Now, that you have your Halloween costume all set (if not, you can get ideas from here).
It's time to start planning for your party. But, if you're anything like me, you wait until the morning of... overcommit in the crafting department. Curse. Cry. Roll around on the floor for a little. Realize people are on their way. Then, throw together what you can while you're full of disappointment and regret.
So here are some inexpensive and QUICK crafts, snacks, and decorations you can pull off last-minute to kick your party up a notch. In fact, none of these should be more than $10*!
*Depending on the size of the pumpkins you are using and how many of each item you are buying.
The Pumpkin Cooler
You can get a fairly decent-sized pumpkin from the grocery store for under $10. To make this cooler, cut the top of the pumpkin off and hollow it out. Fill the pumpkin with ice and add in your beverages! If you wanted, add a glass bowl that fits inside the pumpkin. Add
Petrified Jar Specimens
Grab various sized mason jars and vases. Stuff you have around the house works!If not, head to the Dollar Store. Fill the jars with water and food dye. Typically, yellows, greens, oranges and light brown food dyes look creepy. Once the jars are filled, add fake bugs, eyeballs or fake dark flowers, all items you can score for cheap at the craft store!
DIY Halloween Wreath
Start the party at the front door as your guests are greeted with a spooktacular wreath! This is easy to make and doesn't require any hot glue or crafting skill level of any kind. Head to your local craft store. Grab yourself a pre-made twig wreath and a packaged spiderweb. When assembling, cut the web, as you will only be using about 1/4 of it (hang the rest throughout the house). Stretch the web over the bottom half of the wreath. When webbing, remember: less is more. Thin it out as much as possible. Feel free to also add plastic spiders or eyeballs as an extra 'ew' effect. Or if you are super lazy, check out this Esty Shop and just order a custom wreath here! #ShamelessPromotion
Pumpkin Centerpiece
If you are hosting a Halloween party, you gonna have to buy a lot of pumpkins. It's just facts. Use one as a centerpiece for your snacks or beverages table. Also, it's a great directional piece. "Hey, where's the pretzel bites at?" "Oh, at the Crow Tree Pumpkin Table..."To make this centerpiece, hollow out a pumpkin and grab a bunch of twigs from your backyard. Throw those bad boys in the pumpkin and this craft is already almost done! Print out a variety of crows and/or owls silhouettes. Then, glue/tape your woodland creatures onto the branches. Boom! Done! Next....
Mummy Mason Jars
Mason jars are your best friend. They're always there when you need them and can transform into one of your many needs you didn't know you needed them for. Am I making sense? No? Ok, great.
For this, you'll need some glue, a mason jar(s), googly eyes, and gauze wrap. Glue a line about the width of the gauze, and place gauze on glue. Next, start wrapping the gauze around the mason jar, gluing when you think necessary. Leave a little space open for the googly eyes. Once the mason jar is all wrapped up, glue on the googly eyes and you're all done! Add a battery operated tea light to take the spooky up a notch.
Don't Forget the Windows!
You can never have enough spider webs! Seriously. Head to the Dollar Store and buy about 10 bags of these! It won't go to waste! Add them to windows, chairs, tables, mirrors, etc. Add them wherever you think the room could use a little jazzing up and these will fill the space with what you are missing! For this look: stretch out from top corner to top corner and bring pinches of web down to the bottom. Do it sparingly so it stretches out. Add paper bats or plastic spiders, even black lights to make it glow!
Paper Bats
These are so cheap and easy to make. You just need black paper and string! Print out this template, then fold your black paper in half. Trace your bat template as many times as it will fit on the sheet. Cut around the trace marks, and open up the bat. Punch a small hole, in the head, wing or foot to add string. Once the string is added, hang indoors or outdoors. My personal favorite is to have various string lengths and hang the in doorways.
Ice Hand
Keep your punch bowl chilled while sending chills down the spines of your guests! Using a non-latex rubber glove (don't want anyone to have an allergic reaction), fill the glove with water, leaving enough room so you can tie it securely at the end. Place in freezer on a flat surface and let harden for several hours. Once in ice form, cut glove off and place into the punch bowl! Make multiple ones at once, so the punch can stay cold all night!
Know any easy Halloween tips or tricks? Add them in the comments!
