A Sweet and Fun Spin on Halloween

We're not into terrifying children on Halloween, so for the Halloween party, I decided to keep it sweet, simple, and fun.   If you saw my previous post, you already have the tools you need to throw a fun get-together on a budget, and now it's time to party!

I asked the kids to come in their favorite costumes or seasonal clothing and had some very easy activities planned.  First, they made their own Creepy Mini Pizzas and each one was customized!  I made the crusts in advance, and set up a pizza station so each child could decorate his or her pizza to look as creepy or funny as they wanted.  Notice the caramel corn treat bag goodies in the back--they ended up being super-creative and used some of those ingredients also.

After baking the pizzas, here's how they looked--didn't they do a fa-BOO-lous job?  I'm the queen of bad puns......

Since I also served Mini Crescent Mummy Dogs , I kept the pizza toppings meat-free to try and get some veggies in the kids.  They chose from sliced tomatoes, multicolored sweet pepper strips, black olives, and parsley.  Of course, some opted to use pretzels and peanuts, but how cute are they?  The best thing about these is that they ate every last bite.

They also got to create their own take home treat boxes using with the Caramel Corn I made for the party.  They added pretzels, salted peanuts, dried cranberries, and a little candy.  This stuff is so good, and I was glad they were helping it to leave the house or else I would've eaten my weight in it!

After, we decorated mini pumpkins with Sharpies.  I know what you're thinking, but they turned out better than paint.  Even my 3 year old was able to decorate hers and there were no stained hands or clothing.

 

Their finished products.  The kids ranged in age from 3 to 12, and you can guess which jack-o-lantern belongs to which age.  I love kids' art!

Next, this is the one thing that grossed them out a bit.  You've probably heard about Halloween pranks involving peeled grape eyeballs, fake blood, and frozen hands in the punch, but I stumbled upon some squid ink fettucini and knew it would be perfect for.............the BRAIN!

Cook the pasta as you normally would, toss in a small drizzle of olive oil to give it a brainy sheen, refrigerate it in a small bowl for a few hours to help it hold its shape.  If you've ever had leftover spaghetti, you know what happens to it in the fridge.  Perfect brain consistency!
I hope I haven't turned you off of your leftover spaghetti.

Without telling them what it was, we took the kids one by one into the hall and had them close their eyes to touch the "brain."  A friend of mine posted an article on Halloween tricks involving food items and this next trick caught my attention.  Take a sliced pickle, and rub it on the kids' arm while blindfolded or their eyes are closed and tell them they are being licked by a werewolf.  This caused the most squealing and they all wanted to know what it was that licked them.  Then they complained about smelling like pickle juice--silly kids!

I think they're ready to trick-or-treat!  If they show up at your house, don't lick them with a pickle ; )

Homemade Treats for Boys & Ghouls

I think of the start of Fall as the beginning of baking and the season that revs up for more serious cooking.  Kind of like a when a race car driver starts his engine, my internal cooking clock's timer "dings" to let me know it's time to switch it into high gear.  Not only are you getting ready for Halloween, but you may have a few birthdays thrown in (we do), Thanksgiving is around the corner, and Christmas follows shortly after.  I was excited to learn that some of my activities this month with Allrecipes.com would include challenging me to do things I've never attempted before.  Our brand sponsors included Pillsbury Crescents and Karo Syrup.   In this post, I'll share the treats and tips I used to craft a fun and economical Halloween party for some of the kids in the neighborhood.

First, probably my favorite decorations were these spiders--made with a $1 pack of black pipe cleaners and a $1 pack of black pom poms.  Bend 4 pipe cleaners together to create legs and hot glue 2 pom poms on top for the body.  In my next post, you'll see how I used some of these.

 

 





They look great on my dollar store spider webs!

Next, for the table I used more dollar store black plates, orange napkins, and black plastic flatware.  Notice how the napkin was made to look like a ghost over the flatware.  This is a simple way to add a little extra pizzazz to each place setting.  The tablecloth is a piece of fabric I had in my sewing room, and I always like to print the menu to let my guests know what they'll be eating.  It just adds to the tablescape, and keeps folks from guessing what they're eating.  For my Halloween theme, each food was renamed something spooky (like Graveyard Cocoa).  You'll see more about the menu below.

A closer look at the floral arrangement shows that a spider has taken over the marigolds from our garden.  My oldest daughter made this from a $1 craft kit I found at the store.  It was her idea to place it on the flowers and I think it looks fantastic!

If you can't find a sign like this, print one yourself!  Target's dollar bin had this fun one for $2.50.  It would also be cute on a post outside the house.

Next come the recipes.  Remember how I mentioned that this was a month that challenged me?  I made caramel, marshmallows, pecan pie, and yeast rolls for the very first time.  For the party, here were the recipes I made that were extremely neat and pushed me out of my normal comfort zone--but it was worth it because they all turned out well (thankfully!).

Crescent Mummy Dogs
I made them mini sized by using small cocktail sausages and
cut the crescent roll strips smaller.  Like pigs in a blanket, only spookier.

Caramel Corn Treat Bags
This is delicious and addictive!  We could not stop sampling the
caramel corn.  Here are the steps to make it, and the recipe instructions
are spot on, so I recommend following them to a T.

Spooky Homemade Marshmallows
I cannot believe I made marshmallows!  They were so tasty, much
better than any storebought.  We used a bone cookie cutter to
make our Graveyard Cocoa. 

Individual Pumpkin Pies
My family also loved these.  I made them before our party and
they didn't last, but I wanted to mention them in case you'd like to try them.
I would recommend using foil baking cups because they made the
paper cups I used a bit sticky.  The pie is delicious.
 

Lastly, my husband took a few pictures of me as I was working, and I promised him I'd use one.  Most were fairly dark, but I was able to edit this one enough to be presentable. 
He liked my Halloween hat.

Next up, the party!  I hope there are some ideas here you can use for your own celebration, be it for 2 or 20.  There's always a way to make life a little more special, even if you're on a strict budget.