material attached to some binding or can be bought pirate bunting.

Pirate Ship
The Pirate Ship will require a little more thought and lots of cardboard. The easiest solution is to create just a part of the ship out of cardboard - one of the cabins. Using cardboard taped together, create a large box shape - depending on the size you may want to incorporate some wooden supports, paint the whole structure in brown and the outline the planks and nail heads in black. Create planks of different lengths just like in a real ship. Cut windows in the sides and decorate around the windows as much as you want - it helps to download a picture of a pirate galley as a template.

You can extend to the front of the structure with more cardboard painted like planks and this can for the deck of the boat. Around the edge you could paint a sea blue - see above. Decorate the deck of your pirate boat with treasure chest, packing boxes, barrels, bottles and ropes as outlined for the Treasure Island. If you are outdoors, then you could add a tall pole to the back of the structure to create a mast from which you could attach your bunting to symbolize sails. If you are indoors bring the bunting in from the corners of the room to the centre above the cabin.

Neither of these decoration themes can be achieved in 5 minutes. Each will take some thought and some planning to produce the best results, but there is nothing to prevent you starting to construct decorative items well in advance, the packing cases and pirate bottles can be made at anytime and will store indefinitely proving they are kept dry. In fact they will last for years and many parties and like Halloween, you could add to them as time goes on.

Having created the perfect decorated party venue for your pirate scallywags, don't forget to include the fact that you expect all of your guests to come to the party in pirate fancy dress.

Discover an extensive range of Pirate fancy dress costumes and costume accessories along with a veritable pirate's chest full of themed party goods and decoration ideas by selecting the following link and browsing our specially selected Pirate catalog. Browse the section for ideas or use the search feature to find a specific Pirate themed party item: http://www.karnival-house.co.uk/acatalog/Pirates.html.

If a Pirate themed party is not what you are looking for, Karnival Costumes is sure to have something just for you. Discover the complete range of themed costumes and for other party ideas when you visit our website, browse our costumes and accessories for as long as you need before making your final selection. Purchase with confidence and security from one of the leading costume suppliers in the UK. Visit our vast array of costumes at; http://www.karnival-house.co.uk.

We also have a large selection of articles on a wide range of party themed topics. Why not join our newsletter for up to date information on the latest trends in costumes, news and notification of our special offers?

Article submitted by: KV Sinclair who has nearly 40 years of business experience and in addition to being a part time University Lecturer on Business Studies, he is CEO of Karnival House; a group of companies operating in the party sector. Karnival Costumes is part of this group and specialises in fancy dress and fancy dress costume accessories. Karnival Costumes can be found at karnival-house.co.uk and is one of the UK's fastest growing internet Fancy Dress Retailers. With massive stocks for immediate dispatch and an ever expanding range, Karnival Costumes continues to strive simply to offer outstanding service combined with outstanding value.

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Easy Halloween Yard Decoration Ideas

Your yard gives you the opportunity to unleash all your creativity and really think big when it comes to decorating for the favorite spooky holiday - Halloween. But that does not mean you have slave around for hours making and putting up the decorations. Here are some quick and easy ideas for decorating your yard this Halloween:

1. Scarecrows set the mood. Purchase or make a scarecrow and display it in your yard. Make him stand in the center on in a corner or make him sit on a bench, on the steps or on the fence.

2. Wreaths make the yard look very pretty. Choose from grapevine wreaths or black and orange Halloween wreaths to suit your tastes and decorate walls and front door by hanging them.

3. Use pumpkins in every place for an instant 'Halloween' touch. Place them on the steps, porch railing and benches or grouped together in unexpected places. When grouping together, mix all shapes, sizes and colors.

4. Gourds are another natural decoration for yards for Halloween. String them to make garlands for fences or place them in baskets.

5. Witches and brooms make for great decorations. Make a purchased or made witch sit on the branch of a tree or on a bench. You can also simply use the broom near the tree or at the front steps and add a sign that 'The Witch is Up There' or 'The Witch is in'.

6. Garden stakes come in various designs for Halloween. Choose ghosts, witches, pumpkins or whatever else fits your theme and choice. They are great scene setters and look especially pretty when placed between plants.

7. Nature's own decorations can provide fall colors to your décor. Use lots of potted annuals like mums, begonias, dahlias etc. to decorate your yard. You can also use things like fall foliage, dried flowers, seed heads, hay bales etc.

8. Lastly, make a clear pathway for the trick-or-treaters to come in to your front door. Add ropes along the sides or use luminarias to keep them from trampling your plants or flowerbeds.

We have many more ideas for Halloween Decorating, Halloween Party Decorations and Outdoor Halloween Decorations. We also have Pumpkin Carving Patterns, Halloween recipes, Halloween Party Themes, Halloween Crafts and many more creative ideas for Halloween.

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Halloween Inflatable Ideas to Spark Your Imagination and Make Your Home a Hit

Halloween is not just a very spooky holiday, but a time to have fun and gather lots of candy. When I see Halloween inflatable decorations on someone's yard, it makes me feel like a kid again. Blow ups for Halloween in front of someone's house can draw a lot of attention and depending on the display, may be a reason people even drive by to view.

There are all sorts and styles of visually wonderful Halloween decorations to choose from if you are looking to set up your porch or front yard. Nonetheless, not every Halloween blowup will work for a family's home. Also, you may want to put some inside the house as well, especially if you are having company or a candy party. You can find ghosts, pumpkins and even an inflatable Frankenstein.

