Looking for a spook-tacular twist on Halloween traditions? Carnivals, hayrides, and pumpkin-carving contests are great old school ways to celebrate with your neighbors, but here are some fresh ideas sure to scare up plenty of tricks and treats!
Potable potions party
Take a page out of Harry Potter and set up a potions laboratory. Start with an array of bottles — the quirkier the shape, the better. Wash them well and soak off any labels. Next, head to the store and grab a cart!
At the fête, “provide small plastic cups as ‘beakers’ with some small straws for mixing and encourage everyone to create their own potion,” Britta says. “You can also provide Potion Recipe cards for them to write down their ingredients.”
At the end of the evening, collect the cards and have guests vote on their favorite concoction. For safety’s sake, if children are in attendance, consider using only non-alcoholic beverages.
Mad Hatter Halloween tea party
Last year, Chris Nease, contributor to www.celebrations.com, drew inspiration from Johnny Depp’s dazzling cinematic turn in Alice in Wonderland to use in Nease’s own glam Halloween tea-time gathering.
“Silver serving pieces I already owned were set out for tea,” she says. “The best part was, I didn’t have to polish them!” She used black flowers for the centerpiece and combined traditional Halloween décor (spiders, webs, and skulls) with Alice-themed icons such as watches, clocks, and playing cards, emphasizing the Queen of Hearts, of course.
Neighborhood boo!
To the delight of her neighbors, author and party maven Lela Davidson launched a Halloween Boo on her Rodgers, Arkansas, street. It’s essentially a sweet “chain” gifting experience — minus the rattling, rusting, and moaning!
Start by making up a treat basket, filling it with anything from “lotions and potions” to homemade caramel apples to lavish libations. Write a card, or “boo gram,” that includes a poem explaining the concept behind the gift:
This treat is for you, we hope you enjoy. The idea is simple, one we hope you employ. You pass “BOO” along to two other neighbors. Along with any kind of Halloween favors. If we all do our part, and spread the good cheer, By Halloween night it will be very clear, We’re a friendly bunch, we like to share fun So please do your part to keep “BOO” on the run!
Before you ring your neighbor’s bell and run (leaving the basket behind on the stoop), tape some sort of sign to their door, such as a cut-out of a ghost. That will cue other neighbors as to who’s been booed.
Sweet Halloween traditions
Looking for a spook-tacular twist on Halloween traditions? Carnivals, hayrides, and pumpkin-carving contests are great old school ways to celebrate with your neighbors, but here are some fresh ideas sure to scare up plenty of tricks and treats!
Potable potions party
Take a page out of Harry Potter and set up a potions laboratory. Start with an array of bottles — the quirkier the shape, the better. Wash them well and soak off any labels. Next, head to the store and grab a cart!
“Look for bright and interesting colors in the juice and drinks aisle so you have plenty of variety,” says Britta Peterson, author of Eerie Elegance: How to Host a Haunt and Other Fabulous Frights and its new companion volume, Enhanced Eerie Elegance: More Halloween Party Ideas & Recipes with a Touch of Spook Style. While you’re shopping, pick up candy bugs, gummy worms, and other creepy edibles.
At the fête, “provide small plastic cups as ‘beakers’ with some small straws for mixing and encourage everyone to create their own potion,” Britta says. “You can also provide Potion Recipe cards for them to write down their ingredients.”
At the end of the evening, collect the cards and have guests vote on their favorite concoction. For safety’s sake, if children are in attendance, consider using only non-alcoholic beverages.
Mad Hatter Halloween tea party
Last year, Chris Nease, contributor to www.celebrations.com, drew inspiration from Johnny Depp’s dazzling cinematic turn in Alice in Wonderland to use in Nease’s own glam Halloween tea-time gathering.
“Silver serving pieces I already owned were set out for tea,” she says. “The best part was, I didn’t have to polish them!” She used black flowers for the centerpiece and combined traditional Halloween décor (spiders, webs, and skulls) with Alice-themed icons such as watches, clocks, and playing cards, emphasizing the Queen of Hearts, of course.
Neighborhood boo!
To the delight of her neighbors, author and party maven Lela Davidson launched a Halloween Boo on her Rodgers, Arkansas, street. It’s essentially a sweet “chain” gifting experience — minus the rattling, rusting, and moaning!
Start by making up a treat basket, filling it with anything from “lotions and potions” to homemade caramel apples to lavish libations. Write a card, or “boo gram,” that includes a poem explaining the concept behind the gift:
This treat is for you, we hope you enjoy.
The idea is simple, one we hope you employ.
You pass “BOO” along to two other neighbors.
Along with any kind of Halloween favors.
If we all do our part, and spread the good cheer,
By Halloween night it will be very clear,
We’re a friendly bunch, we like to share fun
So please do your part to keep “BOO” on the run!
Before you ring your neighbor’s bell and run (leaving the basket behind on the stoop), tape some sort of sign to their door, such as a cut-out of a ghost. That will cue other neighbors as to who’s been booed.