Hosting a Halloween Party

Halloween is one of the best holidays for throwing a party. There are so many fun ways to celebrate this classic fall holiday. So if you're planning to host this year's Halloween party, here are some ideas to help you get started.

Invitations. The first step in your Halloween party plans is to send out invitations. If you don't feel like designing your own, there are several websites offering free printable Halloween invitations. Try Internet Family Fun or Hoover Web Design.

Decorations. Decorating your house is probably one of the best parts of throwing a Halloween party. My favorite place to get holiday-themed decorations is Oriental Trading. Another great place to find cute Halloween decorations is your local dollar store. These stores usually have tons of Halloween décor that you can pick up for a very low price.

Candy. What is a Halloween party without candy? There are lots of fun ways to use the candy theme in your Halloween celebrations. One thing I like to do is to have a caramel apple bar with varied candy toppings. You can use any of your favorite candies and just chop them up to make a delicious addition to a traditional caramel apple.

Drinks. For drinks, I like to go simple and traditional with a great apple cider. You can make your own, or even just buy prepared apple cider from the grocery store and warm it up on the stove.

Snacks and Appetizers. One of my favorite fall snacks is pumpkin bread. You can find a great recipe on the Betty Crocker website. I love to make this recipe even more delicious by adding in mini chocolate chips.

Main Dish. If you are going to be serving dinner at your Halloween party, here is a great idea that is delicious and easy to make. You start with your favorite chili recipe, or you can even use canned chili, if you like. Once that is ready, you make up the batter for corn bread and spread half of it in the bottom of a baking pan. Then spread your chili on top and add cheese. You then add the other half of the corn bread batter and bake. It is really easy and is the perfect recipe to warm you up on a cool Halloween night.

Desserts. My favorite Halloween dessert is homemade doughnuts. You can make them using any regular bread dough. Once your bread dough has risen, roll it out and cut out your doughnuts. Then let the doughnuts raise one more time and they are ready to fry. I just fry them on the stove in a pan filled with oil, about 2 to 3 inches deep. Then I top them with powdered sugar or chocolate frosting.

Music. If you don't have a vast collection of Halloween music, don't worry. There are plenty of websites that offer free downloads for Halloween music you can use for your party. One great site is All About Halloween.

Games. There are lots of fun game ideas for your Halloween party. One great option is to do a murder mystery party game. You can find plenty of Halloween-themed versions. If you want something simpler, try board games like Clue or 1313 Dead End Drive.

Movies. If you want to throw a movie party for your Halloween celebration, there is definitely no shortage of Halloween movies. But if you're not into really scary movies, there are still plenty of options. My favorites are Clue, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Haunted Mansion, Murder by Death, and Vertigo.