Have you thought about setting up an inflatable haunted house blow up? An example of one I was was a 12-foot haunted house that comes complete with a strobe light and scary sound effects. This may be more elaborate than many people are looking for. You can also get many smaller items such as cat inflatables, bats and spiders.

Don't forget that if you do decorate your home with interesting blow ups, people will probably be expecting a good candy treat. Keep the spirit going and don't disappoint them.

Whether you choose a haunted house, witch, inflatable pumpkin or Freddie Krueger blow up, let your imagination go wild and make your holiday a fun one. Be safe and don't eat too much candy. This year in 2010, Halloween falls on a Sunday night so you can start early going around the neighborhood since it's not a school day.

Inflatables Make Great Yard and Indoor Decorations

Learn more about Christmas Inflatable and Airblown Inflatables to make your home a sight to see.

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Three Unique Ideas For Halloween Party

Halloween party decorations are extremely important, they spark more or less the same amount of rivalry that Christmas decorations do; needless to say people will spend just about any amount of time and money it takes to make their house look like it could rival that of the Adams' family. Here are three really easy to do Halloween decoration ideas.

You've heard of a front yard full of tombstones; get white sheets and light sticks. Put them under the sheet along with a helium filled balloon. Place this prop next to each tombstone or between trees to make it look like you have a front yard full of ghosts. Place jack o' lanterns at random spots to complete the effect of a haunted cemetery and make your Halloween arrangements look like you've gone the whole nine yards.

Take different items of clothing and stuff them with newspaper. Assemble people made of the stuffed clothes in you windows and add a light. The lights should turn on and off randomly. Give the people pumpkin heads, use hats or old stuffed toys to create the head shape. It will give the effect of different people standing at the windows.

Remember how things like fluttering sheets or branches scare the hell out of you after you've seen a horror flick, Halloween is the best time to use tree branches and white sheets to decorate the house. Paint faces on sheets and use branches to give it limbs.

Put out great food for your guest, bat and pumpkin cookies are good but Halloween fruit bouquets arranged in pumpkin containers with ghosts and black cats made out of pineapple slices are even better!

Unique fruit and delicious Halloween arrangements, make your Halloween party special. Halloween fruit baskets are incredible Halloween table centerpieces.

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Holiday Trends and Ideas - Halloween and Thanksgiving

The holiday season is upon us! If you have any doubts about this, just take a look in any store you go into or any store window you go past. Witches, ghosts, jack o'lanterns, black cats and candy corn adorn every corner.

Halloween is here and it's traditional. Its colors have always been black and orange. And white is usually in the mix to add a ghostly element. In more modern times, purple is also added as an accent, along with copper metallic, to give your Halloween décor a more upscale and contemporary look.

If there is one "trend" it is all things "vintage". Reproductions of vintage Halloween post cards, and reproductions of jack o'lantern figures, witches and ghosts from the 1930's and 1940's help baby boomers return to the holidays of their childhoods. In this way, we can also celebrate the holidays of our parents, and even our grandparents. After all, Halloween has become a huge family social occasion, with parties, trick-or-treating and Halloween decorating an important part of it all.

To make your Halloween even more "spooky", try tying different lengths of purple, black and orange ribbons to the stems of apples. These make great party decorations as is, or can be used for "apple bobbing".

You can take the same idea, and hang different lengths and widths of white satin and white sheer ribbon from doorway openings, and in front of windows, to create a "floating ghost" feeling. If you make a few of the ribbon streamers long enough to touch the top of your head, it will even enhance the "ghostlike" feeling!

Make a great Halloween party centerpiece, by combining multi-loop ribbon bows in copper and black lame, and place tall black tapered candles in the center, or even black and orange pillar candles. Then sprinkle candy corn around everything. Your guests can pick and munch on these! (Just make sure to put a large platter under the whole centerpiece, so you can move it easily.

It's pretty easy to move from Halloween forward into Harvest season, and then Thanksgiving. If you have carved faces into your pumpkins, simply turn them around, so that the uncarved side faces out, and add Indian corn, gourds, turkey feathers and berries, such as bittersweet to create a lush, "harvest" look.

This concept works great as outdoor décor, especially when accompanied by a large scarecrow. There are many fantastic ones to be found at farmers' markets, and gift stores, and maybe even in your local supermarket. Of course, all of this is made even more dramatic and eye-catching by adding complementary ribbons and bows in orange, rust, chocolate, moss green, antique gold and yellow. Purple is still a great accent color with these warm tones, and you can find mum plants in lovely shades of lavender and purple to go along with this.

The most important thing is to have fun! It's not a serious thing. Make sure the kids as well as moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas participate for a true family effort!

Harvest is closely followed by Thanksgiving. The fundamentals are already in place. Just add turkeys, cranberries, pilgrims and again, the "vintage" Thanksgiving trend items, like a banner reproduced from an old Thanksgiving postcard, or an antique cornucopia.

For Thanksgiving, you definitely want to embellish your front door, to give a warm welcome to your guests and neighbors. A dried wreath, made of leaves, berries, mini-gourds and "pods", and embellished with a large multi-looped bow of seasonally colored ribbon is just the right touch.

Honestly, there's no wrong way to do your holiday decorating. Don't be intimidated! Let your imagination guide you, relax, and have fun! We don't want your holidays to zip by too quickly, so we'll tell you about Christmas trends and decorating ideas real soon!

