Last year we gave out trophies we made for about $5 apiece. They are made from: Cheap doll(s) from the dollar store, wood base & dowel, first-aid tape, gold spray paint and green ribbon.
http://www.starkmadness.com/photos/a...Trophies_5.JPG

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Thanks for the link to the Haunted Hot Sauce. My friend wants to have a zombie themed party and this would be a great grand prize!

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An' the Gobble-uns'll gits ya ef you don't watch out! Little Orphant Annie-James Whitcomb Riley

i love all these gifts!

lv scott, LOL!
thanks for some great ideas everyone

for costume prizes, we make something that looks like a diploma . frames with a ribbon and gold stamp on it to make it look 'official'. that way they can hang it in their house or office all year long. Our guests loved it last year. We also make up 'diplomas for years of service for our actors and special diplomas for behind the scenes helpers for people (mothers) who keep things in order while actors are coming in for breaks and snacks.

tallula_g - did you make your award ribbons or buy them someplace? They look awesome! Love the prize baskets too. Very creative ideas.

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A positive atitude may not solve all your problems,
but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

thanks HallowSkeen, I actually made the ribbons. You can get empty plastic pins at Wal-Mart. I think I ordered mine from Oriental Trading by the dozen. I printed up the category in my Print shop program and stuck them in the pins along with some glitter, then I just glued ribbon cut into loops and done! Pretty easy and cheap. The baskets were really fun to fill, I started buying stuff months in advance. I snagged those black baskets from Wal-Mart the day they put them out (which was 2 months before Halloween!)

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An' the Gobble-uns'll gits ya ef you don't watch out! Little Orphant Annie-James Whitcomb Riley

Wow guys, knew I could count on you all to give me some fab ideas!

Rikki - those awards are fab, they've got a homemade feel to them, did you buy or make

Magickbean - I do have a nearby Thorntons, I'm not a million miles from you (well, you need to cross the Severn Bridge). I'm a Welshie You've given me some fab ideas too - sweets!

I normally have two piniatas (can never spell that! LOL!), one for under 12's only, one for later in the night, adults only (sugar burst keeps everyone going well into the night then!). The prize giving would be later again, so more chocolatey goodness will go down well! I can always tart up the packaging on "normal" stuff too I suppose - I imagine black crepe paper bags filled with mini bars would look better than just a handful of bars! (Actually, thats what I do for the trick or treaters, wrap a handful of wrapped sweets and little toys in white crepe and write/stamp "scary" stuff all over it, no reason not to for the "grownups" LOL)

Awesome guys, thanks. Any other suggestions/pics/advice still welcomed though, it seems I'm not the only one finding this inspiring!

Selz, mine are semi-homemade. The smaller ones are little tabletop tombstones with a piece of cardstock cut to fit in the indention. The larger one I saw at Home Goods and thought it would make an awesome trophy. So I bought it and then had to figure out where to attach the cardstock. I really liked it and am kicking myself for not buying a bunch of them last year. I'm hoping that they'll have them again so I won't have to find a new idea!

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Brains for every single meal....why can't we have some guts?!

http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r124/rikkialittle/

Usually around Halloween Wal-Mart has horror DVDs for sale for $5.00 or less. They always make great cheap prizes. We also gave away lottery tickets and the king sized candy bars.

How about assorted costume accessories? Boas, makeup, fangs, jewelry, nails, etc. Something they could possibly use for a costume the next year.

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