[dane82]

long story short:

my girlfriend and i broke up in july, and since our annual halloween party had been at her place for the last 2 years, a friend of mine agreed to host it this year since my place is too small to have much of a party.

i want to be as non-intrusive on him as possible. the party is 10/24, and my plan is to take off work friday, go to his place sometime that morning, and get everything set up for guests to arrive around 7 that evening.

does anyone have any good ideas for decor, food, etc. that can be done quickly? i've never been super elaborate when it comes to decorating, but i want to at least do something that makes it look like a halloween party. also, i could prepare some things at my place ahead of time and take them to his place on the day of, if they're things that would travel well by car.

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Stochey]

Spider web and spiders!

Change the lightbulbs or keep them off and use orange string lights!


Throw a blacklight somewhere with something bright white for it to glow with!

Trash bag cut in strips in front of doorways to the kitchen/hallways.

All of that can be quick up and quick down. Lighting will definitely help the Halloween party feel!

 

[dawnski]

Dollar store creepy cloth. You can buy a bunch, lay it on furniture, staircases, picture frames, drape over a doorway, etc. Color light bulbs. String lights - You can use just a couple push pins to hang up.

If you can spend a few bucks, Spirit Halloween has these nice color spots. Just one can change the look of an entire room and no holes in the walls. They are $20 each in red, green or blue. http://www.spirithalloween.com/product/gm-led-red-spot-light/

Scary movies playing on TV. If you have a skeleton, dress him up and sit him on the couch. It would dress up the room and act as a photo op for your guests.

Food - Can you do one main food dish and assign others to apps and desserts? Maybe a big pot of chili. You can have a chili buffet set up with Fritos, Macaroni noodles and shredded cheese that people. We've done that before and it's pretty easy to set up.

 

[dane82]

thanks for the input guys!

decor: definitely gonna change out some bulbs in the main rooms (most people will stick to the kitchen, living room, and bathroom) and do black light beer pong in the garage--that was a hit last year. just those simple things, plus the trash bags over the doorways, will add a lot of ambiance i think. i've always been more into general atmosphere than specific decorations and props, but it would be nice to come up with something for outside that's simple and has a lot of bang for the buck, so to speak.

food: i like the "have people bring things" idea--i normally try to do it all myself and let people bring stuff only if they want a specific thing, but i may try to spread that responsibility around a bit this time. maybe try to cover most of the drinks and a couple of snack options, and let people fill in the rest themselves? i've found that my people don't go crazy for the themed food, as long as they have something to eat, and it's usually a little easier to come up with drinks that fit the occasion than simple food that does.

thanks again! i'm still open to any other ideas anyone has.

 

[BewaretheMango]

easy decorations:
for the outside you can consider buying a spot light, spirit halloween sells some LED spot lights for $30. easy to setup, easy to take down, and a big impact for $30, i got a similar light for $20 at a dollar general type store.
you can also buy a bunch of tombstones at kmart or walmart to decorate the outside or inside a bit.
if you have black lights, consider getting some fluorescent poster board, and cutting it out into spiral or other cool shapes, and then taping them to the wall. it will add a nice effect for only a few dollars and a bit of advanced prep work.


here are some food ideas you might want to consider.

mozzarella and tomato skewers- easy to prepare in advance.
bbq and grape jelly meatballs- a big hit at my last party, and i used to slowcooker to keep them warm throughout the whole night.
cheese and veggie platter are always to do.

 

[dane82]

thanks for the ideas mango. i like the idea of one or two "big" attention grabbers outside--some of my friends aren't familiar with the exact location of the party, so it would be nice for there to be something that says "this is it."

 

[rockingthehomestead]

Sheets on furniture, if it hasn't been mentioned already.

 

[BewaretheMango]

You can also do something like this. I did something similar for halloween last year, a bit tedious to cut out all those bats, but can easily be done while watching tv. To attach the bats to the walls I used small pieces of painters tape as a base on the wall (to limit any damage to the wall), and then adhered the bat to the painters tape with some glue dots.

http://imgur.com/KAbaDf4

 

[dane82]

You can also do something like this. I did something similar for halloween last year, a bit tedious to cut out all those bats, but can easily be done while watching tv. To attach the bats to the walls I used small pieces of painters tape as a base on the wall (to limit any damage to the wall), and then adhered the bat to the painters tape with some glue dots.

http://imgur.com/KAbaDf4

i've done something similar to that the last couple of years, on the door from the garage into the house where people entered. last year i sprayed them with black light paint since the garage was lit with black lights. very cool effect with minimal effort.

 

[Tiffany78]

We do mostly easy food that can be made in advance. Main dishes are BBQ beef (beef roast in a crockpot with BBQ sauce till shreddable) on buns and stomboli (frozen bread dough rolled out with toppings of your choosing, rolled up keep in fridge and then bake when needed, good hot out of oven or room temp) served with marinara sauce kept warm in mini crock pot cheaters salsa (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/restaurant-style-salsa/) takes less than 5 mins to make and tastes as good as any I've had. chips, desserts and a veggie tray and you are set.

 

[dane82]

thanks for the ideas tiffany.