Victoria Sheer owns her own interior design firm and has currently launched TheRibbonDiva.com

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Easy, Last-Minute Halloween Party Decoration Ideas

Creepy Cookies

Cookies as Halloween decorations? Why yes! Most grocery stores sell the batter tubes with Halloween-themed shapes in the centre. These are time-efficient and super easy to bake, so even hosts like me (who are not allowed in the kitchen because of previous fire-related incidents) would be hard-pressed to screw them up. Bake LOTS of these cookies. Place the finished cookies around your home on plates, in baskets or around pumpkin bases as a yummy Halloween décor accent! The next day, wrap the un-eaten cookies in cellophane and give them away at work or to those vendors you see that day (the guy at Starbucks who gets your chai latte just right every time!). While those cookies are baking...

Put out some pumpkins

Pumpkins are a great way to decorate, and are readily available at this time of year. Pick up full-sized pumpkins for your party area or the front steps of your house. Hollow out mini pumpkins for easy taper candle holders. Gut a large pumpkin and place a bowl inside for a festive punch holder. Draw faces on your large pumpkins for a comedic yet spooky effect.

Have a few extra minutes? Hollow out a large pumpkin, but don't chuck the innards. Carve a scowling face with a large, wide-open mouth. Grab those gooey insides and stream out of the mouth. Your pumpkin looks like he has eaten bad sushi, and is a hilarious conversation piece. Estimated time: Ten minutes.

Spike your punch - with food colouring

Use food colouring to turn your bunch black, blood-red, oozy green or any other combination you can create! Float Halloween-shaped ice cubes in the beverage to punch up your punch! Voila! A multi-functional decoration your guests will drink up!

Stage a gory accident

This week, you're not to feel bad about not visiting the recycling depot! Take a pair of pants (denim jeans work the best) and stuff them with plastic bags (or, if you're a dutiful recycler, clothes from your dirty laundry basket). Place the waistband area under a heavy piece of furniture (a couch, trunk or entertainment unit). Place shoes at the end and cover a bit of the shoe with the bottom leg of the pants. You now have a horrific accident that will give your guests a giggle. Ketchup blood is optional. You can take the plastic bags to the recycling depot tomorrow.

Light it up

Purchase coloured light bulbs for an eerie ambiance. Cut bats, ghosts and/or witches out of black construction paper and stick on the inside of lamp shades for creepy decorations that cast spooky shadows!

Ghosts that just hang around

Take a kitchen refuse bag and cut into squares, varying in size. In the middle of each square, place a wad of paper towel or a plastic bag (scrunched up tight). Pull the corners together and tie with an elastic band, ribbon or string. Use a Sharpie to add facial expressions. Instant ghost! Hang on doorknobs, from the ceiling (using string and a thumb tac), stairwell railings, etc.

These tips will ensure a quick and easy decoration fix. And the best part: minimal clean up the next day! Happy Halloween!

Mystery Maiden writes and facilitates murder mystery, general mystery, forensics and custom mystery games for Shot In The Dark Mystery Games. For more party host tips, quizzes and more, visit http://www.shotinthedarkmysteries.com . The Mystery Maiden can also be reached via email at mysterymaiden@shotinthedarkmysteries.com

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Halloween Party Props - 3 Ideas

Halloween party props are the most important accessories for Halloween decor. Probably no one can imagine a Halloween party without the usual monsters, skeletons and Jack - o- lantern pumpkin heads. All of these have entered Halloween folklore and if you want some of the best such Halloween props for your October 31 party, there are a few online stores that can help you. These websites have the advantage of offering a range of products on the same theme, so you can have a unitary concept behind your party.

One of the best products that can be found online is the tombstone with a skull and the "RIP" inscription engraved on it. The material used for production is polystyrene foam which makes it an affordable item and light, so shipping is cheap too and it is easy to install. Its drawback is that the polystyrene foam is very fragile, so you need to be careful when handling. It is 71 cm tall and its color is usually black.

If you want to take the cemetery scene a bit further, besides the tombstone you can also purchase a scene setter room roll. As the name may suggest, it is a roll of paper that you use to cover your walls. The one for the graveyard theme is 50 ft long (15.2 meters) 1.2 meters wide. It is decorated with grey stone brickwork and a dark graveyard behind iron curtails. It is made from plastic. You will of course want to measure your room and decide how much you need, as well as if you wish to cover part or all of your room.

And of course, what would Halloween be without the expected skulls or skeletons? For this item of your Halloween party props you can opt for a full size one. It can be put in any scene set, it does not take too much room and it looks pretty cool. Besides Halloween, it is a great gift for any horror movie fan. It is a realistic, high definition cardboard picture, self supporting, easy to transport thanks to the folding mechanism and its height is 188 cm.

Halloween is one of the most beloved holidays for children and grownups alike. It is one of the most important secular holidays in the world, and some people spend a lot of effort planning during the year to ensure they create a truly supernatural themed Halloween event.

Discover great Scary Halloween Props to buy for your Halloween celebrations at Halloween Props.

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Some Amazing Halloween Party Game Ideas

Halloween can get even more thrilling with befitting scary Halloween party games. While so many things are under the deathly hallows, why not churn out some amazing Halloween party games to make the most of this creepy night? Though you can always play those traditional games, you can also bring innovative games to make the guests euphoric with excitement. Start your Halloween party planning from party london venue hire, which can support your ideas with enough space and experts to look after the arrangements. Try some of these Halloween party ideas this year:

Ghosting:

A party venues london will help you plant some very realistic ghosts as the party swirls in the full mood. Reveal this unidentified ghost towards the end. This Ghosting can get really scary, so avoid making things getting serious for your guests. Let this lost spirit move amidst the guests, haunting your mansion, and scarring the guests.

