How to do Halloween in a hurry
Published 11:22 pm Monday, October 26, 2009
Boo!
Yes, Halloween snuck up you again.
Fear not. There’s still plenty of time to celebrate in style.
Here’s how to have fun this weekend without investing much time or money.
Mr. Pumpkin Head
Skip the knife and the orange gloop this year and grab some Mr. Potato Head parts for an unusual and head-turning jack-o’-lantern without the, um, lantern.
Hasbro makes Halloween-themed kits (check party shops and grocery stores), but any potato-head parts will do. Hit the thrift stores to find inexpensive sets. Look for Darth Tater, Optimash Prime from “Transformers” and “Spider Spud.”
Select a pumpkin about 12 inches around. To punch the plastic parts in, make a hole with a sturdy ballpoint pen. Your pumpkin won’t be lit, but brighten the porch with strings of holiday lights.
Carve like a pro
If you plan to carve a pumpkin, visit www.spookmaster.com and www.bhg.com for free pattern stencils.
Or simply break out your electric drill and create a disco-ball pumpkin using different diameter drill bits to vary the hole sizes. See www.goodhousekeeping.com/halloween for more ideas, including a stack of sparkly pumpkin “trees.”
Terrifying textures 101
Kick it old-school: Let the kids rifle, blindfolded, through bowls of body parts.
Eyeballs: Fill a large bowl with peeled grapes slathered in cooking oil. Hide a marble in the mix and give anyone who finds it a prize. To make peeling the grapes a snap, simply put them in a colander and dunk in boiling water for 30 seconds or until their skins start to curl. Plunge in ice water and peel.
Brains: Prepare a box of elbow macaroni and mix it thoroughly with cooking oil. Peel string cheese into strands and make your subjects dig through the mess to find “spinal cord” pieces.
Cold, dead hands: Freeze water (use red or black food coloring for an extra creepy appearance) in several pairs of rubber gloves. Put a ring on one of the fingers and pile the hands in a bowl. Then have the blindfolded kids try to find the prize ring. When you’re done, peel the gloves off and float the ice hands in the punch bowl. Note: Do not use gloves that contain powder.
Costume crunch?
We found a bevy of embarrassingly bad pun costume ideas at www.halloween.com to make at home:
Runaway bride: Put on your old bridal gown and sneakers. If you can fit into your bridal gown, you’re lucky. Show off!
Spice rack: Wear extra-large bra over your clothes and stuff it with spices.
Mime: The only thing more hilarious than a mime is a bad mime, right? Wear black clothes and white face paint and irritate everyone at the party.
Baked potato: Wrap yourself in aluminum foil.
OctoMom: Strap eight baby dolls to your body and use lip liner and lipstick to give yourself extra-large lips. Note: This costume is most effective if attempted by a man.
“Where the Wild Things Are:” Don’t break the bank by purchasing Max’s wolf costume. Just add a pair of wolf ears to a gray hoodie and put a tail on the tush of gray sweat pants. Fuzzy slippers and crown complete Max’s look.
See www.instructables.com for a guide to sewing Max’s wolf hat or a “Wild Things” monster headpiece.
Swine flu: Dress as a pig — a simple pig nose will do — and hand out hand sanitizer bottles instead of sweets.
Balloon boy: Dress like a child. Tie a bundle of metallic silver balloons to your back and wear a nametag that says “Falcon.”
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com.
