Need a costume?  Check out these ideas.

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Halloween is a spooky celebration that is all about having a good time. It may be something that is geared toward children, but just because your trick or treating days are over does not mean that you cannot be a part of this haunting holiday!

For Halloween this year throw a party for adults only and enjoy some scary fun with your family members, friends and neighbors. For starters, decide whether it is going to be a costume party or a come as you are party. Or you might want to leave it open ended for partygoers. You might want to choose a particular theme for the party and plan everything around that theme including decorations, food, and games.

Halloween falls on a Saturday night this year, so you may want to throw the party on that night or else have it on Friday or the weekend before. Many people opt to throw a Halloween party the weekend before so it will not interfere with their children’s activities. Make sure that you send out invitations weeks in advance. Create your own invitations on your computer and use Halloween graphics that are ready-to-use, or else buy invitations from a party supply store that match the napkins and plates that you plan to use. Include an RSVP card with the invitation so you will know how many guests to expect.

Choose decorations that are spooky. Replace your regular white light bulbs with red, green or black lights for an eerie glow. Don’t forget orange and black streamers and a jack o’lantern. If you are concerned about lighting candles in your carved pumpkins, then use battery powered candles instead. Decorate the party area with as few or as many pumpkins (and other decorations) as you like. You can get as scary or as ghoulish as your mood dictates!

Buy a CD of scary sounds to turn your home into a haunted house. Another suggestion is to cover your furniture with white sheets to give your home an abandoned look. Can you feel the chills going up your spine already?!

As far as Halloween food is concerned, finger foods are best. Serve small sandwiches and cookies shaped liked witches or pumpkins. Add some food coloring for a little Halloween cheer. Toasted pumpkin seeds are a healthy Halloween snack food for a party.

As you are getting your little (or big) ghosts and goblins ready for trick or treating, parties, and more, looking good shouldn’t be the only goal.  A costume also needs to be safe.  Use these simple tips from nationally recognized product safety organization Underwriters Laboratories (UL) as a guide.

• Use flame-resistant fabric when making costumes. Although treated fabric does not mean it won’t catch fire, it does indicate the fabric will resist burning and should extinguish quickly once removed from the ignition source.

• Make costumes short enough to prevent tripping and falling. Avoid making costumes made with flimsy materials and big, baggy sleeves or billowing skirts, which could increase the risk of tripping and is more likely to come in contact with candles or other ignition sources.

• Make costumes from light-colored material. Light and bright fabrics will be clearly visible to motorists. If you do wear dark materials, decorate costumes with reflective tape or carry a flashlight for better visibility.

• Use makeup instead of a mask. Masks can obstruct vision and children may find it hard to breathe when wearing them. If a mask is used make sure it fits securely and has eyeholes large enough to allow full vision.

Trying to find a different way to decorate your place this Halloween? Try doing it the green way. It’ll force you to be creative and give you more quality time with family and friends.

1. Treasure Hunt. Try to avoid buying Halloween décor from the store. Look around your house for inspiration. You can use fallen leaves, branches, used paper, cardboard and boxes for your décor.
2. Creative goodie bags. Instead of buying, make the kids’ own goodie bags by utilizing your containers or pillowcases or bags. And the kids can decorate anyway they want using materials you already have at your home.
3. Examine costumes carefully. A lot of the store-bought ones contain harmful chemicals. Make sure costumes you buy are made from cotton, wool or any material you yourself consider safe. Or better yet, look around your closets and make your own costume.
4. Visit markets. If you don’t have a lot of things in your house, be sure to visit garage sales, flea markets or junk stores for used items that you potentially can use as décor for your place. After Halloween, you either can sell, donate or reuse them next year.
5. For your Halloween party, use natural and organic ingredients that you can find at the nearest organic grocery or farmer’s market. You can make salads, baked apples, vegetable soups and other items. You even can decorate to make it look like gory items, including wasabi eyeballs, shaped pretzels, fresh red juice (to look like blood).
6. Don’t forget to compost your leftover scraps.
7. Organic Halloween treats. Don’t worry about Halloween treats to give the kids coming. There are organic candies available in the market. Be sure the candies are organic, shade grown and Fair Trade.
8. Walk, not drive. When going to houses, avoid using the car and walk with your neighbors to their houses. It’s much more fun and relaxing that way. And you won’t miss any house for sure.