Photo Time:

Decorate a corner of the Halloween party with a monster, a graveyard scheme, or with Zombies where your guests can get themselves clicked in scariest setting. These photos for long can be used to remember that scary eve of Halloween party. The punk of your haunted corner will be memorable for the guests.

Halloween Dance Party:

What about a Halloween dance party? You can organise a special dance competition, where most tacky tracks play for most grotesque and deathly dance. Most of the people love to dance. And this is something that will have them preparing for the night long before the Halloween's night. You can announce this ghost dance competition in your invitations.

Hunt Out The Treasure:

You can make your Halloween party adventurous adventure will take a hidden treasure for your guests. Make them hunt out the hidden treasure, which could be a hidden amount of money or a really interesting gift. You can leave a hint of where to search the treasure at various places like on the decorations.

Traditional Halloween Games:

There are several traditional games which will give a very retro flavour to your Halloween's day. You can bring the game of carving the pumpkins as lanterns. And the best jack-o-lantern wins! Organise a game of rescue. Make the guests rescue a lost someone, across the dangers, that could be the cobwebs, witches' clutch or the flying beetles.

Bringing your guests an endless fun needs enough space to organise the factors making for Halloween games. Find a perfect party venue in London to organise a happening Halloween's night.

Zeus is an associate editor to The City Collection, a website which provides london venue hire for corporate or private events. Some of the fascinating venues for hire venues London can be searched at http://www.thecitycollection.org/

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Decorating For Halloween - Simple Ideas For Creating the Atmosphere

Many people consider Halloween their favorite holiday. Who can blame them? This is the one time of year that we can tap into our "dark sides" and do it all in good fun! Decorating for Halloween has endless possibilities. Just when you think you have seen it all, you stumble on something completely new. There are some terrific decorations in the market this time of year but many of the best decorations are homemade.

Outside Decorating Ideas

Depending on your view of the Halloween holiday, your yard can be a graveyard with multiple zombies set up or a picture perfect example of autumn, with colored leaves, friendly scarecrows and a few Jack O' Lanterns.

Tombstones can be made of thick foam that has been spray painted in grey or even made to look like marble. With a set of stencils and permanent markers, you can write up spooky epitaphs. To make zombies, purchase old clothing or go through your storage space. Sew or pin the shirt and pants together. Rub them around in the dirt to get them properly disgusting. Stuff with leaves, upholstery filling, newspapers or any other materials that can be manipulated. Make a head out of cloth and stuffing and use costume wigs for hair. Get creative with the red paint. You can use stakes, poles, chairs and other objects to pose your zombies.

A less morbid approach to outside Halloween decorations is to create a friendly atmosphere with smiling jack o' lanterns and colorful leaves spread all around. A jovial looking scarecrow on a post adds a bit of charm.

Inside Decorating Ideas

Are you planning a Halloween party? Homemade decorations can cut down on the costs for the festivities. If you are anxious to spook your guests, turn your home into a monument of old and undead. Think vampires, bats, spider webs, spiders, ghosts and ghouls. You can even create your own sound recording to make background noises that will send shivers up the spines of everyone who dares to enter your house of horror.

Whether you are having a formal sit-down dinner or plan to serve up food buffet style, a great centerpiece is a necessity. Think squash, pumpkins, dried flowers and candles or set up your own "ghoulish centerpiece" containing a standing menu that renames your foods to make guests think twice about what it is they are eating... all in good fun, of course.

In all of your Halloween decorating, make sure to keep safety in mind. Set candles in glass containers and make sure they are not near flammable materials such as costumes, drapes and napkins.

Let your imagination run wild and your Halloween décor theme will not only be fun to create, it will be a big hit with party guests and trick-or-treaters alike.

Simon Burke loves to entertain family and friends. And luckily for us he also enjoys sharing his cooking experiences and recipes with the rest of us. Find out more on halloween decorating, click here [http://home-n-gardening-blog.com/landscape/dress-up-a-halloween-table.html].

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Fun Corporate Party Ideas - Halloween

Halloween is not only for kids anymore; adults are enjoying it just as much as children nowadays. Studies show that corporate Halloween parties have jumped from 50 percent to 100 percent in the last five years.

Halloween parties do well because unlike Christmas, it is not celebrated for an entire month which can be stressful and on top of that you have to worry about purchasing gifts for your colleagues in addition to your family. Halloween parties also do well because it is an escape for employees to be whom or whatever they want to be for the night.

If you want to make your corporate Halloween party exciting, select a theme. By selecting a theme this will give everyone an idea on what to wear. For example, you can have 70s or 80s party and have employees dress up as their favorite famous person during that era. You can also have employees dress up as their favorite fairy tale character, cartoon character, or favorite celebrity.

First, try choosing a convenient location and try to veer away from the office. Make sure to include many games, costume contests and prizes such as corporate gift baskets. When it comes to a location search for a space in which you are free to decorate and let your creative side out. Don't be afraid to ask your colleagues or employees for left over Halloween decorations to add to your corporate Halloween party.

