Halloween Party Planning So Easy It’s Scary
So you told all your friends you were going to throw a pretty stellar Halloween party. Then a few weeks went by. You did nothing. Now you’re days away from the big day, and you need to figure out how to pull this whole thing off with a small effort and an even smaller budget. No worries. We’ve got your back.
We’ve divided this blog into two sections: sweet apartment decorations and lazy party tricks.
Decorations
Glow-st
Find an incredible deal on balloons and glow sticks. You’re going to need them. Then go home, and in the hours before the party, crack a glow stick, put it into a balloon, blow up the balloon and use a marker to draw a ghost face on said balloon. Repeat this about 25 times or as many balloons as makes sense for the party.
Jack-Glow-Lantern
OK, that’s the last time we make a cheesy “glow” pun. Now prepare to give your jack-o-lantern a total makeover…with actual makeup. Spend a few extra bucks to pick up a tube of glow-in-the-dark people makeup, and smear it all over your carved-up pumpkins. In the dark it will look even creepier than your usual Halloween décor, and friends may even think you spent more than the $15 you actually did.
Frightful Fridge
Decorate in a big way with minimal effort by making your refrigerator into a ghost. Cut two medium-sized black, squiggly ovals and one large, black squiggly oval using construction paper or pieces of cardboard. Then tape them to your white refrigerator and call it a ghost. Seriously, could you make more of an impact with less effort? No.
Cold to the touch
While you’re standing next to your refrigerator, fill a few plastic gloves full of water and throw them into the freezer. They’re the perfect creepy ice cubes for the punch you’re bound to serve.
The Party
Water Balloon Cooler
Put that freezer to even more use by filling a dozen or two water balloons and setting them next to the frozen hands. They’ll turn any tub, bowl or container into an instant cooler for your friends’ drinks.
Pumpkin Spruce
Instead of the pumpkin spice that seems to be infiltrating everything autumn, try some pumpkin spruce—as in sprucing up your party with the seasonal gourd. It’s as easy as making them into holders for the bowls you were already going to use for snacks, dips and such. For each, just turn the bowl upside down on the top of the pumpkin, trace it, cut along the circle, clean out the guts (if you want to) and slide the bowl inside. It should nest nicely, so nicely people will think you spent hours turning your house into a Halloween haven.
Wine Glass Dippers
Don’t go buying serving trays for the dip either. If you have a few wine glasses and some flat-bottomed bowls, you have everything you need for a clever chip and dip tray. Put the dip in the glass, place the glass in the bowl and pour the chips in the bowl. Voilà. You have the cheapest and fanciest of dip bowls.
Guest Play List
Stop spending too many hours and too much money building the perfect playlist only to have everyone ignore it or complain about it. Plug in your Jam speaker and let your guests decide which songs they want to hear. Throw a couple signs out to let them know how to connect, and you’re done.
Spooky Sounds
Do you have another Jam speaker? (You should.) Then go to you favorite video site, find some scary soundtracks and push play. Some of those tracks are more than an hour long. Simple.
Glow Stick Status
Remember when we suggested buying a whole bunch of glow sticks? This is where they come in most handy for your guests. Make it easier for your lovebird friends to let that sweet single down easily or for others to find someone to talk to for the night. Lay out three glow stick colors—one for everyone in a relationship, one for those who aren’t exactly sure where their love life stands and one for guests who are most-assuredly single.