Perhaps the most fun part of planning a party is choosing what decorations to use – and it’s especially great at Halloween, when cool seasonal décor is abundant in all the stores. Ambiance can make or break a party, so it’s important that you put a lot of thought into this area of planning.
Make it personal. If you know exactly who will be attending your party, personalized placeholders for the table add a nice touch. At the easiest end of the spectrum, you can cut Halloween shapes from heavy card stock and write your guests’ names on them. Or you can make each person a miniature candy dish by bending paper into a cone shape and filling each cone with candy corn or other sweet treats. For a truly outrageous and spooky way to personalize your party decorations, you can create your own graveyard by making tombstones out of foam (you’ll find a link to a site with instructions at the end of this article). If you’re not having a large number of guests, write each person’s name on a grave. Is the thought of your friends’ names on tombstones a little too freaky for your taste? Write something funny or cute – one of the suggestions I saw was, “I. Emma Spook.”
Darken the mood with light. Replace your regular light bulbs with colored ones: red or green work best, or black lights for an eerie glow. Candles add a nice touch, but remember this: if your party is going to be crowded, and several members of that crowd are going to be – ahem – a bit tipsy, you’ll want to either avoid flame altogether, or make sure your candles are in a spot where they can’t be accidentally knocked over. If your goal is to illuminate a specific prop – such as a centerpiece – in a colored light, you can tape a colored cellophane gel (a thin piece of heat-resistant plastic, available at camera supply stores) to a lamp, and direct the light toward the desired object.