Once you choose your location, decide on the menu for the night. Some ideas to save money include having a potluck. During work hours, pass around a signup sheet in which your employees will write down what they will be bringing to the party. Encourage employees to bring more items offer an up a Halloween pastry contest, a chili contest or a soup contest. This will add more excitement to the party and encourage your employees to be creative. Decide if you are going to have alcoholic beverages and if so, decide if it will be an open bar. Also, let you guests know if they are allowed to bring guests and if so notify each employee on their guest limit.

Decide if you are going to have a disc jockey or request that employees bring their iPods with their favorite tunes. If so, request that a special playlist is made. Decide on what kind of gamesthat will be played at the party. Consider everything from poker, darts and musical chairs. Surprisingly your employees may enjoy belting out some tunes, so it is best to consider a healthy karaoke session. Since imporv comedy seems to be a hit these days, you should consider gathering your employees for an improve session with different topics to present a mini comedy on, it is kind of like "Whose Line is it Anyway". It is a great way for old and new employees to bond and see how well they work together under pressure.

Consider an arts and crafts session for your employees as well, you don't necessarily have to hire a professional, simply ask around and see which of your employees is willing to share their many talents. For instance you can have a pumpkin carving lesson, a drawing lesson, a painting lesson, or maybe even a dance lesson.

It would also be fun to have a fashion show in which every employee can show off their costume. Have employees vote on best dressed and award the winner with a prize. After a night of excitement and hard work is complete, don't forget to say thank you with a unique corporate gift.

Remember, Halloween isn't just for children anymore. Adults can have just as much fun!

The author of this article is chief editor of Corporatesnobs.com, a company that provides hundreds of unique corporate gifts [http://horsepowermachineshop.com/company-resources/create-your-own-holiday-corporate-gift-basket-giving-occasions.html] and promotional products at any budget. For more corporate gifts, visit corporatesnobs.com today.

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Halloween Party Decoration Ideas

If you're hosting a Halloween party, decorating your home in a spooky but fun way is essential for creating a creepy atmosphere. There are lots of things you can do to add a frightening touch to your party decor and make your home feel like a haunted house. Here are some ideas for Halloween party decorations.

Of course, no Halloween party is complete without a jack-o-lantern. It's customary to place one by your front door to welcome your guests, but you can also put them in other places around your home and yard. Carved pumpkins can also be used for holding dishes of food or bowls of punch.

In addition to candlelight, or at a kids' party where you want to avoid having lit candles, an easy and effective way to provide spooky lighting is to replace your regular light bulbs with colored ones, such as orange, red or green.

Inside there are lots of crafts that kids can make that you can hang around your home, in doorways, on picture frames or on curtain rails, for instance. Things that fit with the Halloween theme include bats and spiders. You can also buy cheap plastic versions that you can place in strategic places to add to the ambiance and make your guests jump, such as a plastic spider in the bathroom!

To save some money, why not have a go at making your own homemade Halloween decorations? If you have children, then you could get them involved in some projects. For example, you could make a stuffed dummy to prop in a window or porch to scare trick-or-treaters and your party guests. Use old clothes and stuff them with scrunched-up newspaper. For the head, you could use a pumpkin with a scary face painted on, or a balloon wearing a Halloween mask. You could make a dummy to look like a witch, goblin, vampire or zombie, depending on what materials you have to hand.

Other Halloween props that are easy to make include gravestones for decorating your yard. You could use large sheets of sturdy cardboard cut into tombstone shapes, or old pieces of wood. You can use tent pegs to fix them to your lawn and could place candles or tea-lights nearby to draw attention to them.

You could buy or make scary pictures to hang on your wall or stick over your mirrors. For example, you can buy sinister-looking portraits with eyes that glow or flash. Illuminated skulls are another option, which can work well placed in dark corners.

For decorating your table and displaying the party food, you could get an old white sheet and make red handprints on it, or stencil Halloween shapes on to it. You could also make edible decorations such as bloody finger biscuits.

Decorating your home and yard for Halloween can be a lot of fun and the whole family can help out. With a little advance planning and creativity, your decorations can really add to the party atmosphere.

Jessica K Stevens enjoys planning parties and finding fun Halloween party decoration ideas to make sure her guests have a great time.

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Halloween Fun For Old and Young Great Ideas For Celebrating Halloween

Halloween is an awesome holiday, so much more worth celebrating than just collecting candy from the neighbors. In our house Halloween planning began in late September. One of our family favorites was the tradition of "ghosting". We would find Halloween decorations, attach a small bag of candy and make cards that read "Happy Halloween. You've been Ghosted.. Pass it on!" Then we would take these and go all around town to their friends' homes and put them anonymously on the doors. As you can guess, the Ghosting spirit spread and so did the smiles!

With four children all trying to come up with costume ideas, it was also a challenging time. When they were small, we did our share of Princesses, Super Heroes and cute Animal costumes. Those were easy. However, as they got older they were annually in pursuit of "group" costume themes with their friends. We had The Wizard of Oz, hippies, Snow White and her dwarfs, sports teams, diva girls and even sailors to recall just a few. Half the fun was the discussions and planning that went into the process. Numerous trips to the party store, rummaging through closets, raiding Grandma's attic, making tie-dye t-shirts and raiding the girls old dance recital costumes were just a part of the fun. Of all the costumes I can recall over our 20 years of Halloween, my favorite had to be my son and his friends back in 1996. They decided to be the US Womens Olympic Gold Medal Gymnastic Team, complete with their own Bela Karolyi. They won Best Costume in the local parade and were the buzz of the neighborhoods as they trick or treated their way through town. It is memories like this that made me glad that we never settled for a quick costume purchase at the local store. Halloween truly was an event in our home.

