Tricks & Treats for a Happy Halloween, from the Experts at Costume Express
October 04 2005 - 6:06AM
PR Newswire (US)
KIRKLAND, Wash., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Turn "13" into a lucky
number with these Halloween tips from the experts at Costume
Express, a creator and retailer of costumes for kids and adults.
Additional ideas are available online at CostumeExpress.com
Decorations -- Turn your space into a spook-tacular Halloween party
pad with a Costume Express party pack and the following ideas: --
Dry Leaves: Bring the outdoors in with crisp, colorful leaves from
your yard or nearby park. -- Flickering Light: If you have a
fireplace, make a cozy fire. If not, you can purchase soft,
flickering lights at your local hardware store. -- Hay Bales: Break
one apart to decorate the yard and corners of your home, or stack
up several smaller bales, available from your local nursery. Games
-- Keep little goblins entertained with ghoulish games: -- Mummy
Wrap: In this game kids are granted the power to mummify. Divide
kids into teams, and hand each group a roll of toilet paper. Give
the teams a few minutes to decide who, in each group, will be the
mummy. Then shout "Mummify! Mummify! Mummify!" and watch while
teams race to wrap up their mummy first, using every bit of paper.
The first team to finish wins! -- Pumpkin Bowling: Fill 5-10 empty
plastic bottles with sand or kitty litter and close tightly. Paint
the bottles white and use a black marker to draw ghost eyes and
mouth on each bottle. Find an area (approximately 10 feet long) for
a "bowling lane," where the ground is relatively smooth, and
outline the area with sticks or masking tape. Assemble ghosts in a
pyramid shape at one end of lane. Invite guests to take turns
"bowling" with a small pumpkin. Give each guest 2 tries. Award
prizes for strikes (knocking all the ghosts down on the first try)
and spares (knocking all ghosts down within 2 tries). Food &
Drinks -- These recipes are designed to "stick to the ribs" of any
skeleton: -- Spooky Sammies: Create sandwiches filled with tuna
salad, chicken salad, or turkey/lettuce/tomato/cream cheese. Cut
sandwiches into ghost shapes and spread tops with soft cream
cheese. Add black olive pieces for eyes and mouth. (To create ghost
shapes, first slice off crusts. Then trim off 2 upper corners,
forming an arch as you cut. Carve a wavy line along bottom portion
to complete your ghost.) -- Black & Orange Platter: Create a
vegetable or fruit platter with all things orange and black. Fill
with carrots and black olives, or orange, mango and papaya slices
sprinkled with raisins. -- Chocolate Graveyard: Make a batch of
chocolate instant pudding and let cool. Mix in gummy worms and
spoon into ice cream cones. Using a thin-tipped tube of icing,
decorate the upper portion of oblong-shaped cookies with the names
of your guests, or ice with words like "Boo!" and "RIP." Insert
cookie "gravestones" partway into pudding. -- Purple Potion with
Floating Hand: Fill a small latex glove with grape juice and gummy
worms, then tie off the end and freeze. Fill a cauldron (available
at CostumeExpress.com) with 2 parts grape juice and 1 part club
soda. Add grapes (peeled, to look like eyeballs) and chopped apples
(to look like teeth). Once the grape juice glove is frozen, remove
the glove and add the hand to your potion. Trick or Treating --
Follow these safety tips to help ensure happy haunting: -- For
colder climates, begin by purchasing a costume that's at least one
size larger than usual to allow for insulating layers underneath.
Costume Express offers a variety of classic and creative styles. --
Use safety pins to shorten long costumes and help avoid tripping.
-- Sew your child's name and phone number inside costume in case he
or she gets lost. -- Ask older kids who trick-or-treat by
themselves to plan a route and share it with a grown-up ahead of
time. Set a return time. DATASOURCE: Costume Express CONTACT: Katie
Manning of Costume Express, +1-425-250-1064, ext. 136, or Web site:
http://www.celebrateexpress.com/
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