It’s spooky season! Time to grab an expensive costume that’s cheaply made, wear it once and literally never again. Unless you’re going to some big party, Halloween just isn’t as fun as it used to be. Trick or treating isn’t even age appropriate anymore, although I’d love to get free candy. Last year I did a couples costume and it was fun… for the first 5 minutes until we were sweaty, tired and wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep. If you’re like me and you’re staying home, I have a few tricks that’ll make your Halloween a treat.
This year, Halloween falls on a Thursday. Some have class the next day, other don’t. I don’t have class on Friday, but my partner works, so it’s not like we can go out and party anyways. That doesn’t mean I have to sit grumpily on my couch and not do anything! The first thing you have to see is if you can have a friend over. Having someone come over dressed in their spookiest Halloween themed pajamas will make the night even better. After you’ve recruited your friend, make a list of some Halloween movies. My favorites are Halloween movies that aren’t scary, like the classic Hocus Pocus. ABC’s “Freeform” channel offers Halloween movies all month long, Netflix and Hulu are always great options or you can go for the good old DVD’s for that nostalgic feeling. RedBox is a great option for renting movies for a night, they’re very inexpensive and you don’t have to buy the movie you want to watch only to watch it a couple times and then have nowhere to store it. There’s usually a RedBox outside of a Walgreens, since you’re there, you can pick up some chocolate too!
You can have the movie marathon as background noise while you bake some Halloween treats! Walmart has a great selection of Halloween cupcake liners, cookies you can decorate and even Halloween themed gingerbread houses. The best part is that they’re all so cheap. You’ll have a great bonding activity and memories that’ll last you forever plus think of the fun Instagram pictures you can take.
If baking and a movie marathon don’t sound like fun, you could always try your hand at fx makeup or Halloween themed makeup. You can go as bloody, with some open wounds, or as pretty, like maybe a glittery mermaid, as you’d like. If you have a friend over, you can have a friendly competition to see who did the best makeup by putting pictures and a poll on social media or have a third party decide. There are many makeup tutorials on YouTube you can follow along, or create your own masterpiece. You can even give each other a few minutes and create fun last minute costumes out of things around the house and clothes in your closet for an added layer to this competition.
Carving a pumpkin is a great tradition, but they don’t last very long after being carved. Rotten pumpkins can be smelly, so maybe try painting them instead. You can get some acrylic paints at your local craft store, a couple paint brushes and get creative with them. You can even print out stencils used to carve and use them to paint something nice with them instead. It’s all up to you! You can add glitters and other textures for even more creativity.
In the end, whether you’re going out or staying home, I hope you have a wonderful and safe Halloween if you celebrate it, if not, enjoy the discounted candy on November 1st! If you had no plans, I hope this article gave you some ideas and inspiration on what to do that night. Remember to be ready if you get trick or treaters knocking on your door, have candy or goodie bags already set or you could ever add mini water bottles with their candy bars for hydration. Don’t forget the parents! They love candy too. Happy Halloween!