Halloween Fun Factory

How To Create Scary Sound Effects

RLuve — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:25:43 +0000

Planning a haunted house for Halloween and need some scary sound effects? Well, here are some low-cost, do it yourself examples of how ordinary household items I found on Martha Stewart’s site. They can be used to fill your house with mischievous poltergeist.

You’ll want to test each scary sound effect out first. Once you’ve mastered the Halloween sound effects you want to use, you can create a soundtrack to play for your haunted house, scare trick-or-treaters when they ring your bell or use for scary story telling for the kiddies.

Fire – Crinkle a piece of cellophane or waxed paper to mimic a crackling flame. For large fires, use several sheets and several pairs of hands.

Ghostly Footsteps – Slowly knock the heels of leather-soled shoes together or against a wooden floor to achieve the sound of footsteps coming from the attic.

Wind – Fold a sheet of waxed paper over a comb. Hum or blow softly with your lips against the paper-covered teeth for a howling wind.

Thunder – Grasp one side of a sheet of poster board. Shake hard to make a thunderclap; taper off for distant, echoing rumbles.

Rain – Pour dry, uncooked rice into a metal tray or baking pan. Vary the speed for realistic-sounding rain; accompany with thunder as you wish.

Gurgling Bog – Use a drinking straw to blow bubbles at the surface of a bowl of water. Vary the rhythm of the bubbles to bring the slimy bog eerily to life.

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Halloween Party Decoration Ideas

RLuve — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:15:05 +0000

Halloween is one of those holidays when decorations make the difference in setting the stage for your onlookers and guests. Whether you’re planning a big Halloween blowout party, or simply want to make the mood festive for trick-or-treaters, begin decorating early and you’ll be ready for fun when the big day arrives.

The key to a great Halloween party is the atmosphere. Here are some easy decorating tricks for turning your house into a haunted Halloween home. Remember, this is the one night each year when people look forward to creepy things. So, let’s get started.

1. Lighting

Welcome your guests with Halloween lanterns lining your walkway. On the inside, turn your lights very low, or even turn them off, using Halloween luminaries or candles to create a spooky Halloween glow. Of course, be careful where you place the candles for the sake of safety. And if you have a lot of young children at the party, skip the candles except in out of reach places, and replace your regular light bulbs with dark colored bulbs.

2. Fog

To create that strange and haunting effect, fill your home with spooky wisps of smoke and fog made from dry ice or a fog machine.

3. Table Decor

Adorn your buffet table with ghastly head centerpieces, cobwebs and creepy, crawly spiders, bats and detached hands.

You can also place shrunken apple heads in the least expected places such as on dining room or kitchen chairs, in your guests’ coat pockets, or at the bottom of a snack bowl. Get busy now – these little babies take a couple of weeks to reach perfection.

4. Halloween Music

The mystique of Halloween is highly influenced by both sight and sound. Play spooky Halloween music inside and outside your house to create that eerie effect.

5. Inside Halloween Decor

Cover your furniture with white sheets to simulate a deserted haunted house. Scatter talcum powder over the sheets to create a dust cloud when your guests sit.

Scatter creepy spiders and bats everywhere including your buffet table, chairs, ceilings and anywhere your guests might be surprised. Spread cobwebs in choice corners of your home and selectively place miniature spiders in each web.

These Top 5 Halloween Party Decoration Ideas will be enough to create just the right atmosphere to ensure your Halloween party is a smashing hit. And as you get started with these Halloween decorations, you’re sure to discover your own ideas to shower your guests with exhilarating fun!

2009 Dog Halloween Costume Lineup

RLuve — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:15:41 +0000

There’s a saying that blonde’s have more fun. Well, for Halloween, I think that dogs have more fun when they’re all dressed up in a dog Halloween costume. These costumes are popular, cute and unique. If you’re stuck for some ideas, you can find inspiration in the following list of 10 fun dog Halloween costume ideas that form the starting lineup for 2009 according to the National Retail Federation.

So, there’s no need to leave your dog out of the party! You can dress your dog up in style with a Halloween costume for dogs.

Click Here To Order Your Dog Halloween Costume

Below are the most popular dog Halloween costumes for the year:

1. Pumpkin
2. Devil
3. Bow ties/fancy collars
4. Witch
5. Superdog/supercat
6. Princess
7. Bat
8. Dog
9. Angel
10. Bee

Halloween Fancy Dress Ideas

RLuve — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:58:04 +0000

It is that time of year again when you need to start planning your Halloween costume. Whether you plan on Trick or Treating or hosting your own Halloween party you’re going to need some scary Halloween fancy dress ideas. You might want to buy a complete costume or create your own with the addition of a few accessories, but first of all you’re going to need some good ideas.

