Halloween Holiday Party Decorating

Who doesn't love a party?

Parties are fun and those of us are too busy or have jobs that are not much fun will look for any excuse to have a party. For me, the fun begins long before the first guests arrive; it begins with the planning!

The planning starts with selecting a theme. Since we are planning a Halloween party, there are several themes that are suitable for an adult party, fewer for planning a children's party since we would need to keep it PG and not too scary.

Halloween has always been a time of celebration. Celtic priests in Ireland, called Druids, celebrated the beginning of the New Year on October 31. This date marked the beginning of the new year on the Druid's calendar. It was believed that the spirits of the dead rose that night and walked the earth. Lord Samhain, prince of darkness would wander the earth and try to round up the roaming dead. No one really knows what a Druid priest looked like or what they wore.

Witches have always been associated with magic and mystery. What were known as witchs in earlier centuries were women who worked magic by using herbs and combinations of herbs to help others who were ill. Since there were no doctors or medicine as we know of today, people who were ill sought relief and health from women who practiced healing through herbs and homeopathic methods.

Pumpkins originate from Central America and were used as a food, much like in the US pumpkins are used for muffins, pies, and cakes. In Ireland there were no pumpkins so the Irish used potatoes to carve and place a light in. This was to ward off evil spirits. When pumpkins and the Irish met up the Irish found pumpkins easier to carve and so legend has it the first "Jack-O-Lantern" was created.

The Theme Begins with Outdoor Halloween Decorations

Pumpkins are a must in my Halloween decorating theme. It would not be Halloween if I did not have several Jack-O-Lanterns with various grins and showing of teeth scattered about the lawn and clustered near the door. Dressing or decorating your Jack-O-Lantern is a must. Some will wear the traditional black hat of the witch, decorated of course with Mardi Gras beads and any other bling that I find at yard sales. Of course there must be at least one ghostly pumpkin pair with the bride wearing a gauzy veil, blood red lips, and darkened eyes. The ghostly groom will wear a broad one tooth smile with his manicured hand with cherry red nails holding his purple and orange glittered spiders ridden top hat.

Lots of cobwebs will appear on the shrubs and front door.

There are hundreds and hundreds of ways to recreate yourself for a night of fun on Halloween. From ghosts created from sheets to French maids in stiletto heels and every monster, cartoon character, and real life characters in between, the choices can be overwhelming.

Here are some supercharged costumes that will sure to turn some heads!

Theme Food for Halloween

Have you guessed by now the theme of my Halloween Bash includes pumpkins, ghosts, and witches. I started the theme by sending invitations featuring an antique illustration of a witch. The theme continues with Jack-O-Lanterns lighting the way to the house decorated in different ways to resemble ghosts and witches.

But what would any Bash be without food and drinks. Crackers topped with ghost and pumpkin shaped cheese slices. Cookies shaped as pumpkins, flying witches, and of course GHOSTS! Chocolate donut holes decorated with a red hot candy for an eye pupil, gives your guests a fright when they bite into this "eye" and get a squish of red jam oozing from the center! Let your imagination go.

Is there anything to drink? The choice is yours whether to serve adult beverages or those rated PG. In the center of the table holding the food, which by the way has a black cloth with spiders, a few mice scattered about and a bowl of "finger" food made by shaping canned dough baked into the shape of fingers and adding a red hot candy for a nail, is an unbreakable "crystal" bowl with a hand reaching out from the center. Two claw foot candle sticks grace the table and more are scattered about the room. We all look more ghostly in the light of the flickering candles.

Every once in a while, my favorite howls, screams, and cryptic music on CD is interrupted by the squalls of a motion activated witch flying just above the punch bowl. You may want to have plenty of themed napkins on hand for the spills this creates.