HALLOWEEN PARTY TIME

Ronnie dressed in his FEAR costume!

Halloween is nearly upon us and it’s not long before the devils and witches come out at the end of the month. If you are deciding to have a bit of a spooky party come the 31st then here are some ghoulish ideas for the event.

PUMPKIN BOWLS
Serve fresh vegetables using a hollowed out pumpkin as a bowl. Cut off the top and clean out, leaving the top in a jagged edge design! Use mini pumpkins to hold dips!

CREEPY ICE BOWLS
We have just made an ice bowl, which looks great with a light underneath it. To make one of these half fill up a bowl with water then put a smaller bowl inside. Weigh the smaller bowl down so it is pressed into the water and put creepy things into the water like tomato tops for spiders, olives for eyes –use your imagination! Put in the freezer overnight and in the morning remove both bowls. You will be left with an ice bowl that you can fill with delicious ice cream and bats wings on the night. The bowl can be stored in the freezer to use again.

FROZEN HANDS
Make frozen ice hands by filling clear, food use plastic gloves with water and freezing. When frozen, cut the glove away and throw them in a bowl that is full of lemonade. It will keep your pop cold and look great!

DEAD FLOWER DISPLAYS
Create creepy autumn centrepieces by filling vases with dried flowers, brown leaves, and empty branches. Tie a black ribbon bow around each display. If you can get some imitation spiders webs to drape over them, all the better.

FOG MACHINES
Fog machines are now very inexpensive and readily available during the Halloween buying season. Adding one to your haunt or party makes a big impact on your Halloween celebration and will add that extra effect to thrill and scare your trick or treaters. If you want to hire one then get ringing the hire shops now!

ALTERNATIVE APPLE BOBBING
Use apples for taper candleholders. Choose small, round apples that will sit firmly on a flat surface and remove the stems. Cut a small round hole in the top of each apple - deep and wide enough to securely hold a taper candle. Make sure the apples are shaped so that they have a flattish bottom, so they won't tip over. If you don’t like the idea of getting everyone soaking wet with apple bobbing there is an alternative. Hang the apples by their stems with thread from the ceiling and let party goers try to bite them!

PUMPKIN SEEDS
Keep your pumpkin seeds when gutting your pumpkin so you can roast them up later for a fun Halloween treat! Simply wash the seeds to get the slime off and pat dry. The seeds are now ready for roasting. Put a drop of oil into a frying pan and keep stirring them until they turn golden brown. Alternatively you can put them on a baking tray and put them in the oven for about twenty minutes on a moderate heat, again until they are golden brown. The seeds taste delicious on their own or you can add them to savoury dishes or even put them on your muesli in the mornings.

SPOOKY LIGHTING
Tie small glow sticks to string attached to helium balloons and let them sail over your house for spooky lights in the sky. Make sure to tie off the strings to something solid so they do 't get away! We ordered some small glow sticks off e-bay last year and they were reasonably priced at ten pounds for one hundred. The helium might be a bit more expensive though!

COSTUME CAUTION
Make sure that any shop bought costume is fire retardant. Nylon and other materials used to make mass produced Halloween costumes is highly flammable. Those made out of vinyl can be particularly hazardous. Extreme caution is needed when there are fireworks around and any other naked flames from candles or fires.