Are you ready to try this out? Make it even more fun and plan next year’s theme so you can start preparing for it all year!

These tips don’t just apply for Halloween. You can use these ideas for any holiday you can imagine.

Okay, don’t be misled by this title, you can’t make all three costumes in three minutes, but you should be able to make each of these costumes in 3 minutes or less.  With only two weeks until Halloween, these costumes will give you more time to plan your candy collection strategy and less on creating your costumes.

1.  Bunny Rabbit

If it is going to be a cold Halloween, have your child wear her one-piece snowsuit.  Create bunny ears with fabric in the same color, and add a cotton ball tail.

–Eileen Roth, author of “Organizing for Dummies”

2.  Tourist

A simple costume for adults and kids alike.  Start with shorts over tights and a t-shirt from your favorite destination.  Add a camera around the neck, sunglasses, and a fanny pack to complete the look.

– Kimberly Danger, author of “Halloween Tricks and Holiday Tips”

3.  Medusa

For women, drape  yourself in a toga (made out of a white sheet), curl your hair into ringlets, and clip in a few toy rubber snakes.  Throw on some black lipstick, and you’re ready!

–Cindy Shanholtz, Effortless Events

Whether you have a Halloween party to go to with friends or have children who need costumes for a fun filled night of trick or treating, the choice of a Halloween costume can be a very important one. Halloween is a holiday that is just for fun. It gives one the opportunity to show off a creative and adventurous side through the costume you are wearing. Costumes can run the gamut from sweet to scary to sexy to all out ghoulish!

You already may have a Halloween costume but now just need the accessories to go with it. Or you may still be in the deciding stage. Do you want to dress up as a princess, a cartoon character or a witch? Or perhaps you feel like dressing up as a cuddly bear? Or maybe you always wanted to be a nurse so that is how you will dress on Halloween night?

Halloween costumes can be purchased at many department and specialty shops, and an array of costumes of all types can be purchased online. If you are a whiz with the sewing machine and have the time, you might want to buy some fabric and make your costume from scratch. This can be an enjoyable project to do on your own or to share with someone else. If you are short on funds or just do not want to spend too much money on Halloween fun, then you can check thrift and secondhand stores for items that you can use to pull together a costume.

Dollar stores are an excellent place to pick up accessories for your costume, such as wigs, face paint, and lots of scary accessories. This is another way of ensuring that you don’t pay out too much money on an occasion that lasts for only one evening.

Another alternative to buying a new costume is to rent one. Take a look in your area for shops that rent out costumes. Still another option is to swap costumes with friends. Find out if your friends have Halloween costumes from years gone by and trade costumes with one another. When you go partying, no one will know the difference!

For more costume ideas give this site a try:
Costume Idea Zone

If you have not had your fill of fun and interesting facts about the holiday that involves ghosts, goblins and lots of orange and black, then read on for some more tidbits!

-Black cats are closely linked to the celebration of Halloween because witches once believed that these cats were able to protect their special powers.

-The ancients Celts were under the impression that ghosts and spirits roamed about on the night of Halloween. That is where the concept of wearing masks and dressing up originated from that is still going strong today. They donned masks to cover their faces and costumes to disguise their bodies in order that the ghosts and spirits would not be able to identify them as human beings.

-Halloween is the second holiday of the year that is the most successful for retailers. The first, which is really no surprise at all, is Christmas.

-The tradition of bobbing for apples is believed to have its roots in the Roman harvest festival that took place in honor of the goddess of fruit trees, who was named Pamona.

-The origin of “trick or treat” can be traced back to the ancient Celts. On Halloween night they would go about the town causing mischief. Many of them would decide to imitate the fairies that were viewed as dangerous and hostile to human beings (because it was humans that had taken over the land that they had been inhabiting). Dressed up in costumes they would go from house to house asking for treats. If a treat was denied, then the hapless homeowner could expect to have to cope with a practical joke that occurred to teach them a lesson.