We furthered the Halloween celebration with a huge Halloween party for all 4 kids, their friends and included the parents. This was no ordinary "Pin The Tail On The Pumpkin" party. This party evolved over the year into a "mega" event that in the kids memories was as big a part of Halloween as trick or treating. There were usually close to 40 kids plus at least 20 parents. They ate, went on a scary scavenger hunt and ended the night with a spectacular, very frightful, performance put on by the Dads. One year those crazy guys came parading down the street in full costumes, beating bongo drums, chanting and carrying torches; followed closely by a police car. It took a bit of explaining but the show went on! They would plan their show for weeks and it would change every year. One year it was a Monster Mash rock show, a séance a year later and a ghost from the graveyard on the loose in yet another year. Amidst the screams and the shrieks, there was a ton of laughter. Yes, like the costumes, this took a lot of work but was worth every moment of the planning.

So celebrate the Halloween season with all your energies. I can tell you from first hand experience, there will come a day when they are all out of the house and you will sorely miss all the fun and excitement. For more ideas, read further about our family Halloween celebration traditions at

Celebration Ideas Online

Carol is married with four grown children. She loves to celebrate everything! Her family celebration experiences and traditions can be further viewed at http://www.celebrationideasonline.com There are some great ideas for creating lasting family memories!

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Pirate Birthday Party Ideas - 7 Top Dos and Don'ts For a Great Kid's Theme Party

If your little buccaneer is dreaming of having a pirate party for his birthday, he's not alone. This theme remains extremely popular for young mateys of all ages. Here are the top seven dos and don'ts for making this the best celebration ever.

1. DO build excitement for the theme by sending out pirate birthday invitations. You can make your own by decorating old looking paper to appear like a treasure map. Write your party information on the map and add skull and crossbones stickers.

If you'd rather not construct hand crafted invites, then you can buy them. Party supply stores offer packets of ready made cards to announce the activities. Just fill them out and you're ready to go. Or you could order personalized pirate invitations online, some of which can even include a photo of your child.

2. DON'T spend a lot of money on decorating for the party. You can achieve great effects without going through too many gold doubloons. Hang black balloons and fishing nets around the house. Attach seashell and plastic fish, crabs and lobsters to the nets. Spray paint an old styrofoam cooler brown and embellish it so it looks like a treasure chest. Use items you may already have on hand, such as a Halloween skeleton, toy canon or a stuffed animal parrot. Scatter plastic or chocolate gold coins on the table. And don't forget to fly the pirate flag.

3. DO help the kids dress up like pirates. When they arrive, provide them with eye patches, bandanas and three corner hats. A station for temporary tattoos is also a good way to get them in the mood for the party.

4. DON'T leave the kids unsupervised with plastic swords. If you've included fake weapons as part of the costumes for your guests, be careful. The impulse to start dueling is nearly irresistible, so keep a close watch.

5. DO get creative with the menu. You can take a kid's favorite, like hot dogs and adapt them to your theme. For example, attach a sail with toothpicks to the frankfurter to make a ship or split it on the bottom to form an octopus. Offer bowls of blue jello with gummy fish imbedded in the middle. Rename food to fit the atmosphere. Chicken nuggets become golden coins and peanut butter and jelly is transformed into peanut butter and jellyfish.

A treasure chest cake is easy to make. Use two cakes baked in 13x9 inch pans and when cool, stack them on top of each other. Use popsicle or wood dowel sticks to keep the chest "open". Frost the cake, in that position, with chocolate icing. You can use fruit roll-ups to simulate the bolts. Then put your treasure in the opening. Use gold chocolate coins, candy necklaces and wrapped hard candy jewels to give the effect of an overflowing bounty of riches.

6. DO plan a lot of fun pirate games. Play "swab the deck" races with brooms and beach balls. Another good one is pin the "x" on the treasure map. The kids could all "walk the plank" on a flat or slightly elevated board. If they make it across without going overboard, they win. And of course, you'll have to engage them in a treasure hunt. The older the group of kids, the more challenging you can make the clues. But this is always a sure-fire hit.

7. DON'T let the kids leave without their loot. The goodie bag can contain any combination of treasures like a candy necklace, gold coins, eye patch, pirate stickers, temporary tattoos, plastic or plush parrot or anything with a skull and crossbones. You could even add a custom item like a personalized pirate notebook, chocolate bar or magnet as another cool party favor.

So, ahoy all mateys! Follow these tips and you're sure to put together a pirate birthday party filled with fun. Just set sail and create those lasting memories for your child.

Linda Kling, as the owner of www.photo-party-favors.com, has offered ideas to people planning birthday parties and other celebrations since 1992. She recommends these cute pirate photo birthday invitations. Visit her website for free printables, party recipes, birthday quotes, more.

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Race Car Party Supplies Can Rev Up Your Kids Party Ideas!

Let Race Car Party Supplies turn your house into a race track for your kid's party celebration. Most boys dream about being a race car driver out on the race track, being cheered on by millions of people watching him fight it out with the other racing cars, watching him reach the finish line first, and be lifted on the shoulders of his powerful pit crew team while carrying the golden trophy of victory.

