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| | From:  jlm1970 (Original Message) | Sent: 9/15/2005 5:02 PM |
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It's that time of year again - but planning a great party for the spookiest night of the year doesn't have to be a nightmare! | | | | </TABLE> 
Setting a theme for a party always helps to set the stage. Try a traditional Halloween idea, like a Costume Party, a Jack-O-Lantern Party, or a Scary Movie Party - or throw caution to the wind and try something totally wild and cool.
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Once you've decided on a theme, it's time to set the date, time and place for your Halloween party. If the number of guests you've decided to invite is large - consider having your party in an alternative location, such as a garage, community hall or firehouse.
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Make your list ahead of time - that way you'll be sure not to forget anyone! If you're going to mail your invitations, be sure to post them well enough in advance to give them time to be delivered. Phoning or emailing are also great ways to send invitations. Be sure to include an RSVP and phone number or email address so your guests are reminded to respond to your invitation.
|  | | Try some of our great Halloween Recipes or our Halloween Party Menu. Here are some guidelines for estimating how much food to prepare for adult serving sizes. | | �?nbsp; | Appetizers: 3 pieces per person (for a cocktail party, allow 8 pieces per person per hour) | | �?nbsp; | Meats: 1/2 to 3/4 pound per person | | �?nbsp; | Vegetables/Sides: 1/2 cup per person | | �?nbsp; | Salads, Tossed: 1 cup per person | | �?nbsp; | Salads, Main Dish: 1-1/2 to 2 cups per person | | �?nbsp; | Desserts: 2 portions per person | | �?nbsp; | Beverages: 12 oz of wine, 24 oz of beer, or 24 oz of non-alcoholic beverages per person
| | And here are some useful Rules of Thumb: | | 1. | Keep It Simple - Select a few tried-and-true recipes, prepare them well and have fun at your own party! | | 2. | Think Seasonally - Fruits and vegetables that are in season cost less and taste better. | | 3. | Special Needs - If your guest list includes people with food allergies, vegetarians, diabetics or cardiac patients, they will appreciate appropriate meal choices that don't call attention to their special needs. | | 4. | Do It Ahead - The more your prepare ahead of time, the easier it will be on the day of your party. Prepare food ahead of time, and refrigerate or freeze it. Make extra ice and store it in plastic bags in the freezer. | | 5. | Don't forget to get paper plates, cups, napkins and utensils! | | 6. | Empty out the fridge to make as much room for party food as possible. | | 7. | Prepare a schedule for the oven and broiler - coordinate the preparation time and method for as many of your recipes as possible. | | 8. | If you're serving cold dips, place the bowls filled with dips in larger bowls filled with ice. This will help to keep them cold. | | 9. | Check out our Halloween Food Safety Tips. | | 10. | Make it a family affair - kids of all ages love to be involved in party preparations!
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We have several recommendations for party games and activities that are fun and easy for guests of all ages to enjoy. Click here to jump to our Party Games & Activities page. Select games that are age-appropriate, and be sure to team adults with children for any activities, such as carving pumpkins, that require the use of sharp implements. Check out our helpful Pumpkin Carving Tips that will help to ensure everyone's safety.
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Halloween parties can range from simple to sublime. From setting the atmosphere with colored lights to creepy black bouquets, you'll find recommendations for the perfect Halloween decorations in our Decorating Tips & Tricks section.
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Around Halloween it's easy to find costumes for sale in a variety of places. If you want something extra special, you might want to consider renting a costume for the evening. However, some of the very best costumes can be put together with items you have in your own closets, and there are a ton of online resources that will help get those creative juices flowing | | </TABLE></FORM>
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| | | From: jlm1970 | Sent: 9/15/2005 5:05 PM |
| BOO!!! The only scary thing about Halloween should be the spooky fun you create-not thinking about your kids' safety while trick-or-treating or eating their candy loot. These hauntingly helpful hints will help ensure the holiday is all about fun treats -- not frightening tricks! - Curb candy appetites by giving your trick-or-treaters an early meal or nutritious snack before they head outside. It may prevent a Halloween tummy ache later!
- Always accompany young ghosts and goblins when they are out trick-or-treating. Stick to familiar neighborhoods and houses.
- When trick-or-treating at night or on cloudy days, make sure children wear reflective clothing and carry a flashlight.
- Think costume safety. Avoid clumsy shoes or boots. Opt for face paints, available in special kits, rather than vision-restricting masks.
- Inspect all candies before the kids dive into them. Discard any that are unwrapped or have torn wrappers.