-It was customary at the time for homeowners to leave some type of food or milk on their doorsteps for the fairies so they could remain in their good graces and would not have to concern themselves over any unwelcome “tricks” that might be played on them.

-The very first wrapped penny candy to be sold in America was the Tootsie Roll.

-The most popular type of candy preferred by trick-or-treaters is chocolate bars. The brand favored is Snickers.

-The sale of Halloween candy averages approximately two billion dollars on a yearly basis.

-If you see a spider any time on Halloween day or night, ancient folklore says that it is the spirit of a loved one who is watching over you.

Halloween comes from the ancient Celtic harvest festival of Samhain (which is pronounced Sow-en or sow-in). The festival marked the end of the summer season and the start of a new year, commencing November 1^st. It got its start in Ireland and ancient Britain over 2,000 years ago where it was believed that spirits of the dead revisited their former homes in the shape of ghosts, goblins, witches and other scary figures.

It was during the 9^th century that the Catholic Church declared November 1^st to be “All Saints Day” (or “all-hallowmas”) and October 31^st became “All Hallows Eve”. October 31^st is the final day of the Celtic calendar and, therefore, had significance.

Irish immigrants brought the holiday to the United States in the last century. All Hallows Eve became a secular holiday that also was connected to the fall harvest. The immigrants would celebrate the harvest by building a bonfire and then sitting around it together and sharing ghost stories, fortunes and lots of laughter and good times that included singing and dancing.

According to the Merriam-Dictionary, Halloween (both spellings) is a shortened version of “All Hallow Even” which stands for “All Saints Eve”. If the letter “v” is taken out, then the word becomes Halloween. The apostrophe in Hallowe’en is there because of the missing letter. While both spellings can be used and are perfectly acceptable, punctuation in today’s modern society leans towards the highest degree of simplicity. The spelling “Halloween” is much easier for most people to speak and understand, which is why it is the predominant spelling for the holiday.

Read on for some more fun and interesting facts about Halloween:

-Orange and black are Halloween colors for a reason- orange is directly connected to the fall harvest while black is connected with darkness as well as death.

-Jack o’lanterns got their start in Ireland. People used to hollow out turnips (before the day of the pumpkins) and then place candles inside. They believed that this would keep ghosts and spirits at bay during the spooky holiday.

-Pumpkins are most commonly orange in color but they also grow in blue, green and white.

-Pumpkins are very healthy to eat. This is particularly true of the seeds. The seeds are choked full of omega-3 essential fatty acids as well as protein.

Halloween is supposed to be a fun time for kids. Before the night of ghosts and goblins rolls around, here are some tips to make sure that your kids have a safe trick or treating experience!

Costumes

Outfit your child in a costume that is flame resistant and is very easy to see at night. You might want to add reflective tape or something else that is reflective into the costume for an added measure of safety. Your child’s costume should fit well, and the costume and accessories (such as hats, masks, wands or swords) should be suitable for his size. A child should be able to walk comfortably without tripping, and her mask should have large enough holes to see through as well as to breathe through.

It is wise to have your child carry a flashlight and/or to wear lighted sneakers. Make sure your child carries a bag that is not too big for him or her.

Safety in the Streets

-Trick or treaters under the age of 12 should be supervised by an adult. Older children always should go out in groups of twos or threes. Do not allow your child to trick or treat alone!

-Plan out a route for your child for the evening and caution him not to go to any houses that do not have lights on and not to go inside a house without permission. Also tell him to not get separated from his group of friends.

-Remind your child of safety on the roads. The lesson “stop, look and listen” is a good one to remind your children of before they venture out on Halloween night.

-Tell your children to walk and not run from house to house, to pay attention crossing the streets and to watch for moving cars.

Other Important Tips

-Make sure you tell your child to bring his treat bag home and let you inspect everything before she eats any of the goodies.

-Remind your children of the importance of using manners and saying thank you for the treats they are given.