13 Spooky Good Halloween Hacks
Less stress. More spook.
Let’s get real. Halloween requires a whole lot of creativity, and sometimes it’s hard to come up with cute costumes, adorable pumpkin ideas, tasty party food and festive home decor. Enter, clever Halloween hacks — 13 of them, to be exact (totally spooky, right?).
PUMPKIN HACKS
Make a Wine Keg Using a Pumpkin
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Serve Hallo-wine at your Halloween party using pumpkins as vessels for your favorite box wine. Guests will applaud your creativity.
Use a Cookie Cutter to Carve a Pumpkin
Images courtesy of Jessica Yonker
Tired of carving the classic jack-o’-lantern? This year, carve a pumpkin with a Halloween-themed cookie cutter, instead.
Make This: Cookie Cutter Pumpkins
Light Your Pumpkins With Christmas Lights
Make a twinkly, starry outdoor display with pumpkins and Christmas lights. First, completely hollow out the pumpkins, and create a pattern of holes on each pumpkin using a drill. Then, fill each hole with a Christmas light, and plug them in.
DECOR HACKS
Make a Spooky Wreath With Ping-Pong Balls
You're Being Watched
Keep an eye on trick-or-treaters with a googly-eyed wreath. To make it, pick up two to three bags of white Ping-Pong balls online or at a sports store. Use hot glue to attach them, in layers, to a foam wreath form with hot glue. Once all visible parts of the wreath form have been covered, attach small and large googly eyes. Tip: It's best to hang the wreath with a door hanger, rather than wrapping ribbon around, so the layers of Ping-Pong balls remain undisturbed.
Craft a super-easy, googly-eyed wreath to playfully spook trick-or-treaters upon their arrival. Buy two to three bags of white Ping-Pong balls, and hot glue them on a foam wreath form in layers. Once the wreath form is covered, attach small and large googly eyes.
Turn Trash Bags Into Spider Webs
All you need to make these creepy hanging spider webs are black trash bags, tape and scissors. Ballin' on a budget, my friends.
Make This: Trash Bag Spider Webs
Use Leftover Candy Corn as Decor
Aromatic Candy Corn Candles
Expecting trick-or-treaters or Halloween guests? Add a sweet aroma to your front porch with candy corn-filled hurricanes. To create them, place pillar candles inside clear glass hurricanes of different sizes then fill each hurricane, roughly halfway, with candy corn.
I realize some people truly love candy corn, but I know there are some wishy-washy people out there like me. I’ll eat a piece or two, sure, but I don’t love it. Instead of throwing away the rest of the bag, dump the leftovers into glass hurricanes with pretty pillar candles, and set the hurricanes on the front porch to greet guests. Be sure to blow out the candles before they burn below the candy.
COSTUME HACKS
Be a Glow-in-the-Dark Stick Figure
Chelsea Faulkner
Did you forget to come up with a Halloween costume? This ultra-clever stick figure idea is for you. Grab an all-black outfit, glow sticks and packing tape, and prepare for *glowing* reviews.
Make This: Glow-in-the-Dark Stick Figure Costume
Make a Last-Minute Kid Costume Using a Hoodie
Your trick-or-treater will be hopping with excitem
Your trick-or-treater will be hopping with excitement over this fun frog costume
No time to sew a masterpiece for your little one? Craft a simple costume out of a basic hoodie, instead. These ideas are so cute, nobody will know the difference.
Turn an Old Shirt Into a Dog Costume
Handmade Pet Halloween Business Man Costume
Your pet will be ready for Halloween with this cute outfit. Repurpose old clothing to make a costume that is all business
Bring the phrase, “working like a dog,” to life with an old dress shirt and a cheap clip-on tie. This hilarious dog costume is sure to be a hit with friends.
Make This: Business Man Dog Costume
FOOD + DRINK HACKS
Turn a Margarita Into a Morgue-A-Rita
Halloween Morgue-A-Rita Cocktail
This ooey-gooey margarita will ensure your guests have a frightfully good time at your Halloween party. The blood red maraschino syrup adds the cherry 'on the bottom' while sugary green "goo" lends a creepy twist.
Photo by: Sam Henderson
Sam Henderson
Instead of concocting a difficult cocktail for your Halloween guests, make a tried-and-true crowd pleaser with a spooky twist. You only need two extra ingredients to make the oozy green slime.
Make This: Morgue-A-Rita
Make (Healthy!) Monsters With Apples
Heather Baird SprinkleBakes.com
Kids will adore this nutritious snack that’s just as adorable as it is tasty.
Make This: Monster Apples
Make Edible Eyeballs With Cheese Rounds
Halloween Party Appetizer: Cheesy Eyeballs
This fun-to-make appetizer will have your Halloween party guests doing a double take. A few simple ingredients make this savory snack a scary-easy addition to your party table.
©Sam Henderson
Sam Henderson
You’ll only need three ingredients to make these creepy eyeballs. The cheese-based appetizer is perfect for a Halloween party.
Make This: Cheesy Eyeballs
Make Scary Fingers With Goat Cheese
Another creepy, cheese-based recipe, this appetizer would pair perfectly with the edible eyeballs to make a spook-tacular cheese tray.
Make This: Goat Cheese Fingers
Our Best Costume + Makeup Tricks
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Deck out your little trick-or-treater and yourself with one of our 50+ handmade Halloween costumes or silver screen-ready makeup ideas.
