This is Halloween … at Home: Party Ideas for the Halloween Enthusiast
With the month of October here, I have begun to reminisce about past Halloween parties, and how we might be able to implement some fun while at home this year. If you plan to stay at home with your family or roommates — don’t fret! There are still so many great ideas that you can do to make the evening spooky & special.
In this post, I have curated a stress-free, on-theme party that will keep you entertained & well fed. These ideas are perfect for a small gathering (or yourself — honestly, you do you), or a larger group when it’s safer to do so in the future! I’m here to help you with an outline, but feel free to run with it and make it your own!
Decor:
While I have my regular Fall decorations around the house, it would be fun to put together a themed wall for self-timer selfies or for the perfect FaceTime or Zoom background! I designed this Photo Booth wall a couple years ago — it was a super easy/cheap/fun way to give our space an accent area for photos of us in our costumes! I used about 8ft. of contact paper, and then taped bat cutouts I bought and real Chrysanthemum clippings all over. It made for the perfect backdrop! Make this your own by switching out different cutouts, or using just a variety of flowers. With a big focal point like this, you can really create your party around it, so have fun with colors and decorations.
2. Fall Beverage:
For a Halloween party you’ll need a festive drink. A new cocktail that I have been enjoying lately is a Pumpkin Spice Moscow Mule. Using Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Pie Spice Ginger Brew, pour 2 ounces of that with 1 ounce of vodka. Mix with ice, and you’ve got the perfect Fall drink! For the non-alcoholic version, just use the ginger brew by itself — it’s so tasty and not too sweet. I garnish mine with either a slice of fresh ginger or an herb (sage or rosemary would be nice) — or both!
Recipe:
2 parts (2 oz.) Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spice Ginger Brew
1 part (1 oz.) Vodka
Ice
Fill copper cup or glass with ice, then pour in ingredients.
Stir, then garnish with ginger, pumpkin spice seasoning, or herb.
3. Food:
All things Trader Joe’s.
Next, we are going to construct a cheese board specifically with the season in mind. Some of my favorite seasonal items that I would include are conveniently enough from our favorite store, Trader Joe’s:
Borsin cheese
Pumpkin & Pomegranate Crisps
Apples with Cinnamon Bun Spread
Candy Corn + Salted Peanuts (my favorite!)
Dried Mission Figs
Pumpkin Flavored Joe-Joe’s
Step 1: Mix the candy corn & peanuts in a small bowl. Fill an even smaller bowl with the cinnamon bun spread.
Step 2: Place the bowls and the borsin cheese on opposite ends of the board, leaving space between.
Step 3: begin to evenly place crisps, figs, apples, and Joe-Joe’s all around the cheese and bowls, making sure they are evenly dispersed. Fill every last inch.
Step 4 (optional): garnish with rosemary sprigs for some greenery.
4. Activities:
Depending on whether you are spending your evening with a small gathering in-person or throwing a virtual party, there are different fun activities you can do together!
I highly recommend a virtual dance party, complete with all of your favorite Halloween themes. If you want to take turns choosing a song, the best way I have seen this work is to have everyone cue the song on their own device, start the songs at the same time, and mute your device so there isn’t an echo. You can also have a playlist all ready to go — just make sure you click “share computer audio” so that the music plays loudly on the other listeners’ devices.
For those who are celebrating in-person, let’s finish the evening with a movie night! Netflix is full of great scary movies — or go for a cult classic like “The Addams Family”. We all need a Wednesday in our life. Doing your event outside? Use a projector to cast the movie on a white sheet or wall, allowing for the ultimate move experience with others. Use blankets or lawn chairs for your viewing pleasure.
Can’t wait to see all of your amazing ideas come to life in the next few weeks! Our parties may look a little different this year, but that doesn’t have to stop us from celebrating!