Race Car Party Decorations

Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Can you just feel the rush of adrenaline your son will get when he sees all the party decorations set up? He will feel like he is on that track, with you and Dad as his party pit crew. First let him get a thrill from the race car birthday banner hanging out in front of your house. Need some NASCAR party decorating ideas? Put some racing sign cutouts on your lawn and leading to your front door...Turn 5, Pit Road, Gasoline Alley and Finish Line. If this is a surprise party, have everyone waiting inside with some mini checkered flags and let them wave them when they yell" Surprise, Happy Birthday"! Hand the party hats out and your party is about to begin.

Hang some race car flag banners along the fences, throw some black and white checkered tablecloths on your party tables and get a party pack of race car decorated paper plates, napkins and cups...there are also racing party invitations and even some colorful balloons in your party pack. You will get enough supplies for up to 8 party guests. One money saving pack has supplies for up to 16 guests. These pre packed race car party supplies come in different sizes, and they save you money since it's like a bulk party purchase. The latest style of party supplies for racing fans is the NASCAR Full Throttle design, Speed Racer and the Mark 5 and of course, Disney "Cars", with Lightning McQueen.

Race Car Party Themes

There are several fun race car party themes you can use for your son's birthday party. Speed Racer and the Mark 5 is a fun party theme, and so is the Disney "Cars" movie with our favorite "Lightning McQueen" and then of course, for the die hard racing fans, there is NASCAR. Which one is your child's favorite? You can find some great party supplies for all of them.

Pit Crew

Does anyone have some work overalls you can borrow? If Dad is a mechanic he can bring some overalls home. Let the party help wear them so they look like the "Pit Crew". Print out some free printable race car coloring pages from your computer and put crayons out on the tables. Let the race car party fun begin right away.

Racing Photo Prop Cutout

For some picture fun at your party take a photo of each guest behind the Race Car Driver Photo Prop Cutout, or the Speed Racer Standup. It will look like each driver has just crossed the finish line and shows him, or her, holding up a trophy. This photo prop cutout is a little over 3 feet wide and 2 feet high. The kids will love this photo of themselves!

Race Car Birthday Cake

The NASCAR birthday party cake is easy...Get a Dale Earhardt Jr. Cake topper kit . You just put it right on top of your homemade, frosted birthday cake. This cake topper kit comes with Dale's car with the number 8 on it. Put checkered or red flags or race car candles around the cake and your done. There's also a Mark 5 cake topper, and of course a Disney "Cars" cake topper with Lightning McQueen on it.

Fun Party Game Ideas

Plan on lots of fun games when you are planning your NASCAR birthday party? There is a red race car pinata and a Pull String Mark 5 or a pull string Disney "Cars" Lightning McQueen pinata. If you decide on the red car, get a pull string conversion kit and some pinata fillers...and you have yourself a fun, and a safe game. Need some more game ideas? How about a relay race, a motor revving contest (see who sounds the most like a race car!), and for a really fun activity you can help each child make his own race car out of a plastic soda bottle. Get some plastic tires and stickers and let the kids design a car with glue and stickers. Game prizes are easy to find, you can give away NASCAR Stickers, some wheel Yo Yo's or some little race cars.

Race Car Party Favors

You can thank each of your party guests with a NASCAR party favor box containing some car gifts. Any young racing fan will be thrilled with these favors! The favor box I saw was a red stripe favor box and inside there were a really cool assortment of racing related toys. There's a NASCAR sticker sheet, a pull back race car, a play whistle, wheel yo-yo, a trophy, a glow stick and a SweeTart Squeeze candy. That's pretty packed with goodies the kids will really enjoy. Wait, Speed Racer and Disney "Cars" party supplies have some great party favors too. Which Race Car theme will you go with? This is going to be a tough choice.

Rad Racing Party Gift Idea

The perfect party gift for any racing aficionado will be a race driver costume. There are plenty of styles to choose from, including: #88 Dale Jr. costume, a Speedway Champion costume, Speed Racer and a Speedway Sweetie costume! Kids love to play dress up games and your child will be thrilled and amazed to get a racing outfit of his very own. Young boys and girls have so much fun dressing up in costumes. I'll bet your child will never want to take this one off! It can double as a Halloween costume this year too. There's even an Inflatable Champion Racer Car you can use as a gift.

Race Party Food

Name your party food! Speedway Salad, Pit Stop Burgers and Daytona Racing Dogs are all fun kids party food ideas. You can turn on the grill and make a quick and easy meal for your little speeders.

You can plan and prepare for a great kids NASCAR birthday party, Disney Cars party or a Speed Racer theme birthday party this year with the help of a few party decorations, some fun games and a group of car racing fans!

Find all the race car party supplies you need at http://www.partyideasparade.com/race-car-party-supplies.html If you are looking for NASCAR or racing car party ideas and supplies, or any other fun kids birthday party themes check out http://www.partyideasparade.com/birthday-party-ideas-for-kids.html . Check out the checkered flags, race signs, NASCAR party favors, birthday banners and more...everything you need to throw a great kids party!

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Ideas For a Family Halloween Pumpkin Patch Party

Take Halloween one step beyond trick or treating and the pre-school parade by planning a family Halloween party. There are tons of Halloween adventures like Haunted Houses for the kids when they get a bit older, so why not start your own adventure for your little ones. Plan a Pumpkin Patch Carnival for them as well as their parents, your friends and family. It could be almost a mini-Oktoberfest for the adults with fun and games for the kids. This is not an expensive proposition...plan to have it at home

Turn your backyard into a "Halloween Midway of Fun" with lots of games, activities and prizes for the kids and great camaraderie for the adults. Plan a series of game stations around your yard, just like a carnival. Organize with it with your friends. Maybe you have some that will be game to wear costumes and serve as the "carnival barkers". You can decide if you want them to wear their costumes, depending on the games you plan.

