Needless to say, Halloween is practically at our doorsteps, which means the holiday planning has probably already begun. Although Trick-or-Treating and dressing up in fun costumes is a major part of the holiday, so is throwing parties to share the occasion with friends and family. Of course, parties can cost an arm and a leg, if you’re not careful, and when it comes to Halloween it’s easy to splurge when you shouldn’t. Luckily, there’s a few shortcuts you can take to make your holiday party frugal and fun, without making it appear as if you cut the corners. These ten tips should help you make the most of many elements of the occasion, so you can enjoy watching your inner circle have the time of their life.
1. Homemade Foods
Sure, when Halloween arrives, there’s lots of bakery items that will strike your fancy. Of course, they’ll also hit your pocket book pretty hard too. Luckily, there’s lots of great items you can whip up yourself, that doesn’t involve you needing the skills of a world class baker or chef. For instance, one of the classic Halloween foods is worms in the mud. All you need is some gummy worms, pudding and chocolate cookies and you’re good to go. You can also transform a typical box of red velvet cake mix into a brain cake, without ever breaking a sweat. If baking isn’t your thing then make up a batch of spaghetti and place fake eyeballs or prop fingers in it. The kids will love this wormy treat, if they can get past the scare factor. There’s lots of other great recipes online or you can let your imagination soar and create something entirely original to your party.
2. DIY Drinks
Whether you’re entertaining children or adults, you may want to consider making up a few spooktacular drinks to make your party a hit. Alcoholic beveragesare easy to find online and you can design them based on the alcohol you already have in the home. Generally, these mixed drinks come with recipes that are made with pretty cheap ingredients, so you won’t have to spend a small fortune on exotic fruits or anything like that. Many of these drinks can be altered to create a delicious drink without the alcohol. This will drive the kids wild too and will ensure everyone gets the most out of their experience. If you do serve alcohol though, you should try to limit it to one drink per person, especially if you’re trying to save money or keep the environment family friendly. To add an extra special touch to your drinks, add Halloween inspired garnish like finger, eyeball or spider decor which can easily be found at the dollar store.
3. Costume Competition
When it comes to keeping your guests entertained, what better way to do so than to host a costume competition. Most of your guests will probably show up in costume as is, so use this to your advantage. If you have a lot of guests, or your guest vary in ages, then try to break up the competition in order to have more winners and to take up more of your time. For instance, age groups are easy to organize especially when it comes to children. However, if your party is all adults then you could easily separate the groups by the genre of the costume. If you want to add a prize to your competition then there’s no need to go all out either. You can easily come up with a small gift card, party favor bag of candy or a baked good. The sky is really the limit here.
4. Crafts
It’s not quite a party without a little craft work, right? This is especially true if you have kids coming to your party because crafting is such an easy way to keep kids entertained for hours on end. Luckily, there’s lots of easy crafts that are cheap to make. You may want to start out with printing out some fun Halloween coloring sheets. You should be able to find a wide assortment of options online without having to spend a penny on the items. Another simple option is to make Trick-or-Treating bags. You can really get creative here. The bags can be made of cloth, paper or you can even splurge and buy some cheap buckets at the dollar store. From there, all you need is some basic crafting supplies and the kids can go all out on their Halloween creations. Of course, Halloween craft time wouldn’t be the same without tissue paper ghosts. These take white tissue paper, string of any sort and some recycled newspaper or magazines. The kids will have a blast creating different types of ghosts. You may even be able to use them for decorations at the party. There’s lots of other crafts too, so have a little fun with the concept and enjoy the creativity that the guests bring to the table.
5. Dance Competition
You have to admit, there’s lots of awesome Halloween inspired dances out there. From the Monster Mash to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, you can really have some fun dancing during this occasion. So, why not use this to your advantage. You can easily choreograph some of your favorite dances or come up with your own. There’s lots of inspiration online and you can learn some of the classic dances from online videos for no cost at all. When everyone is ready to bust a move, have a few people who don’t want to dance act as judges. You can have solo and group competitions if you please, which may have everyone having more fun than they ever expected. Plus, it will take up a lot of the party time without allowing the party to get dull. If you plan on giving out a prize, keep it inexpensive or homemade to help keep your budget low.
6. Scary Story Competition
Where would Halloween be without scary stories that leave you on edge late at night? That’s why a scary story competition may be one of the best ways to keep your guests entertained for hours on end. Of course, you may want to keep your competition separate based on age groups as younger children won’t be able to handle the scarier stories shared by adults and teens. This can easily be done by taking the competition into another room, where you can keep the lights out and use a flashlight for effects, just as you did when you were a kid. It may also be a bit of fun to host the stories in front of a campfire, if you have the room and are legally allowed to do so. You can easily appoint a few people to judge the stories, or you can pass around a score sheet based on a variety of different materials. All in all, this should take up quite a bit of party time and will have your guests feeling nostalgic and a little spooked.
7. Music
A lot of people have a hard time finding music for the Halloween shindig, especially since many party stores tend to hike up the price on a CD to ridiculous prices. Luckily, we live in the modern age, which means just about everything can be streamed for no price at all. For starters, you can hop on your favorite streaming radio program and you’ll probably find playlist after playlist of all of your favorite Halloween hits and some you may have never even heard of. If you’re lucky, you may even find spooky sound effects, which are perfect for a haunted house. If you can’t stream for whatever reason, then try to check out a used CD store or browse around online for used products. You may find what you’re looking for is less than a dollar!
8. Shop Cheap Decor
Sure, we all love to decorate for Halloween, but some of the items can end up leaving your budget in trouble, if you’re not careful. There are better ways to shop for Halloween than your local department store’s display though. For instance, most dollar stores will have some amazing items that will ensure your home looks outstanding when Halloween finally arrives. From larger decor to faux spider webs and decals, you can really stock up without spending a ton of money at these stores. Another option is the thrift store. Usually, these stores will put their items on display closer to the holiday, so you won’t even have to dig around to find what you’re looking for. If you’re still looking for something special then hop online and look at your favorite discount stores clearance. Generally, you can find items that they couldn’t get rid of last year for a lot less than you’d expect.
9. Keep Guest Lists Low
Of course, it’s tempting to send out invitations to the entire neighborhood, your children’s school and the office. However, when it comes to paying for your party, you may want to keep your guest list a little choosier. This will allow you to make higher quality food for your guests, so you won’t have to opt for cheaper options to accommodate the huge guest list. Games and competitions will be much easier to organize this way too. Also, party favors won’t end up bankrupting you because you will only have to provide for a few people. Although it may be tough to choose who you will invite from your large list of guests, you’ll be thankful you kept the list low when you factor in the bill from the party.
10. Games
Halloween games are easy to come up with and are tons of fun for all ages. There’s a wide assortment of games that already exist, but you can also some up with your favorites to help keep your guests happy throughout your party. One of the most famous games is Mummy Wrap. Simply purchase a bunch of cheap toilet paper and divide people into teams. Whichever team can wrap up their Mummy the fastest and the best wins the game. Of course, you can always add an obstacle course to make this game a bit tougher. Zombie tag is also another fun game and takes on the basic premise of freeze tag. You can add in your own rules here though to make it even more exciting. Last but not least, playing musical chairs to your favorite Halloween tunes is also a must, especially if you’re entertaining younger children.
Halloween parties can be a boatload of fun, especially if you plan well and stay under budget. With these ten simple tips you should be able to find and create everything you need to make your party the talk of your inner circle for years to come. Now, the only thing you need to make the night a success is the perfect costume and a Trick-or-Treat bag filled with your favorite candies!
