I don’t know about where you live, but surely it will be raining somewhere Halloween night. You may be the home that entertains all the ghostly kiddies before they go trick or treating. If it rains - are you prepared? The same goes for a snow storm. This year some of the cities in the far north have already had their first snow.

If you are already planning a party, you’ll have a house full of kids already. If not, you could call other parents on your block and have an impromptu one. That way everyone can enjoy Halloween, even if they can’t go door to door due to bad weather. Make sure to make a few alternative plans, just in case. That way no one will spend the night disappointed.

If it’s just lightly raining (or snowing), you can still go out. Ask each parent to bring an umbrella for their child. You could also keep a stash of dollar store ones, for this and future group outings in the rain. I promise you will use them again in the spring. Small children love to carry their own umbrella - especially while they jump into puddles! Of course, you need to gauge the ages of the kids at the party. If they are too young to carry their own, a parent will need to carry it for them.

An unexpected solution is to create candy stations in most of the rooms. Each one hosted by an adult, who will make sure no one’s getting more than their share. This works great if you’re having all the families on the block over. It helps if you have some decorations for each of the rooms you use, and you can ask each parent to bring some to the party. Also adults in costumes make it seem more like ‘real’ trick or treating. This idea would work very well with young children. After they have gone to all of the houses (rooms), they can sit down and trade candy just as if they had gone out. A bonus is that they are not soaked to bone or cold from the elements.

Maybe you don’t have the space or the adult help to pull off indoor trick or treating. Make up some party goodie bags ahead of time. Put in age appropriate toys, cards, even wax vampire teeth if you can find them. You can always have the parents to check the bags ahead of time, to make sure they are ok with everything in the bag.

Have a costume fashion show. It’s less pressure on everyone than a contest. Plus everyone gets to show off all their hard work. Have each kid (and adult) get into character as much as they can. Everyone will be laughing before you know it.

This would also be a great time to make up a batch of sugar cookies. The kids can help cut them out with Halloween cookie cutters, and then decorate them with different colored icings. Anytime of the year cookies are a big hit.

You could turn down the lights, sit around the fireplace, and tell scary stories. Even roast marshmallows and make smores, if you have a wood burning fireplace. Make sure the stories are not too scary for your age group. Plan an alternative activity for kids who don’t want to participate. You could set up a coloring station with copies of pumpkins and the children can create their own jack-o-lanterns with crayons.

If the kids are still ready for more after you’ve done all that, games are the next step.

Here are a few links to sites that have tons of ideas:

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Posted by Myriam under Fall Entertaining & Halloween & Holiday Entertaining & Hostessing | No Comments »

I had my big Halloween extravaganza last night, the annual Gothic dinner party. I invited 12 people for a total of 13 including me - a perfect number for Halloween. Everyone comes dressed in black, and a few guests add makeup and accessories to create a costume as well. The table was covered with a black table cloth that was accented with small gold one to cover the center of the table. The only lights in the room were witch hat string lights and candles everywhere (especially the dinner table). The lightning machines behind the graveyard scene covering the windows looked like a spooky storm, complete with thunder sounds. Like I’ve said before, setting the scene is one of the most important parts of a successful Halloween party.

I love the new rolls of Halloween scenery you can buy this year. Various scenes that are 4 feet tall and the rolls have 50 yards of it. I covered one entire wall with a spooky forest theme at the top with a graveyard scene below. It’s an amazing effect, since it’s on one of the biggest walls in the room.

Over the front windows I have scary ghosts panels and when the lights are on inside, you see the ghosts and tombstones glow outside. It’s a great effect inside and out. I found some spider web lace panels at a fabric store and used that as sheers for the remaining windows. Add as many jack-o-lanterns as there are surfaces, a raven with blinking red eyes, and obligatory skeleton and you’ve created your own haunted house.

On the table I used regular dinner plates as base plates, water glasses, wine glasses, and a full set of silver for the evening. It’s important to have as much done ahead of time as possible. Each guest brings a dish and I have a multitude of slow cookers ready to keep each course warm until we’re ready to serve it. This year I broke my cardinal rule of starting off any dinner party with an empty dishwasher. Don’t make my mistake. It’s a beautiful thing to fill up your dishwasher as you clear each course. It makes end of the evening clean up a breeze.

Black and grey is a great color scheme to theme your Halloween table. Check out the Noritake Black Pepper or Stone Charcoal patterns. If you’re looking for some cool dishes for your Halloween party it’s a perfect place to start.

Here’s my Halloween dinner menu:

• A shot of pomegranate liquor to start out the meal in an ice skull

• Tossed mixed greens with an orange vinaigrette decorated with berry ‘eyes’

• Spicy tomato soup garnished with radish-olive eyes

• Dead Man’s Ribs and Veggie Loaf Coffins

• Whole Cauliflower cooked in a tomato olive sauce as a bloody brain

• Spooktacular Mashed Potatoes - I left out the eggs, used coconut milk and earth balance to make it vegan

• Gluten Free Corn Muffin Bats and Ghosts

• Gluten Free Brownies

• Meringue Bones stuffed with raspberry jam

• Vegan Apple Crumb Pie

• a liberal amount of a sparkling Sauvignon blanc and Devils punch

I hope that my party menu inspires you to have your own Halloween soirée this week.

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Posted by Myriam under Fall Entertaining & Halloween & Holiday Entertaining & Party Food & Table Setting | No Comments »

When you think of a spooky setting, one scene that may come to mind is a forest – a haunted forest of course.

The most inexpensive way to set up a haunted forest at your house can be found in your own backyard. If you don’t have any trees in your yard, you can ask a neighbor to help you out, or even buy some fake branches at a craft store.

First, think of how you want to display your Halloween tree(s). In a vase as the table centerpiece you would want a smaller, more narrow branch. But for a large front porch display, you could use branches as large as small trees.

Look for branches that are not rotted or crumbly. We want them to hold together through our crafting, and the bewitching night as well. You want to get some spray paint. I’d recommend black for a traditional look, but you could be bold and use glow in the dark paint. I’m thinking of making a few small ones to line my walk and paint them with the glow in the dark paint for a creepily ‘lit’ pathway. Feel free to match them with any Halloween party theme you may have chosen. Red, silver, green, and purple are also good Halloween paint choices. Not to mention you can glue glitter on them for a glam look as well.

I like to keep my trees simple. Painted black and showcased in a tall, clear vase filled with Halloween trinkets, or in a large fake stone planter stuck right into the dirt. I try to select branches that look more like little trees, with quite a few limbs to hang things from.

Go through your trunk of decorations from Halloweens past, and see what would look stylish on your tree. You will want to add a string or twisty tie to secure them. This is especially important if you plan on having the tree outside, where wind and rain could be an issue.

Part of the fun is decorating your own ornaments. You can use shrinky dinks, glass ornaments, even cutouts to decorate to your party theme. Any craft that you love can be used. I love the felted ornaments that I’ve seen. Just remember to only use weather resistant ones outside. You can dip glass ornaments into a solution of alcohol inks and water to create a ghoulish swirl. Take a look at this tutorial on the Ranger Ink site.

You’ll have a bewitching time making your own decorations. It’s also an opportunity for a tree making party, so invite a few friends over and let them enjoy the fun too.

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Posted by Myriam under Decorations & Fall Entertaining & Halloween | No Comments »