Halloween Party Planning Tips 2010

Just because Halloween is on Sunday night this year it doesn’t mean parties are out.  In Part 2 of our 2010 Cambridge Halloween Planning Guide we will look at what it take to plan your own party.  This year you may want to opt for having your party on Friday October 29th or Saturday October 30th.  I know this may make you a little tired if you are going out Trick or Treating with the kids on Sunday but if you want to throw a party this will be your best bet since most people will be back to work and school on Monday.

In last year’s Halloween Guide we broke up the steps into 2 parts.  The first was decorating your house and the second was planning your Halloween Party Games.  We also touched a bit on whether to use Halloween Recipes to “Spook Up” your food. Before we go any further keep in mind that you need to consider the theme of your party as you consider your everything about your party from the inside of your house to the outside.

Whether you are throwing a party or not decorating the outside of your house is expected if you plan to welcome Trick or Treaters.  This year we found a good video by HGTV that gives you some ideas on outside Halloween decorations.

Decorating the Outside of Your House for Halloween

The video I will include talks about what they consider simple ideas for making your own decorations for your front yard.  The first idea is to create a row of witches brooms which you attach holiday lighting to.  You then line them up in the ground preferably in a nice pattern to light the way to your door.  The second is to make your own family of ghosts using newspaper, white sheets and pvc piping.  These are good ideas but do require some time and pre-planning since you have to make trips to the store if you don’t have the materials on hand.

These touches are great though, especially if they tie in to a theme.  Many people decorate their houses with a cemetery theme or a haunted house type theme.  It is really up to you how much time and money you are willing to put in.  Sometimes a simple Jack O Lantern can be a great touch too.  Many decorations are available at the Halloween Stores mentioned in Part 1 on this year’s guide on Halloween Costumes.

Here is the video for the outdoor decorating ideas:

Decorating the Inside of Your House

In Cambridge you can very likely live in an apartment, condo or dorm room.  In that case all you need to worry about are indoor party decorations.  Like our recommendations last year we would focus on ironing out your theme and then decorate the indoor of your house accordingly.  If you are a big Twilight fan or a big vampire fan there are so many options including viewings of movies or shows that you are a fan of.  I recently saw stand up versions of Edward from Twilight at the local iParty store.  Use your imagination and take into consideration what your guest will like.  If you are a Harry Potter fan you can try to recreate scenes from the movies.  You may even decide to go for a Funny Theme where everyone is expected to come in funny costumes.  ShinDigz has a good section for Halloween Decor and Party Supplies.

As for the Halloween Games and Recipes section we still find that Googling “halloween games” will give you some good ideas particularly for children’s parties.  For adult theme parties you may consider trivia type games based on the theme.  Like if you decide on a Mad Men type theme you may have trivia game with prizes.  To help you out there they have some games and quizzes on this link(don’t tell your guests though).  We also find the links to the Halloween Recipe resources still current as well.  Here they are:

Disney Family.com

The Food Network

Better Homes & Gardens

Up next is an update of Halloween Events and Activities in the Cambridge area for 2010.

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Halloween Party Planning Ideas 2009