DIY Guide: Host the Best Backyard Halloween Bash

As the spooky season begins, it’s time to plan the ultimate Halloween celebration. With our comprehensive DIY planning guide – including food, decor and entertainment –your Halloween party will become the most spook-tacular of the season.

#1 – Eerie Lighting

Grab your broomsticks and fake skeletons, because setting the perfect ambience is key.

• Haunted Lake: Set up lit jack-o-lanterns on the ground around your above ground pool. Then place a party store skeleton on a swim tube in the water as a hilariously macabre addition.
• Jack-O-Lantern Jars: Paste empty glass jars with orange crepe paper or paint with orange paint – then draw jack-o'-lantern faces with a black marker
• Ghost Pathway Markers: Draw ghost faces on white paper bags, add some sand to the bottom to secure them, and place a battery-operated LED candle inside

Image sources: Pinterest & Fireflies & Mudpies

#2 – Bone-Chilling Decor

For scary decor, DIY is the way to go if you’re looking for a unique way to create that haunted house vibe.

• Creepy Cobwebs: Shred old white lace fabric or netting to lay over your furniture
• Spooky Sign: Cut up cardboard into rectangles and stick them to your door like it’s boarded up with wood. Write “Keep Out” in spooky black letters
• Balloon Ghosts: Draw ghost faces on white balloons with a black marker and tape strips of white crepe paper to the bottoms. Then hang your ghosts around the house

Image sources: Décor Hint, Crafts By Amanda, Homecrux & Girl and a Glue Gun

#3 – Freaky Food

While candy, candy and more candy are a must-have at any Halloween bash, a variety of snacks will keep tricksters fully satisfied. Instead of splurging on fancy ingredients and following intricate 20-step recipes, just add these simple ghoulish touches on easy-to-make treats. This way you can save time and effort, so you can enjoy the party just as much as the guests.

• Cursed Cupcakes: Mix green, red and blue food coloring together to make icing black or use black food dye gel. With black icing, cupcakes or cookies go from cute to awesomely creepy.
• Scary Jelly: Prepare red or green jelly cups with gummy worms inside or poking out the top for a monster-approved snack.
• Witch Brooms: Make “witch brooms” by sticking pretzel sticks into the bottom of upside-down Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
• Spider Pizza Bites: Cook mini pizzas and arrange cut-up black olives into spider shapes. You can even get the guests to assemble the spiders themselves.

Image sources: Dessarts, Modern Mom Life & Recipe Runner

#4 – Globs of Games

No Halloween party is complete without games. These activities are versatile and can be tailored to suit to all ages and party sizes – so keep them in mind for future spooky bashes.

Bobbing for Apples

A true Halloween classic, bobbing for apples guarantees belly laughs and shrieking delight.

What You’ll Need:

• Wide, shallow buckets or small inflatable pools
• For sanitary purposes, you might want to use individual containers for each child to bob from
• Enough apples for your guests to have three each

How to Play:

1. Fill your chosen buckets or inflatable pools with water until half-full.
2. Put the apples into the water
3. Each child bobs for apples only using their teeth, with hands behind their backs.
4. The child with the most apples caught wins!

Safety note: An adult must always be present to supervise any child or children around water.

Image sources: Games and Celebrations, Fun365 & Teaching Expertise

Mummy Wrap Relay

With just two items needed for this fast-paced game, it’s an entertaining and hassle-free way to shake off that sugar high! Mummy Wrap Relay is ideal for teams of 2 or 4 players to play against each other.

What You’ll Need:

• 10 pack of toilet paper
• 1 timer

How to Play:

1. A player from each team is chosen to be the “mummy.”
2. Give the remaining players a toilet paper roll each.
3. Set the timer for 2 minutes.
4. The teams have to wrap their mummy in toilet paper as much as possible before the 2 minutes are up.
5. The team with the most wrapped up mummy by the end wins.

Witch Hat Toss

A good old ring toss game makes for perfect party fun. For the Witch Hat Toss, make sure your rings are wide enough to go around the hats. You can also use glow rings for a glow-in-the-dark version!

What You’ll Need:

• 3 witches’ costume hats (adult-sized)
• Old newspaper
• Double-sided tape
• Toss rings

How to Play:

1. Pack the pieces of crumpled up newspaper into the hats so that they keep their shape.
2. Place the hats in a triangle shape on the floor, evenly spaced from one another.
3. Use the double-sided tape to secure the hat brims to the floor.
4. Hand out the toss rings and get playing!

Now that the planning is done and dusted – all that’s left to do is embrace the Halloween spirit by dressing up in a creep-tastic costume and stocking up on candy for the neighborhood ghouls and goblins. Let this hosting checklist take the stress out of party planning so that you can enjoy a wickedly fun time.