Halloween is a great time to throw parties, and theme parties are a great way to make a night memorable. A masquerade is a chance for your guests to dress as elaborately as possible without feeling silly. Set the mood by setting candles throughout the venue to set mood lighting. Check stores for cheap votive and stick candles, and also find cheap candleholders that you can refinish in gold or silver to create an opulent look. Keep an eye out for deals on cheap brocades, velvets, and lace to drape around the rooms to transform a boring living room into a boudoir worthy of a 16th century Venetian prince. On your invitation make sure to specify that guests are required to wear masks and costumes. Have them make masks to fit their costume. If someone shows up without a mask, make sure you have a comical one available that you can make them wear. Nothing ruins the effect of being at a Venetian Masquerade faster than that guy in a T-shirt and shorts in the corner.
Another party idea is to throw a haunted mansion themed party. Try and make the room you will mainly be hosting in as dark as possible. Find cheap fabric in dark purples, browns, or black, to block out windows and hang on walls to give a closed feeling to the room. Shop around to find a cheap chandelier that you can spray black paint to add to the atmosphere. Add candles throughout the room to provide ambient lighting. Cobwebs can be put anywhere (but keep them away from candles) to ensure a spooky effect. Check out other stores for spooky items such as fake rats and ravens, skulls and bones, or other esoteric looking items. For food, attempt to make the items look as gory and scary as possible. Cut bread to look like fingers with a tomato mix as blood to create a morbid bruschetta, or go with the classic recipe Grave Dirt for dessert (chocolate pudding, covered with crushed Oreo’s on top, and Gumi worms). Food coloring can be added to almost anything to turn it into fun Halloween treats. Plates can be rimmed with fake ants or bugs to add festivity.
No matter what you do make sure you have a fun, safe Halloween, and try to scare the pants off of someone while you do.
For more information call Beverly’s Crafts at 661-298-3844.