Grown Up Halloween

18/10/18

Halloween is a great day for kids, but at what age is it officially unacceptable to celebrate Halloween? We say never!

Whether you want to celebrate Halloween at the age of 25, 32 or 48… celebrate! You will receive no judgement from us. In fact, we’re going to give you some tips on how to do exactly that.

Here are some creative and exciting ways to decorate your home, cook sinister snacks, and conjure up cocktails!

Deadly Decorating

If you’re planning a party, decorating can be tricky business. With so much choice for Halloween décor out there, it can be easy to go overboard – but it’s Halloween, and that’s what it’s all about! I’ve seen some amazing ideas, but these are my favourites.

Haunted Hovering Candles

To create this masterpiece, you’re going to need electronic tea lights, toilet paper and the toilet paper rolls.

Your electronic tea lights should fit perfectly into your toilet paper rolls. If they’re a bit too big, snip 2 short lines in the top, this should allow the cardboard room to stretch so the tea light can fit. Then once the tea light is in, sellotape it in place.

Cover the rolls with tissue or toilet paper, sticking it down with PVC glue and allow time to dry.

To hang, put small holes near the top of your toilet rolls and thread through a thin fishing wire, long enough to reach from one side of the ceiling to the other. Spread out a few of your rolls along one line of fishing wire and repeat with 4 wires.

Hang or stick the wires to each end of the ceiling.

Grown Up Halloween AO Home

Bar Cart

A bar cart is always a welcomed addition to any adult party. Add some Halloween spookiness to your bar cart with some pumpkins, fake spider webs and orange/dark coloured plants.

Think Beyond Orange

Yes, Halloween is automatically associated with orange, but that doesn’t mean your entire venue has to be decked in orange. Black, white and purple are also associated with the holiday and can look a hell of a lot more sophisticated than orange!

Add Antiques

Antiques look frightening on their own due to natural wear and tear, which means they’re bound to fit in perfectly as a decorative piece at your party!

Sinister Snacks

Graveyard Nacho Dip by Chickabug Shop

First layer:
1 can refried beans or refried black beans

Second layer:
2 cups sour cream
1 pkg taco seasoning

Third layer:
2 avocados, mashed
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp mayonnaise

Fourth layer:
1 cup salsa

Fifth layer:
1 bunch scallions (green onions), chopped

Directions
In a small bowl, mix the sour cream and taco seasoning. In another small bowl, mix the mashed avocados, minced garlic, and mayonnaise.

In a small Pyrex dish or pie plate, layer the beans, sour cream mixture, avocado mixture, and salsa. Sprinkle the scallions on top.

Chill at least an hour, or until ready to serve. (The dip can be made a day ahead and kept, covered, in the refrigerator.)

To make the tombstones and tree, cut the shapes you want out of 2 large tortillas. Place the cut-out shapes on a parchment paper lined cookie tray and bake at 350 degrees until the tortillas are nice and brown. You can add text to the tombstones with a black food safe marker. Put the tombstones and tree in the dip just before serving.

Pumpkin Veggie Platter by Little Shamrocks

1 Small (6-inch) pumpkin or red cabbage
1 Bunch broccoli
1 Bunch celery
1 Bunch radishes
1 Bag of carrots
1 Head of cauliflower
2 Packages prepared ranch dip

Wash the pumpkin and scoop out all seeds, or wash and scoop out the centre of the cabbage. Wash, and cut the remaining vegetables into about 3-inch lengths, leaving the radishes whole.

Place your chosen centrepiece in the middle of a large round platter and fill with ranch dip. Position the vegetables neatly in a circle around the centre. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until served.

Mini Chocolate Donut Spiders by One Little Project

Mini Chocolate Glazed Donuts

Candy Eyeballs

Black Decorating Icing

Icing Decorating Tip

Icing Coupler

Large Pretzels

Start by cutting out the spider leg pieces from the pretzels. It doesn’t matter what you do, some of the pretzels will break – that’s just how it goes when you try to cut pretzels, but persevere and you will eventually get the hang of how to cut them without breaking.

Take the pretzel legs and gently press them into the mini doughnut. If you have trouble getting them to stay, try putting a glob of icing on the end of the pretzel to help keep it in place.

Next, you are going to need your candy eyeballs and the black decorating icing. Squeeze two small dabs of icing onto the doughnut where the eyes should go. It’s hard to see how much you’re putting on since it’s brown on black, so make sure you have enough icing (or melted chocolate) to hold the eyes in place.

Gently press the candy eyeballs onto the icing blobs. Straighten out the eyes if you need to. Once the icing sets, they won’t move.

If you don’t have candy eyeballs, or if you have trouble finding them, you can also use M&M’s, Skittles, white chocolate chips, or even Smarties.

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Buns by Cincy Shopper

6 Cups Rice Krispy Cereal
3 tbsp Butter
1 Large Bag of Marshmallows
Red & Yellow Food Colouring (to make orange colour)
12 Rolos

Melt your butter in a large saucepan over low heat
Add marshmallows and stir constantly until melted
Remove from heat
Add approx 4 drops of red food colouring & 2 drops yellow food colouring – add until you have a nice bright orange colour
Mix in Rice Krispies
Form small balls into the shape of a pumpkin (Tip: Add Non-Stick Cooking Spray to your hands before forming your balls)
Add rolos into each pumpkin while still warm for the stem

Pick Your Poison

Oilman

Grown Up Halloween AO Home