- Discard fruit and homemade treats unless you personally know their source. When in doubt, throw it out!
- Tiny tots may receive candies that are a potential choking hazard for them. Remove any that might be difficult to chew or swallow, such as small, round hard candies, caramels and gum balls. See our section on Feeding Tips for Young Children for more information.
- Don't let limited trick-or-treating put a damper on Halloween fun. Host a post trick-or-treat party for a few of your child's friends. Let them make some spooky homemade treats, such as Low Fat Boo Cups.
- When lighting a carved jack-o-lantern, always use a candle with a solid base. To prevent a fire hazard, never leave a candlelit pumpkin unattended.
- For a food-safe Halloween school treat, make a batch of Pumpkin Raisin Bars. Wrapped individually in plastic wrap, they are easy to transport and require no refrigeration.
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| | | From: jlm1970 | Sent: 9/15/2005 5:09 PM |
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Put a grim--er, grin -- on their faces with these fun party games and activities. | | </TABLE> | </TABLE> 
 | |  | | 1. | Gather 5 assorted boxes with lids (deep enough to put a small or medium bowl inside). Cut a hole in the lid of each box so that a child's hand will fit through. Decorate boxes as desired.
| | 2. | Gather your "monster parts"!
Monster Intestines - Cold cooked spaghetti
Eyeballs - Large grapes
Teeth - Candy Corn
Monster Hearts - Any JELL-O® JIGGLERS® recipe can be adapted using heart-shaped molds or cookie-cutters. Try Heart Shaped Creamy JIGGLERS®, or JELL-O® JIGGLERS®.
Ears - Dried apricots, prunes or bell pepper halves
| | 3. | Put "Monster Parts" in bowls. Place bowls inside boxes and cover with lids.
| | 4. | Line up boxes on a table, dim the lights, and have the children reach inside and try to guess the "monster parts."
| Make sure you have damp paper towels or wet wipe-ups for cleaning any sticky hands or fingers.
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Fill a large jar with dried pumpkin seeds. Remove the seeds and measure one cup of the seeds, counting the number in the measuring cup. Place the seeds back into the jar using the measuring cup and multiply the number of cups by the number of seeds you counted in the first cup. Place a piece of paper next to the jar and have each child write down their guess of how many seeds are in the jar. You can decorate the jar with a Halloween themed ribbon. For a different twist, you can also use candy corn instead of pumpkin seeds.
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You will need a small ball of string (approx. 30 to 40 feet) for each child in this game. Pair the players into teams of 2 and place them into a circle (3 to 4 teams work best). Team members should be opposite of each other. Give each child a ball of string and have them tie the loose-end around their waist. When you say go, have each child throw the ball of string to their teammate. The teammate wraps the string once around themselves, and then throws the string back. The first team to use their two balls of string wins. This is lots of fun and the kids will go wild. Make sure to take pictures before they start removing the web-it's fun to see everyone all tied up. To add a spooky element, after the last ball of string is tossed, turn out the lights for a minute or two. The kids get creeped out that they are tied up in the dark. Part of the fun too is watching to see how the kids will get out of the web.
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Use 6 empty 2 liter soda bottles for the pins. You can have the kids cut out Halloween shapes from construction paper and glue to the bottles for decoration. Purchase several hand-size (depending on the player's ages) pumpkins. Remove the stems. Assign a little helper to assist you with re-setting the pins. This is fun for kids of all ages.
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Have your party goers line up and parade around your neighborhood. Make sure to do this during daylight and be careful of children crossing the street. It's a good idea to have a few helpers keep the kids together. Enlist a neighbor to judge from their front lawn and award prizes on the spot for different costume categories. For younger children, it is a good idea to have "honorable mention" ribbons for all party goers so no feelings get hurt if they didn't win. Mummy Wrap
Divide kids into teams of 3 (1 mummy, 1 wrapper, 1 un-wrapper). Each team gets 1 extra large roll of toilet paper. This is a timed event, on your signal, one team member wraps the "mummy" in toilet paper. When the roll is complete (and the mummy is mostly covered) the 2nd team member unwraps the mummy (no tearing the toilet paper, it has to be unrolled). The first team to finish, wins. This is fun done to fast-paced Halloween music.
