Halloween Decorations from All You

Cut 2 holes into gourd for eyes; push mini gourds into holes. Cut another hole on bottom and fit pumpkin stem into hole. Glue on raffia for hair. Shape a mouth and buttons from pipe cleaners and glue on. Place hat on top.

If you have a bunch of mismatched pots, plates and bowls, spray-paint them black to create a unified display. Fill your kitchenware with appropriately sized pumpkins, grab some construction paper and Craft glue and you'll have a hauntingly-good display.

Carve jack-o'-lantern faces into peat pots, using an X-acto knife. Try a different face on each pot. Line pots up in a row. Place votives in glass holders inside pots and light candles.

Copy or scan and print family photos in black and white, then cut small fangs out of white card stock and attach them to the photos with a glue stick. Display pictures around the house to give guests an unexpected jolt.

Soak empty wine or liquor bottles in hot water to remove labels. Let dry. Make up mysterious names for your brews and write them on white adhesive labels, adding small drawings, like a skull and crossbones. Fill bottles with water, adding a few drops of food coloring to lend an eerie tint. Seal each with a cork.

Cut out leaf shapes. Place on plain side of patterned paper and trace; cut out. Punch hole in stem of each leaf. Cut a 3" length of yarn for each leaf. Thread yarn through hole. Cut a piece of yarn long enough to hang across mantel. Tie leaves to yarn.

Paint a group of pumpkins and a bunch of small branches black. Poke little holes in the sides of the pumpkins and insert the branches to make legs. Push in yellow map tacks for eyes and then glue on triangular pieces of white paper for fangs. Use pumpkins and gourds in different shapes and sizes, and surround them on table with bowls of candy.

Draw a ghost on white tissue paper and cut it out, using an X-acto knife for the face. Loosely tape to inside of jar.

Try a new angle by turning the pumpkin on its side and—voilà!—the stem serves as a funny nose.

Give guests goose bumps by adding an icy hand to the punch. Fill a kitchen glove with water and knot to secure. Freeze at least 6 hours, then carefully cut glove away from ice with small scissors. Just before serving punch, float hand in bowl.

Start with a twig wreath and spray-paint it black. Drape it with fake moss from a craft store. Glue on a large rubber spider. Finish the wreath by attaching smaller plastic spiders all over and dangling more of them from black thread.

Offer your friends fun and freaky predictions for the future. Write fortunes on 3" x 5" pieces of paper. Roll each piece of paper around silverware and tie with ribbon.

Use plastic fangs (available at party supply stores) as place card holders. Write guests' names in Gothic lettering.

This frightfully fun handbook has all of the crafts, parties, recipes, and costumes you need for a hauntingly-good Halloween.

Click to order: All You Frightfully Fun Halloween Handbook