House Haunting: Decorate Your Home for a Halloween Party

Ceiling Spider

What you'll need: Hot glue, black Fun Fringe (plumparty.com), large and small black paper lanterns, monofilament, white painter's tape, white and black sticky-back felt, scissors.

Make it: Hot-glue eight lengths of black Fun Fringe, four on each side, evenly spaced, to large black paper lantern. Use monofilament and white painter's tape to suspend small lantern to the ceiling in front of large lantern and to create the bends in the spider's legs. Cut two large white ovals and two small black ovals from sticky-back felt; adhere to small lantern as eyes.

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Slime Punch

This kiddie cocktail will be the hit of the party.

• Get the recipe for Slime Punch

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Creepy Finger Food

Form cinnamon-bread sticks into eerie hands.

• Get the recipe for Creepy Finger Food

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Boo-ffet table

Decorate the sweet spread with a black-and-orange paper banner; stick Con-Tact paper letters on the wall.

Spooky Snack: Drop candy eyeballs into a party mix for a scary treat.

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Franken-Faces

Mini monster cakes are super easy to make.

• Get the recipe for Franken-Faces

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Ghost Pops

These classic Halloween treats never go out of style.

What you'll need: White chenille stems, tissues, round lollipops, 1/8-inch ribbon, 7mm googly eyes, black fine-tip marker, glue, scissors.

Make it: Cut chenille stems into thirds and set aside. Gather one or two tissues around the lollipop and secure by twisting a chenille stem piece around the lollipop stick. Cover chenille stem with a piece of 1/8-inch ribbon and knot. Glue on two googly eyes and draw mouth with black marker.

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Place Your Bats

Enlarge a creepy photograph to give these cookies a spot to perch.

• Get the recipe for Place Your Bats

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Reflect on It

Cling-vinyl ghosts stick to an entryway mirror easily. Tack plastic spiders to a lampshade with adhesive putty.

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Fright Light

Wrap the inside of glass vases with colored vellum and attach cling-vinyl faces to the outside. For safety, replace candles with glow sticks.

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Step Aside

Use men's dress shoes as a template for Con-Tact paper decorations.

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Pumpkin Hatch

Fill egg-carton cups with candy and wrap with orange streamers for a sweet party favor.

What you'll need: Styrofoam or cardboard egg cartons, scissors, tape, double-sided tape, glue, orange crepe paper, green chenille stems, black Con-Tact paper, nail or pen.

Make it: Cut out individual compartments from an egg carton and trim neatly. Fill with candy, then place another inverted compartment on top and tape closed. Attach one end of the crepe-paper streamer to top with double-sided tape and wrap, top to bottom, around egg carton until it's covered with a ribbed design. Secure the loose end of the streamer to the bottom with glue and let dry. Cut a small piece, about 3/8 inch, from chenille stem to make a stem. Use a nail to poke a hole in top of pumpkin and tuck stem inside. Cut eyes, nose, and mouth from black Con-Tact paper and attach to each pumpkin.

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Free Spirit

This friendly ghost is made from stuff found around the house: a hat stand, yardstick, bike helmet, and white sheets.

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Eye See You

Make this easy wreath from a feather boa and googly eyes.

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Who's Your Mummy?

Have your little guests race to see who can wrap their friends in toilet paper the fastest.

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Spooky Specimens

Fill jars with Spanish moss, fangs, eyeballs, and skeleton bones.

Originally published in the October 2008 issue of Parents magazine.

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