The only thing rarer than Halloween landing on a Saturday is a virgin lighting the black flame candle, so pop in Hocus Pocus or your favorite Freddie Kruger DVD and bust out your spookiest decorations. If you’ve elected to host a ghoulish gala or spooky soirée this year, you’ll want your house to stand out among the weekend’s festivities! Don’t worry about the cliché jack-o-lantern on your doorstep — together we will elevate your decorative and culinary skills so you are the boss on your block this Halloween.
Operating on a college budget is rough and affording decorations for any holiday usually falls last on anyone’s priority list. But this Halloween you can make it happen, and it will be fabulous.
For the House:
– To start, you can never go wrong with a little bit of webbing and fake spiders. Webbing and spiders don’t cost more than four bones a piece, so if you’re fretting about price, you’re fine.
– Hanging apparatus are prime for webbing, so if you have an island with lonely light fixtures, now would be the time to give them some spirit. Corners of the house are also spook-tacular spots for decorations. Make sure to hang the cotton webbing thinly so it doesn’t look clumpy. By hanging up these wondrous webs in spaces that are usually barren, you’ll transform your house from terrible to terrific with very little effort, especially with the addition of fake spiders.
– Streamers, also very inexpensive, should not be restricted to four-year-olds’ birthday parties and should definitely make their move on All Hallow’s Eve. The best way to utilize streamers for Halloween is to hang a curtain of them so they hang down from the ceiling, adding some mystery to the atmosphere. Find an anchor—a line of lights or even just a sturdy rope works well—cut pieces of streamer that are the same length and hang to the floor, let a small piece of the streamer hang over the anchor to create a loop, use a stapler to hold it in place, then let them fall freely. It will take some time, but it’s easy on your wallet and in the end, looks witchin’.
– If streamers feel too “been there, done that” for your taste, or you’re looking for something to really make your party a “Hallo-win,” this last little trick might be for you. Buy some witch hats, poke some fishwire through the tops and use tacks to hang them from the ceiling. They’ll look something like the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter, and if that’s not reason enough to make them, then re-watch the series and try the witch hat decor idea anyway. These floating hats are great photo-ops.
For the Mouth:
Food can really make or break a party, so the following recipes, curated by yours truly, are bound to add life to your Halloween spread without burning a hole in your wallet. You’ll want to have something that the masses can munch on, and nothing is better than chips and salsa. Skip the store bought, and make your own. Your friends will enjoy it, and knowing how to make homemade salsa is a lifesaving skill.
Spooky Salsa
3 large tomatoes
1- 1.5 jalapenos (depending on your spice preference)
½ an onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp. of salt
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Chop the vegetables into one-inch cubes. Add everything onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with the tablespoon of salt. Throw it in the oven for 20-25 minutes until all the vegetables have softened and charred. Carefully take it out of the oven, then put it straight into a blender to process. Once the mixture looks uniform, you’ve made your own fire-roasted salsa. I personally prefer blue corn tortilla chips, but whatever floats your boat will work well with this salsa. It’s incredibly versatile.
Hosting is also half about the drinks, so we’ll make sure you’re well equipped with the best options. Remember to drink very responsibly — this drink is dangerously delicious:
The Hulk
1 part Hennessey
1 part Hypnotiq
*If you’re not in the mood to booze, mixing soda and juice is always a classic. Half the fun of a Hulk is that it is green and you can accomplish the same thing by combining Mountain Dew Voltage and Sunny D. It’s very tasty without all the burn of Hennessey.
It’s hard to believe you can keep a crowd satisfied with chips and salsa accompanied with Hennessey and Hypnotiq, but believe me when I say that’s all you need on this Hallo-weekend.