Click Here to Find Your Fancy Dress Costume

Here are just a few Halloween fancy dress ideas for men, women, teenagers and children.

Halloween Costumes for Women

There are plenty of traditional Halloween costume ideas for the ladies, including wicked witches, sexy little devils, corpse brides and Burlesque Victorian vampires. You can create your own costume based on one of these ideas and accessorise to add your own twist, or you can easily buy complete, ready-made costumes.

Some other womens Halloween costume ideas include gothic brides, ghostly ladies, fallen angels, dark fairies, gothic nymphs, good witches, black widows, and film characters, such as Morticia or Wednesday from The Addams Family, the Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz, Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd, a female Death Eater from Harry Potter, a dark Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, or even a Miss Krueger costume based on Freddie Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street.

Halloween Costumes for Men

Traditional mens Halloween costumes include skeleton suits, werewolves, vampires and zombies, as well as any costumes with lots of fake blood and gore. You can be as creative as you feel like if you use your imagination and some accessories like Halloween make-up and fake blood packs.

Other Halloween fancy dress ideas for men include the Grim Reaper, ghostly gentlemen, bloody surgeons, Voodoo priests, evil jesters, Lucifer, killer clowns, a mummy or a mad monk. Some film character ideas include Hannibal Lector, Edward Scissorhands, Freddie Krueger, Michael Myers, Frankenstein, Voldemort, a Dementor, Hellboy, Dracula, Barnacle Bill, a Ghostbuster, The Joker, Sweeney Todd or a Donnie Darko rabbit.

Click Here to Find Your Fancy Dress Costume

Halloween Costumes for Teenagers

Many teenage Halloween costumes available to buy are the same as adult costumes but less scary and for teenage girls often not as short or sexy. They also come in smaller sizes obviously, but they can be suitable for petite adults. Also teenagers have some different film idols and current favourite characters, such as Edward Cullen (Rob Pattinson), Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and the rest of the Twilight and New Moon crew.

As well as vampires and werewolves other popular costume ideas for Halloween for teenagers include evil fairies, punk and biker zombies, glittery witches, bat pixies, devil girls, zombie pirates, Harry Potter, maidens of darkness, South Park Satan, Lolita, Jason and Scream stalkers. Teen costumes also include many other film characters, especially current horror films.

Halloween Costumes for Children

Children are also catered for in the Halloween costume market as there are loads available to buy, but you can make your own if you prefer and kids particularly love face paints to help make a fancy dress costume. Some kids’ costumes are just as scary as adults but it’s important to think about the age of your children and the other kids they’ll be mixing with as some costumes can really frighten children. Keep their costumes fun and without scary masks.

Some kids Halloween costume ideas include colourful witches, pumpkins, little devils, vampires, werewolves, skeletons, mummies, zombies, ghosts and ghouls. Some popular Halloween characters for kids are based on the much-loved Harry Potter characters, and pirates from the popular Pirates of The Caribbean films.

Halloween Accessories

Accessories can really make or break a costume. If you want to stand out from the crowd on Halloween, then make sure you accessorize well! Accessories can also help to make a costume if you are on a tight budget or creating your own costume rather than buying a ready-made one.

Some of the best accessories include Halloween wigs, which are absolutely essential for most good Halloween costumes, special Halloween make-up and fake blood, vampire teeth, witches broom sticks, hats and cauldrons, and face paints, as with some face paints you can create almost any character and really change your appearance.

Whatever costume you choose this Halloween part of the fun will be making it or putting it together and accessorising it. There are loads of Halloween costumes and accessories available to buy online so you should have no problems once you’ve thought of some fabulous Halloween fancy dress ideas and decided what you’d like to be this year.

Click Here to Find Your Fancy Dress Costume

For more Halloween fancy dress ideas for men, women, teenagers and children visit http://www.topfancydressideas.co.uk

Michael Jackson Halloween Costume

RLuve — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:45:26 +0000

This year marked the unexpected death of several celebrities. Once of the most notable was the King of Pop: Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson touched the lives of millions throughout the world with his music. And despite the controversy surrounding his life, if you’re like me, you “Remember the Time…” when each of his seminal records or albums hit the street.

