Editorial: Plan the perfect Halloween party

• Halloween Party

Halloween Party

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Over the years, as reports of hazardous materials placed in candy have surfaced, ways to spend Halloween safely have been sought.

The at-home party has become increasingly popular. An alternative to trick-or-treating, the party environment can be controlled and still be fun for the participants.

So ideas to make such parties successful are in high demand. Professional Art Designer and Production Stylist Stacy Nelson has shared some tricks-of-the-trade for transforming an average party into an extreme event, as follows:

—Gather as much black fabric or plastic as can be found. Cover couches, chairs, tables, pictures, windows and walls. By draping everyday surroundings in black, a dark mysterious environment can instantly be created.

—Shop thrift stores, yard sales and discount stores to buy candle sticks in all shapes and sizes. Collect every style from simple bases to elaborate candelabras and lanterns. Then communicate the Halloween theme with the color candles being used: antique white for classic horror, orange for fun and festive, and black for gothic.

—Scout the house for items already owned to make a powerful design impact. Use antique books to boost a centerpiece, place an old Halloween mask on a Styrofoam head and position in the middle of a serving platter, and replace family photos with old black-and-white pictures to turn the party into a classic horror film.

—Take a typical store-bought skeleton and break at each joint. Pile and scatter bones on top of each other to create a cluster of carnage. Include a jewelry box or mini toy chest and fill with beads, chains and old jewelry. Add a knife with what appears to be drops of dried blood.

—Now that the basic foundation is set, determine whether to go fun with floral by adding flowers and leaves in fall colors or sick with slaughter by adding human intestines, eyeballs and arterial blood spray.

Party planners may also want to devise chilling creations at home for the Halloween gathering. The following tips have been made available from Living on a Dime:

—Face paint. One teaspoon corn starch, one-half teaspoon cold cream, one-half teaspoon water and food coloring. Mix all ingredients together in an old muffin pan and get ready to paint. This amount is for each color.

—Deviled eyeballs. Make deviled eggs. Then add a green olive with pimento in the center for an “eyeball.”

—Radioactive juice. Mix equal parts Mountain Dew and blue Kool-Aid.

—Toxic juice. Add some green food coloring to lemonade for a spooky color.

—Bloody eyeballs. Boil cherry tomatoes 30 seconds. Allow to cool, then peel skin.

—Fake blood. Mix two-thirds cup white corn syrup, one teaspoon red food coloring, two-to-three drops blue food coloring to darken and one squirt dish soap (helps blood to run well).

—Brains. Scramble eggs with some green, yellow and blue food coloring.

—Bloody popcorn. Add red food color to melted butter and pour over popcorn.

—Use the tape from old cassettes or black yarn to make spider webs.

Find more Halloween make-up and food recipes at www.LivingOnADime.com.

Tags: opinion, editorials, entertainment, ellsworth, family