A Halloween How-To: Costumes, Parties, Decorations, and Destinations
Lesley Pratt Bannatyne; Paperback; Buy New: $12.57

Decorations:

Tricks & Treats for a Happy Halloween

Turn "13" into a lucky number with these Halloween tips from the experts at Costume Express, a creator and retailer of costumes for kids and adults.

Decorations -- Turn your space into a spook-tacular Halloween party pad with a Costume Express party pack and the following ideas:

-- Dry Leaves: Bring the outdoors in with crisp, colorful leaves from your yard or nearby park.

-- Flickering Light: If you have a fireplace, make a cozy fire. If not, you can purchase soft, flickering lights at your local hardware store.

-- Hay Bales: Break one apart to decorate the yard and corners of your home, or stack up several smaller bales, available from your local nursery.

Games -- Keep little goblins entertained with ghoulish games:

-- Mummy Wrap: In this game kids are granted the power to mummify. Divide kids into teams, and hand each group a roll of toilet paper. Give the teams a few minutes to decide who, in each group, will be the mummy. Then shout "Mummify! Mummify! Mummify!" and watch while teams race to wrap up their mummy first, using every bit of paper. The first team to finish wins!

-- Pumpkin Bowling: Fill 5-10 empty plastic bottles with sand or kitty litter and close tightly. Paint the bottles white and use a black marker to draw ghost eyes and mouth on each bottle. Find an area (approximately 10 feet long) for a "bowling lane," where the ground is relatively smooth, and outline the area with sticks or masking tape. Assemble ghosts in a pyramid shape at one end of lane. Invite guests to take turns "bowling" with a small pumpkin. Give each guest 2 tries. Award prizes for strikes (knocking all the ghosts down on the first try) and spares (knocking all ghosts down within 2 tries).

Food & Drinks -- These recipes are designed to "stick to the ribs" of any skeleton:

-- Spooky Sammies: Create sandwiches filled with tuna salad, chicken salad, or turkey/lettuce/tomato/cream cheese. Cut sandwiches into ghost shapes and spread tops with soft cream cheese. Add black olive pieces for eyes and mouth. (To create ghost shapes, first slice off crusts. Then trim off 2 upper corners, forming an arch as you cut. Carve a wavy line along bottom portion to complete your ghost.)

-- Black & Orange Platter: Create a vegetable or fruit platter with all things orange and black. Fill with carrots and black olives, or orange, mango and papaya slices sprinkled with raisins.

-- Chocolate Graveyard: Make a batch of chocolate instant pudding and let cool. Mix in gummy worms and spoon into ice cream cones. Using a thin-tipped tube of icing, decorate the upper portion of oblong-shaped cookies with the names of your guests, or ice with words like "Boo!" and "RIP." Insert cookie "gravestones" partway into pudding.

-- Purple Potion with Floating Hand: Fill a small latex glove with grape juice and gummy worms, then tie off the end and freeze. Fill a cauldron (available at CostumeExpress.com) with 2 parts grape juice and 1 part club soda. Add grapes (peeled, to look like eyeballs) and chopped apples (to look like teeth). Once the grape juice glove is frozen, remove the glove and add the hand to your potion.

Trick or Treating -- Follow these safety tips to help ensure happy haunting:

-- For colder climates, begin by purchasing a costume that's at least one size larger than usual to allow for insulating layers underneath. Costume Express offers a variety of classic and creative styles.

-- Use safety pins to shorten long costumes and help avoid tripping.

-- Sew your child's name and phone number inside costume in case he or she gets lost.

-- Ask older kids who trick-or-treat by themselves to plan a route and share it with a grown-up ahead of time. Set a return time.

Source: Costume Express
KIRKLAND, Wash., Oct. 4, 2005 /PRNewswire/ --