As a Cost Plus World Market ambassador I’ve been provided with a gift card to purchase themed items. All opinions are my own.
Halloween time is here!! Time to bust out the candy and dawn your favorite costume for the season of spooks has begun! Halloween is by far my favorite holiday. Not only do I LOVE being able to get dressed up and decorate my home with the odd and eerie, it also happens to be my birthday. Ever since I was little my family has always made Halloween something special for me and now that I have my own family, I try to make each year a little more exciting. Since Halloween has such a large presence in my life, I’ve come up with the perfect formula for brewing up a wicked Halloween party that’s both kid and adult friendly.
Step 1: Choose a theme and rock out on the decor
One of the major components of a Halloween party is setting the scene. With so many fun Halloween props and decor available, it can be tempting to buy them all. By choosing a theme and sticking to it you’ll save money and your sanity when it comes to putting everything together. Create a center piece for your party with fun Halloween decor that catches the eye and conveys exactly what your theme is. A table for example where your party treats will go makes a great center piece. This year for our party we decided to go with a Haunted House theme.
Nothing says Haunted House like spell books, bleeding candles, creepy skulls and mummy hands!
Step 2: Keep the party entertaining with fun activities
There are endless possibilities when it comes to fun Halloween activities for kids and adults. A few of my favorites are the classic, bobbing for apples, a pumpkin toss and doing a trunk or treat! Bobbing for apples is simple, requiring little prep and a pumpkin toss is easily made from poster board or plywood and bean bags. A trunk or treat is a little less known to people but is a great way to get extra trick or treating in. Have party goers decorate the trunks of their cars in Halloween themes and provide a bucket of candy. The kiddos then trick or treat from trunk to trunk and check out the fun decorations. You can even spice it up a bit by offering prizes to the top 3 decorated trunks! I host a Trunk Or Treat every year and it’s always a major hit.
Step 3: Offer up some seriously funky grub
Nothing says Halloween like freakishly large amounts of sweet treats and wacky taste-ables. Since Halloween is all about the weird, spooky and strange bringing silly and fun treats to the table will delight your guests. One of the things we make every year are monster hands. Made up of popcorn and candy corn and stuffed into a clear lunch service glove, these treats are easy and always hit it off with party goers.
You can easily find chips and other every day food that can take on another personality when it’s Halloween. I was able to find some yummy Halloween treats such as candy corn flavored popcorn, Wicked Apple and even Flying Cauldron Butterscotch soda (which to me tasted like Butterbeer!) and even chips that look like pumpkins and bones. Of course adding in a special Halloween cake never hurts, my favorite so far was the one we had last year for my birthday!
Having a plan for any party is always a great way to ensure success. Following these three easy steps will have you doing the Monster Mash with your Halloween party guests in no time!
Have you hosted a Halloween party yet or plan to? What were you favorite moments?
For even more Halloween fun, be sure to check our the new movie, The Book Of Life, in theaters October 24th! The film is an animated Romeo and Juliet-inspired love story set during a Day of the Dead celebration. The movie follows Manolo, (Channing Tatum) a young matador who wants to shed the expectations of his family to follow his dreams of being a musician. Him and his best friend, Joaquin (Diego Luna), the successful pride of the town compete for the heart of the beautiful Maria (Zoe Saldana). In order to win Maria’s heart and save her life, Manolo must face his greatest fears and follow his heart to rewrite his destiny.
Even better, celebrate The Book Of Life movie by entering World Market’s Book Of Life Sweepstakes! You could win a trip to the Riviera Maya & FREE Movies for a Year!
- Grand Prize Package:
- 5 Days/6Nights at Grand Velas Riviera Maya (hotel & accommodations)
- Free Movies for a year
- $1,000 World Market gift card
- Book of Life Merchandise
- Plus, three (3) first prizes: $500 World Market gift card
Enter to win HERE!
Crystal says
It’s so much fun that Halloween falls on a Friday night this year. I’m not having a Halloween party, but we will be out trick-or-treating.
Susan S., TN says
What GREAT ideas for a Halloween Party.. Of course I love the cake but I would have to say one of my favorite things would be the Monster Hand Treats. I have never seen this before & I love to get new ideas.. Thanks for sharing all these wonderful Halloween ideas!!!
Kaitlyn Ivy says
What cool ideas those were. I always have trouble thinking of fun things to do for Halloween so this post was a real party-maker!
Sara P. (@SensiblySara) says
I love World Market and all the fun (unique) decorations they have! You did a great job with your decorations!
Crystal says
They have the best decorations, don’t they? I need to run over to finalize our Halloween decorations.
Lisa @ Crazy Adventures in Parenting says
Your party and ideas rock! I want to throw my own now, dangit! 🙂
Tammy S says
I love you ideas! I want to come to your party! The decorations look awesome. The grave cake looks Amazing. I love the way you go all out. World Market always has great unique items for any occasion.
Shop with Me Mama (Kim) says
Wow, I LOVE your decor!! And that hand with popcorn in it, is a really cool idea!
Raijean says
I’m loving everything about this display. Going to try to duplicate it asap.
Virginia @thatbaldchick says
The popcorn hands are always such a big hit, aren’t they? Great party tips.
Ashley - Embracing Homemaking says
I love the popcorn hands!! Super cute idea!
Stephanie says
My favorite is the popcorn hands! So fun and easy.
Tiff @ Babes and Kids says
How amazing the spread on that table?! These are great tips and would definitely be helpful in pulling off an amazing Halloween party.
Kerri says
Your Halloween party looks awesome! I love the hand goody bags. They are the best!
LyndaS says
I have not hosted a Halloween party. My kids would probably like it if you would come over and set one up for us. 😉
Megan @mnmspecial says
I’m doing a Halloween dinner here and I’m totally procrastinating on a theme. That looks like a cool giveaway.
Ellen That Chic Mom says
What fun ideas reminds me of the parties my mom threw when I was a kid she used to make those hands and she added licorice veins, I forgot about that fun treat until I saw your post!
Digna D. says
Cost Plus World has awesome products. Themes make it easier during Halloween. My favorite is everything ghostly.
Mickey says
I haven’t been to World Market in forever. I used to go weekly and definitely need to get back there soon!
Jennifer @ Mom Spotted says
That looks like such a great time! you had so many different cute ideas!
Melissa says
Great tips! These are all such great ideas! I love the fun activities.
Nina Say says
A strong theme for a Halloween party is SUPER important. Thanks for the great tips.
Mike Z says
Lots of good info. Will be using this to help me host my first ever Halloween party. BTW where do you get the pumpkin shaped chips?
Link Fairy says
Mike, I got all the chips I used at my local Cost Plus World Market 🙂 Happy Haunting!
Ivette says
Love the Halloween party ideas!
Samantha Wagner says
I love these ideas! The cake is awesome 🙂
sandra davis says
thanks for all the great tips and ideas
Notorious Spinks says
These looks great. I just dont thinkI have the creativity to plan and decorate for a Halloween party.