Hex House
 Dress the house with bats, cats, and spiders to create the environment. |
Create a hex house for your Halloween festivities. Dressing the house to suit a witch's or wizard's fancy is a cinch. Start
off this Halloween decoration by hanging a black umbrella from a short length of fishing line strung
from a ceiling hook or turned-off light fixture. Cut out black bats
from paper or fun foam. Glue on wiggle eyes, and add some dimensional
paint. Dangle the bats at different lengths from fishing line attached
to the tips of the umbrella's rods. These look fantastic when given a
whirl.
If you don't have an umbrella handy, don't opt out of
the black bats. You can still string them from the ceiling using
fishing line and strong clear tape. Silver balloons filled with half
air and half helium will hover hauntingly in the air.
If you're
confident in your abilities to keep an eye on the kids while keeping
the party moving, consider getting some dry ice. When mixed with a
little hot water, the dry ice vaporizes and froths like a real witch's
cauldron. This looks great set in an empty fireplace or kitchen corner.
You can often purchase the ice from party stores. Just be sure to keep
a close eye on curious fingers.
Finish the room display with a
black light, a black cat cutout in the window, and, of course, one
giant stuffed spider. You can make your own simply by stuffing the legs
of four pair of black nylons with newspaper or cotton batting and
safety pinning the remaining waists to a puffy pillow covered in a
black pillowcase or fabric.
For
added effect, paint a big foam ball black, glue on big wiggly eyes
(find them at a local craft store), add some chenille stem antennae,
and make smiling fangs. This spider looks great lounging atop a tall
bookcase or plopped smack dab in the middle of the party room.
Black
and/or purple streamers, tablecloth, and eating utensils give the aura
of a witch's or wizard's mealtime. But why stop there? Fill a Halloween
bowl with gummy worms, candy corn (monster's toenails), cinnamon
candies (blood drops), mini-marshmallows (ghost tears), and corn curls
(troll fingers) to make the spells stick.
You can use glow
sticks for stubby wands, or create magical ones with 12-inch long
dowels. You'll need one for each guest. Use black permanent marker or
paint to cover all but the bottom 4 inches to avoid the dreaded inky
curse. You can cover that end with duct tape or colored electrical
tape. At the top end of the wands, tie on ribbons of foil stars,
feathers, or curly wrapping ribbon. Place a magic wand at each guest's
place setting.
Take a step back in time by decorating for Halloween the rustic way. Continue reading to learn how to bring an old-fashioned touch to today's Halloween festivities.
Want to scare up more fun Halloween ideas? Try these:
- Halloween Crafts: Not done being creative? These are great do-it-yourself projects for Halloween, from trick-or-treat boxes to candy jewelry.
- Kids' Halloween Costumes: Try on our unique costume ideas for your ghosts and goblins.
- Halloween Masks: Want an easy way to dress up for Halloween? Try a mask instead of a costume. Check out our selection of monstrous masks.
- Halloween Games: Play more than 20 spooktacular games to entertain kids and adults alike.
- Halloween Recipes: Learn how to make dozens of bewitching Halloween treats.
- How Halloween Works: Traces the popular holiday’s Celtic roots to American traditions celebrated today.
