Halloween Parties: Fun & Easy & on the Cheap

If you want to have a fabulous Halloween Party, hire Murder on the Menu to do a full blown Interactive Mystery Event. But if you want Halloween on the Cheap and are doing it yourself, I have several ideas. All it takes is time and ingenuity!

Chocolate: I have a blog called DyingforChocolate, so be sure to check later this month, so you can make your own cool Halloween cupcakes and candy! It will save you money and be lots of fun! I have several recipes up from last Halloween, and I'll have more Dirt Cupcake Cemeteries and DyingforChocolate recipes later this month. Speaking of food, pumpkins make great decorations, and you can always use the pumpkin to bake with later.

Decor: Because I have a mystery event company, I have lots of Halloween decor. I collect it all year because I just love Halloween. Target and Walmart have great stuff, but to be thrifty, you might want to wait until after Halloween and buy stuff on sale for next year. I shop the White Elephant Sale in Oakland (benefits the Oakland Museum) in February. Lots of Halloween--and other decor-- at budget prices. However, if you need it now, you can always use black fabric, candles, candelabras and votives. Holiday lights add ambiance, and you can drape your mirrors with black fabric.

Drinks: Not so cheap, but great for the adults.
Check out Special Halloween Cocktails from DrinkoftheWeek.com:

Spider’s Kiss
1 oz. Midori melon liqueur
1 oz. vodka
Squeeze of fresh Lemon
Grenadine (optional)
Chocolate syrup

Draw a chocolate web into a cocktail glass. Place in freezer and chill. Shake Midori, vodka and lemon juice and strain into glass. For a blood effect, drizzle grenadine down the side of the glass. Garnish with a chocolate-dipped orange slice.

If you want to spend a little bit of extra for great visual impact: Creep out your guests by serving a blood-red punch out of a dispenser that looks like an IV drip called In My Veins Drink Dispenser. Remember punch is cheaper than mixed drinks.

Drink of the Week has also put together a collection of dastardly Halloween drinks, murderous martinis and creepy cocktails! There are links to Halloween Punch Recipes, Glowing Drinks and more!

So here are a few ideas to get you started. Great for office parties, home parties, children and adults.

More theme ideas to come!