My favorite was Thriller. For others, it’s Billy Jean or Dangerous. Whatever your choice, Michael Jackson costumes are very popular and selling out fast. So, if you plan on dressing up as MJ this year, you’d better get a move on it.

I’ve found some popular styles for both men and women on various sites that may still have some Michael Jackson costumes in stock.

Click Here To Order Your Michael Jackson Costume

Just to give you an idea of what’s available, here are some Michael Jackson costumes for women:

Michael Jackson Thriller Adult Women's Halloween Costume

$129.95

Michael Jackson Adult Women's Costume

$189.95

2009 Kids Halloween Costume Lineup

RLuve — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:13:05 +0000

There are so many kids Halloween costumes to choose from and the top ideas change from year to year. In 2009, some of the popular costume ideas are based upon top movies, television shows, and Disney characters. Based on the survey released by the National Retail Federation, this year’s Halloween costumes for kids includes an assortment of familiars that are favorites every year.

Even though there may not be any big surprises from the list of kids costumes, there is such variety in each category that the same costume can look completely different from last year. So without further ado…

Below are the most popular kids Halloween costumes for the year:

1.   Princess
2.   Witch
3.   Spider-Man
4.   Pirate
5.   Pumpkin
6.   Vampire
7.   Disney princess
8.   Star Wars character
9.   Tinker Bell
10.   Batman

Click On An Image Below To Select Your Top 10 Costume For The Year

Storybook Cinderella Prestige Toddler/Child Costume $49.99	Pretty Little Witch Child Costume $56.99	Spider-Man 3 Child $19.99	Pirate Boy Child $26.99
Fruity Licious Pumpkin Spice Child Costume $20.99	Classic Vampire Child Costume $24.99	The Little Mermaid Disney Ariel Deluxe Child Costume $38.99	Star Wars Stormtrooper Deluxe Child Costume $57.99
	Disney Faeries Tinker Bell Child Costume $24.99	Batman Brave & Bold Deluxe M/C Batman Toddler/Child Costume $34.99

Dried Shrunken Apple Heads

RLuve — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:39:06 +0000

Looking for that little extra something to complete your Halloween decorations? I found a great food craft over at FabulousLiving.com. These little faces, made from dried apples, can look really nasty and sinister — the perfect thing to decorate a Halloween party. Tuck them in among the food at your Halloween Buffet. You can also make lots of dried apple heads and string them up like a spooky garland.

Another idea is to make apple dolls. Once dry, insert a strong wire to form a body, add clothes or other accessories. These shrunken apples will last for years to come.

What You’ll Need:

apples
whole cloves
a few grains of rice
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt

Instructions:

Peel a large apple and coat with mixture of lemon juice and 2 teaspoons of salt to prevent browning. With a potato peeler or small knife carve out eye sockets, a nose, mouth and ears. Don’t worry about carving small details as they will be lost when the apple dries. Go for the big features and nature will take care of the rest.

Use whole cloves for eyes and raw rice grains for teeth (the faces also come out looking great without these extra props, just carve and let dry if you want to keep it simple).

Sit apples on a wire rack in a warm, dry place for about 2 weeks. You can speed the drying process a little by drying in an oven set at the lowest temperature. However, the process will still take several days.

2009 Adult Halloween Costume Lineup

RLuve — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:17:37 +0000

According to a survey released by the National Retail Federation, there are some surprises this year in the 2009 Adult Halloween Costume Lineup. First, nurse and politician costumes have dropped in popularity.

Thanks to popular books, movies and television series, vampire costumes (one of my favorites) jumped to the number two spot from third last year. To my surprise, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, didn’t make the list. Nonetheless, the contenders are well-rounded, unsurprisingly traditional and sure to spur some wicked fun.

Below are the most popular adult Halloween costumes for the year:

1.   Witch
2.   Vampire
3.   Pirate
4.   Clown
5.   Wench/Vixen
6.   Cat
7.   Devil
8.   Scary
9.   Athlete
10.   Police Officer

Click On An Image Below To Select Your Top 10 Costume For The Year

Sweet & Sexy Witch Adult Costume $48.99	Midnight Vampire Adult Costume $54.99	High Seas Pirate Man Adult Costume $44.99	Crazy Clown Adult Costume $26.99
Vixen Pirate Wench Adult $44.99	Catwoman Deluxe Adult Costume $48.99	Handsome Devil Elite Collection Adult Costume $109.99	Shrieking Soul Adult Costume $32.99
	Tight End Adult Costume $59.99	Officer Naughty Elite Collection Adult Costume $46.99

Gangster Moll Costume

RLuve — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:56:16 +0000

It’s gansta time! Be beautiful! Be bad!—And, warn anyone in spittin’ distance to be on your good side because this Halloween you’ll be leading your own crime spree. But don’t get too carried away. You’ll need to watch out for coppers, other hoodlums and plain ‘ole schmucks.

