Halloween is for Everyone!

It is about that time, my favorite time of the year…Halloween..... I grew up loving Halloween with my family because of our big Halloween parties and trick or treating. It just makes sense for me to carry on the tradition and share the fun in Halloween.

I wanted to share some tips, tricks, and theme ideas for those who are wanting to join in on the spirit of spooky season! The past two years in our house we have done the Szoch Dead and Breakfast and the Szoch CarnEvil.

When I plan my halloween decorations, I create a design book where I put all of my ideas. I do an inventory of what I have so that I don’t buy a duplicate of anything. Items that you can get that I guarantee you will use every year would be spider webs, spiders, pumpkins, skeletons, rats, bats, lighting, tombstones and fake blood. I like to shop at Walmart, Spirit Halloween, Amazon, and Homegoods.

For all of my parties I cover my couches and chairs with white sheets. Not only does it give a creepy vibe, but it also protects your furniture! I bought these sheets from Goodwill because they were cheap and I didn't care if they got stained. I normally cover some pictures with ripped fabric to again change the house to look spooky. It is simple touches like these that are not only affordable but make a big impact on the Halloween feel.

Colored light bulbs can really elevate the theme and it is a cheap way to creep people out. Black lights are also so fun because it makes colors pop. I used red and black lights for the CarnEvil and mostly black light for dead and breakfast.

I bought a photo back drop stand from Amazon that I use for all my events now, I like to have a backdrop for everyone to take pictures in front of that goes with the theme. This is cheap, easy, and everyone enjoys it!

It is up to you to do food and drink on theme. I have some staple items like Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets (always), buffalo chicken dip, veggies, chips, dip, etc. I will also have some food that go with the theme. For example, I added popcorn and pretzels to the carnival theme. Every year I make a note of what seemed to be everyone's favorite snack and what didn't really get touched. This helps for the next years planning to get items that will be eaten and not waste money on what wasn't a fan favorite.

To encourage people to dress up for our party we do a costume contest. The 3 categories are "Best Costume," "Funniest Costume," and "Most Original." We have everyone vote for each category throughout the night in 3 separate bowls, which Bobby and I then count the votes. We announce the winners towards the end of the night. We have 3 frames for the winners to be on display for the next year.

I like to reflect every year on what seemed to be the highlight of the decorations and party. This will then carry over to the next year of planning. I cannot wait to begin this year's decorating.

This year we are doing…….

The Szoch’s Spooky Scary Skeletons. Follow my Instagram to follow along for the journey. I will also share a post once all the decor is up and done. We have one giant guest this year and cannot wait to introduce you to him.

Below you will see some inspo boards for some theme ideas and you can click on them to shop any of the items.

Classic Halloween

You can’t go wrong with classic halloween and it is something you can do every year. You can either go gory, creepy, or plain ole classic. In order to decide, just find a few decorations you like and go off of those.

Fun Kid-Friendly Halloween

Not everyone loves the scary, spooky side of halloween (sadly), buttttt halloween is still fun when you keep it PG. You can do fun blow ups, purple and orange colored lights and decor, friendly ghosts, and cute pumpkins.

Carnival

This was a fun theme to do because let’s face it just about everyone finds clowns creepy. It was actually pretty fun getting creative and staying on budget. Instead of buying fake clowns, I bought clown masks and kid clown costumes to dress up my skeletons, cheap and effective! I created a carnival tent with red and white tablecloths that I stapled to a tent we had and at the top wired them all together attaching to the tent by a giant safety pin (this survived some thunderstorms). My dad built a tickets booth with wood from pallets. For our costumes, Bobby was the ring master and I was the fortune teller.

Our 2021 Szoch CarnEVIL Halloween

Dead and Breakfast/ Haunted House

For our first halloween party we did the Szoch Dead and Breakfast. It was a pretty easy theme to decorate for. You can use a lot of halloween decorations that you may already have. I covered pictures in the house with black and white drapes. I bought some old vintage suitcases from a thrift store to put in the front of the house. My dad made a Dead and Breakfast sign which was sooo creepy cute. I did spiderwebs all up my stairs. Bobby and I dressed as a dead bride and groom.

Our 2020 Szoch Dead & Breakfast Halloween

Skeleton

This year will be all about the skeleton, big and small. I will be able to use a lot of halloween decorations that I already have with this one. I have found a bunch of things on Amazon that I added in my halloween list to purchase. I can’t wait to share it with you all. If you are wanting to do this theme, you can use classic halloween items such as pumpkins, spiders, and ripped cloth. I have two skeletons, but I am going to borrow a few from my parents and buy a couple more. The good thing is you can always use skeletons for Halloween.

Witch

I have always thought that a witch theme would be so fun to do. I would do a color palette with black, purple, lime green, and orange. This theme is one that is more specific, but you could still use some Halloween items that you already have. If I were to do it, I would dress my skeletons up as witches, hang witch hats from my kitchen, have potion bottles throughout the kitchen and food tables, and hang up some witch brooms. I would also wrap my staircase with spider webs like I usually do, add one of those witches that look like it ran into a tree or post, and have candles lit everywhere.

Have fun and Happy Spooky Season!

E