Have a "Halloween Hut" set up for all the food. Surely a couple of your guests will volunteer to grill burgers and dogs. Have them served up with bags of chips or crackers, a box of juice or bottle of water served up in a plastic pumpkin. You can find them at the dollar store without breaking the bank. You can set up little picnic tables or simply set out some blankets on the yard. You may want to have soda and beer for the adults. A big veggie platter would also be great for both the kids and adults! If you want to spend some money, you could rent a popcorn machine or a cotton candy maker too.

Go to the local market and buy enough small pumpkins for all the kids, plus a couple of extras. Next hide them all over the yard before everyone arrives. Depending on the age group, they can hunt on their own or go along with Mom or Dad. What is the reason for the extras? You want to make sure everyone finds one. The last thing you need is one sad tot who can't find a pumpkin and you can't remember where in the yard you hid them all!

A pumpkin decorating station is another possibility. You could use paint, but realize you risk certain disaster for one of them if they are in costume. Paint markers would be safer alternatives. I have even seen some pumpkin decorating kits with stickers at the craft stores. Another alternatives would be letting a couple of crafty friends carve them into Jack O Lanterns!

There are great Halloween music CD's that you could play for some background ambiance, but I think with all the laughter and excitement the music may be drowned out. The easy part about this party is that your house and /or yard will already be decorated for the season! Halloween party invitations are abundant, so find ones you like or even make your own on the computer. There are lots of sites with free pintables. The game stations can be Halloween versions of what you would find at carnival. When they are ready to start playing the games, they will have their "pumpkin bucket" from lunch and can begin visiting the game stations to win tickets or candy!

So start now and plan your own Halloween celebration for the little ones as well as a fun autumn afternoon for the adults! Let them expand their Halloween fun beyond trick or treating. If you need further ideas for the games and prizes, check out the Carnival party ideas at Celebration Ideas Online.

Carol is a married mom of 4 who works full-time as an account executive. She I has been active with the kids and all their activities over the years. She served as a PTA President as well as President of numerous school booster clubs. Her favorite hobby now that the kids are all on their own or off to college is her web site: Celebration Ideas Online.

It was started as a resource center for the various groups as well as friends and family who were looking for help and "how to" tips for planning family celebrations. It is a family album of great celebration ideas.

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Go Green this Halloween - Eco-Friendly Party and Decorating Ideas

GET CREATIVE

Paper Halloween party invitations are appealing but try "recycling" your invitation into something and avoid the wasted paper. Make your Halloween party invitations something they'll want to keep. Most dollar stores carry a variety of affordable favors that you can use for this Halloween party idea.

Throwing a Halloween party for kids? Instead of traditional paper Halloween party invitations, try using inexpensive party favors. Transform a Halloween treat bag into a unique party invitation by simply writing all the party information right on the bag. Have the kids bring their bag to the party so they can fill it with treats.

Luminary bags also work well for this Halloween party idea. Ask the guests to bring their luminary bag with them to the party. Get some Halloween themed candles and give them to your guests as they arrive. Your invitation just turned into a Halloween party decoration!

SAVE SOME GAS

So many parents follow their kids in the car as they trick-or-treat. Weather permitting; why not join them as they "scare" all the neighbors! You'll save on gas emissions, saved money, gotten some exercise and had fun doing it!

PAPER PRODUCTS

Whether it is Halloween decorations or party supplies, paper is the best choice. It is affordable and most of all recyclable. There are numerous choices of garland, streamers, table coverings and window décor; all are good choices for having an eco-friendly Halloween party.

For entertaining, use Halloween themed paper cups, plates and napkins for your party. They make clean up easy, just throw them in the recycle bin and you're done!

Also, don't forget all those aluminum cans, plastic utensils and bottles, they can all be recycled too.

FOR YOUR OWN TRICK-OR-TREATERS

If you have kids planning to head out for some treats this Halloween, give them a Halloween themed gift or treat bag to use for collecting their candy instead of the traditional plastic pumpkin. Usually the pumpkin gets discarded after awhile anyway. A Halloween themed gift bag makes a perfect "one shot" candy holder that can then be easily discarded and recycled.

SAVE ON ELECTRICITY

Most people who decorate with lights for Halloween know to expect an increase in their power bill. Did you know you can save up to 90% on your total energy bill by using L.E.D. Halloween lights? L.E.D. Halloween lights burn brighter, cooler, longer and more efficiently than their traditional counterparts.

Because L.E.D. Halloween lights burn cooler than incandescent lights, the risk of someone being burned by them is all but eliminated also.

L.E.D. lights last years longer than incandescent (up to twelve depending on the color). This means you won't be throwing away lights and replacing them with new ones as often. You'll be keeping waste down and saving money.

By burning less energy, less pollution is created to generate the extra power we all use at Halloween for our lights and lighted decorations.

Going "green" is the responsibility of all of us. As you plan your party and decorate for Halloween this year, think of ways to create a festive, fun atmosphere without creating the waste. With just a little effort, using these Halloween decorating and party ideas are sure to keep more cash in your pocket and help our environment stay clean and healthy. Happy Halloween!

Brenda Prevost owns http://www.allholidaytreasures.com which sells decorations, lights and costumes for Christmas, Halloween, Easter, St. Patrick's Day and other special occasions.

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