Whether you’re thinking Bonnie Parker or Blanche Barrow, a Gangster Moll Costume will do the job. Select from several Mafiosa style dresses and suits. Go sexy to divert the attention of your “victims” or traditional to establish that you mean business.

Pink Gangster Moll Adult Costume

$49.99

Gangster Moll Plus Adult Costume

$34.99

Gangster Moll Plus Adult Costume

$56.99

Gangster Moll Adult

$34.99

Most important, don’t forget your tommy gun. After all, the term “gun moll” refers to a female companion of a male professional criminal, and in some contexts the term more specifically suggests that the gun moll handles a firearm. Although she may have never fired a shot, Bonnie was known as one hell of a loader.

Click Here For More Gangster Moll Costumes

The 2008 Adult Halloween Costume Lineup

Halloween Party Food

RLuve — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:31:34 +0000

Aside from costumes and decorations, an assortment of Halloween party food will impress your Halloween party guests and make your event a huge success. Making your own treats, particularly traditional ones, is a lot of fun and can be very fulfilling when you see the pleasure your homemade creations bring to your friends and family.

As part of your Halloween Party Checklist, plan out your food and beverage menu and all of the ingredients you will need. Home cooked food should be made as close to the time of the party as possible, so that it will be fresh. Party guests tend to get hungry, so be sure to have plenty of food and drink available. Always remember that appearance and presentation is just as important as the actual food being served.

Not sure what to serve? Don’t stress! With all the candy and sweets that will be eaten that day, gourmet food will not be the highest priority. So, think of your menu as part of the Halloween decorations. You can check out our Halloween recipes for some gruesomely great Halloween party food ideas and here are some additional suggestions to help you get started.

Beverages

In addition to water and sodas, you may also want to have:

Apple Cider
Halloween Punch
Hot Chocolate (topped with whipped cream or mini-marshmallows)
Hot Spiced Tea
Beer & Wine

Tasty Treats

A Halloween party is just not a party without some sweet treats to eat. Below are some staples of a well stocked Halloween banquet table.

Cake and/or Cupcakes
Pumpkin Pie (topped with whipped cream)
Halloween Cookies (decorated)
Carmel or Candy Covered Apples
Halloween Candy (store bought or homemade)
Spooky Shaped Jell-O Molds
Carmel Corn or Rice Crispy Treats

Finger Food

Your guests will probably get hungry for more than candy and other sweet treats throughout the party, so a selection of food snacks like Chips and Dip, Mini Sandwiches, Fingers in a Blanket, Sliced Pizza, Cheese and Crackers, Deviled Eggs, etc. should be available for them to eat. Provide lots of cocktail picks, napkins and at least one set of serving tongs for picking up food.

Full Course Meals

If you are actually hosting a sit-down Halloween dinner party, you will want to serve fancy hors d’oeuvres, soup and/or salad, the main course entree and a dessert. Try to avoid food that is really messy to eat. Also, consider printing some spooky place cards to sit on the table.

Not sure how much Halloween party food or drink to have on hand for your hungry guests? Here are some guidelines for how much food to prepare. (Note: portion sizes are for ONE non-dieting ADULT.)

Appetizers: 3 pieces (for a cocktail party, allow 8 pieces per hour)
Meats: 1/2 to 3/4 lb.
Vegetables/Sides: 1/2 cup
Salads, Tossed: 1 cup (side), 1.5-2 cups (main dish)
Desserts: 2 portions
Beverages: 12 oz of wine, 24 oz of beer, or 24 oz of non-alcoholic beverages

And here are some useful Rules of Thumb to keep in mind:

Keep It Simple – Elaborate menus don’t necessarily make a better party. Halloween party food can be simple and scary!

Think Seasonally – Fruits and vegetables that are in season cost less and taste better.

Special Needs – Keep in mind any guests that might have special dietary needs. For example, if your guest list includes people with food allergies or who are vegetarians/vegans, they will appreciate appropriate meal choices that make them feel included.

Lastly, don’t forget to get sturdy paper plates, paper or plastic cups, napkins and utensils! Purchase enough so that you have about three of each on hand for each guest.