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A Halloween version of duck, duck, goose. Fun for smaller kids. | |
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| | | From: jlm1970 | Sent: 9/15/2005 5:15 PM |
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Enjoy these tips and tricks to making just the right atmosphere for your Halloween get together. From simple bouquets painted black to our delectable "Monster Mash" in a box-- you'll be the hit of the neighborhood. | | | | | 
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To set a ghostly mood for your celebration, adorn party furniture with lots of white sheets. Old or new, it doesn't matter, just keep them white. | 
Go to your local florist or flower counter at the market and ask for their dead flowers. They should be a bargain (if not free). Or you can use plastic flowers. Any type of flower or bouquet will work. If possible, hang the flowers upside down for a few days to dry out and get an aged look. When aged to perfection, spray the flowers with black gloss spray paint. Arrange the flowers around the party room to give a depressingly festive mood.
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Replace the light bulbs in the party room with colored bulbs (available at your local hardware, craft, or party store). Black, red, blue, and green light bulbs cast eerie (yet festive) glows. If you have a lamp that uses two bulbs, combine a red and a blue bulb to create a cool double-vision effect.
NOTE: Make sure the colored bulbs do not exceed the recommended wattage of your lamp and make sure to leave enough light to allow guests to easily move about the room.
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Purchase spider webbing, plastic rats, spiders and snakes at your local craft or party store. Place the webbing on lamps (don't place too close to a light bulb), in the corners of the ceiling, across the tops of doorways-everywhere you want to create an aged and creepy look. Place the rats, spiders, and snakes in corners, under tables, and other unexpected places. In low light they look scary (and real!)
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Remember the famous scene from "The Wizard of Oz" where they pan-in to show the house fallen on the wicked witch? Recreate the scene in your party room. Purchase a pair of red and white striped socks, fill with other socks, newspaper or fiber-fill (pillow stuffing), place the socks under a chair or sofa (so the top part is hidden) and then place the foot part of the sock inside a pair of ladies high-heel shoes. You can make up a story about who "your" wicked witch was and how the chair or sofa came to be on top of her. Great party conversation. | | |
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Reply
| | | From: jlm1970 | Sent: 10/28/2005 4:54 AM |
Halloween Party Meals and Munchies  Leaves in brilliant hues are beginning to cover the sidewalks; pumpkins of all shapes and sizes are spilling out of bushel baskets at a market near you; you can catch a whiff of someone's cozy, crackling fire when you step out for an evening stroll through the brisk autumn air. If you're a holiday fiend, all these signs can only mean one thing: Halloween is coming soon! It's time to plan your costume, bake up all kinds of sweet and slimy treats, and scare up some ideas for Halloween party munchies. Visit our Halloween Hub for all kinds of hair-raising Halloween help! Freaky Food that's Good for You!
At Halloween, the focus on food is centered so completely around candy, it's easy to forget that monsters young and old need to get some healthy food down their gullets too. This year, put a ghastly spin on some of your favorite appetizers and dinners, then play some ghoulish games, before unleashing the sugar-crazed trick-or-treater that lurks inside of everyone. - Acrid Appetizers. Turn deviled eggs into deviled eyeballs by topping each one with a slice of green or black olive. Make an edible veggie head: buy a Styrofoam wig head and wash it well. Dry it and secure it to a square of plywood with a long nail. Now cover the head with bite-size vegetables or fruit speared with toothpicks. Use different colors and shapes to make facial features (red pepper or apple slices for lips, radishes peeled in strips to make bloodshot eyeballs). Don't forget the dip!
- Mutilated Main Dishes. Cut slices of meatloaf with a bat-shaped cookie cutter, and serve with bat's blood (ketchup). Spaghetti and meatballs takes on a whole new 'life' when you announce it as nightcrawlers and eyeballs. Chicken strips can easily become witch fingers when served with slime sauce (ranch dressing dyed green) for dipping. Stuffed pasta shells have an awful appeal when you call them Snail Shells stuffed with Rat Spleens. Good side dishes include steamed maggots (rice), rotting teeth (corn) and lizard tongues (carrot sticks). For a less nauseating but still festive meal, scrape out small pumpkins and use them as individual serving bowls for black bean, split pea, or pumpkin soup.
- Games that are Good for You. When planning party activities, don't underestimate how much fun a good old-fashioned game of bobbing for apples can be. For an added challenge, remove the stems before beginning. Turn it into a game of bobbing for 'eyeballs' instead by using grapes. If you would prefer to avoid the sloshing water and wet guests that result from traditional apple bobbing, try a different twist on the game: tie strings to each apple and hang them from the ceiling at face height. The challenge in this game is to take a bite out of the apple without using your hands!
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These are great!!! Thanks for sharing! I will have to print them out for next year!!! Carla |
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