Fun, Affordable Halloween Enhancers
They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky.
No, not "The Addams Family."
Offerings for a fun and affordable Halloween!
On "The Early Show" Friday, Chassie Post, lifestyle editor for The Gilt Groupe, spotlighted some gloriously ghoulish ideas for your Halloween celebration - and almost all the spooky products she showed cost less than $50.
FINGER INVIATION KITS
This is actually one of my favorite invites that we found this year for Halloween and of course it's from one of our favorite people, Martha Stewart. They are SUPER simple. All you need to do is assemble the box, tie the reminder ribbon around the "finger," complete and attach the card, and mail, and they are appropriately named "Don't Forget." Can you imagine the frightful expression on your guests' faces when they open this seemingly ordinary box and discover a severed finger?! We found them at Michaels. Since they come in kits, they're really for your kids to help you assemble these.
"Don't Forget" Finger Invitation Kit by Martha Stewart Crafts, $12.99, Available at Michaels. 1-800 MICHAELS or www.michaels.com
FOR PARTY DECOR, CREATE A SPOOKY AMBIENCE WITH A VARIETY OF SKULL CANDLES
SKULL CANDLES, MINI SKULL CANDLES, SPIDER TEA LIGHT HOLDERS
Believe it or not, skulls aren't just for Halloween. They have been a HUGE trend in fashion and home décor! So this is really cutting edge candle and would work year round. These candles ($18-45) shaped like skulls come in 3 different sizes and in gold, silver & black and you can burn it "down to the bone" as I like to say. What's incredible about these candle is that it burns evenly down the middle; and you can use later as votive holder. If you're not looking for a huge skull, you have the nice option of mini skull candles. You can not only use this as a candle but works really well as an object to decorate your coffee table or mantel or bookshelf. This is a trend I have adopted as well, my silver skull sits a top a stack of books on my coffee table. If skulls aren't your thing, the spider votives are a great way to go, the kids will love them.
Available at Gilt.com: Skull Candles, GILT.com, $18 - $45// Mini Skull Candles, GILT.com, $30 (set of 5)// Spider Tea Light Holders, GILT.com, $20 (set of 2)
Elegant skulls hold your guest's place card in their teeth. This brass skull is unusual, gothic and is a total classic and really set the tone for the meal. But hey if your not having a sit down dinner why not use it to entertain your guests? Test how well your friends know scary movies by creating your own Movie Trivia games about monsters / villains or scary movie facts or even a fun scavenger hunt/clue game with your kids. And here's an added bonus, use it as a paper weight after Halloween
$18 by DL&Co available at gilt.com or http://www.dlcompany.com
BEVERAGES
These are great to work with your existing bar and the labels add the perfect spooky touch to enliven adult spirits and kids' beverages. Just peel and stick! Set of 24 labels includes such rare vintages as "Doctor Rotgut's Famous Embalming Juice", "Ghoul-Ail Ecotplasmic Extract", and many other tasty titles.
These start at $12 at www.grandinroad.com
BONE CHILLER ICE CUBE TRAYS
Chassie: Your ice should chill not only your drink but your bones. This really fun ice tray that forms your cubes in the shape of skulls and cross bones. The kids will love the spooky shapes and its only $10 for a set of 2.
Available at Zgallerie.com $9.95 for a set of 2
SPOOKY COCKTAIL IDEAS
Here's our first martini idea...ready for some awesome gruesomeness? The eyeball martini is the way to go. Peel a radish and insert a green olive into a martini drink - and you've got a drink that looks like it has an eyeball in it! Here's our next martini idea, the Skelletini. What you can do is buy this cocktail shaker that has etched cocktail recipes -- Like the Skelletini - that we have here in this totally chic black martini class.
Halloween Etched Recipe Cocktail Shaker, Potterybarn.com, $15 & Black Martini Glasses, Gotmartini.com, $24 (set of 2)
D-I-Y PUMPKIN BEVERAGE TUB
This is super-easy, super-fun & the best part...it's super-affordable. The little one's LOVE THIS and this makes for a family fun project. It's a clever way to serve up beverages - create your own beverage tub made from a pumpkin. Simply hollow out a large pumpkin, then fill with ice and drinks.
FESTIVE TREATS
Halloween is all about the treats these are some fun treats that are entertaining that the treats will go bananas for. In lieu of candy, these baked goods are a fun festive way to go. These ghouls and goblin cookies are bound to make it the happiest Halloween ever. The 19 hand-iced sugar cookies cost $45.50
Elenis.com $24-45
CRYING CANDLE
This is an incredible, its definitely a splurge but its really beautiful! This Candle cries wax tears when you light it. This is truly art - It's a wax sculpture created by a Dallas based artisan George Sellers (a classically trained sculptor) and DL & Co's founder Douglas Little. Its a limited collection.
Gilt.com $250
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"Early Show" viewers: click here to go to a special area of The Gilt Groupe website