Halloween is right around the corner—as in, some of you may be having spooky parties tonight, others may be saving them for the day proper. If you’re stuck without a costume, spooky decorations, or any prep at all, these tips can help.


10. Pick the Perfect Last Minute Costume


If you’re still stuck without a costume for Halloween, it’s not too late to come up with something creative at best, and well, just punny and amusing at worst. Last minute costumes are often just the worst, but there are some good options out there, including some simple period costumes that are perfect for the occasion but don’t require sewing or anything.

Worst case, you can always take some inspiration from your fellow commenters, thanks to this thread of easy, DIY costumes perfect for starting, well, now.


9. Streamline Your Halloween Party Prep


While hosting the perfect get-together requires time and energy, if you’re expecting guests this weekend, it’s not too late for some decidedly spooky party ideas. We have a bunch of them outlined here, like some simple decorations like pumpkin paper lamps and quick-carving techniques.


If you want to take things up a notch, try these easy DIY bleeding candles, pumpkin spiders, and floating ice hands in your bowl of punch. You could also make some DIY tombstones in a few minutes to decorate your yard or even the inside of your home before your party. Oh, and if you’re not serving punch but beer (which itself is a time-saving method), turn one of those pumpkins into a drink cooler.


8. Carve Pumpkins in a Flash

Speaking of decorations and pumpkin carving, carving is one of the most fun part of the Halloween holiday, but if you’re crunched for time, don’t stress out. A cookie cutter or two—or even a quick trip to the dollar store to pick some up—does the trick pretty easily. For those pesky and tough pumpkins, you can even apply a little gentle force to make the cookie cutter approach work easier.


If you’d prefer to do it the old fashioned way, you don’t have to scrawl on the surface of a pumpkin and try to move a knife around sharpie lines. Print out some of these stencils to give yourself a head start, and then don’t forget our guide to preserving that pumpkin as long as possible.


7. Set Up a Quick and Dirty Door Camera to Surprise the Kids


Maybe you’re the guy in the neighborhood who loves to give the kids who come to the door a little fright—you have your yard all decked out with fog machines or dry ice, ghosts on wires, pumpkins that play spooky music when people get close, and stuff like that. Well, what better way to complete the whole affair than to know when the kids are coming?


There are a bunch of ways to do this, including slapping an old Android phone in a window (or an old iPhone for that matter) and using it as a remote monitor so you’ll be able to open the door creakily and blow fog out right as the kids come up the steps. Perfect, right? If an old phone won’t work, a webcam can work for the same thing. Either way, it’s all about getting the right effect.


6. Make Spooky Dishes In a Snap

In addition to some of the spooky entries we mentioned above, like those floating icy hands in the punchbowl or pumpkin dip bowls, you can also make your own candy, like this DIY candy corn recipe—and trust us, it’s way better than the stuff in the massive bag, although it’ll take more time to make than it would to run out and buy the bag.


Alternatively, maybe you’d like a green and red melon-y brain you can carve in minutes, or some quick homemade slime. Spooky glowing water, or maybe some broken bloody glass or bloody lollipops perhaps? Check out this rundown for 12 great suggestions.


5. Make Candy Apples You’ll Actually Want to Eat


In addition to simple party dishes you can make pretty quickly, maybe you’d like to reclaim one of the most quintessential Halloween treats: the candy apple. Too often the candy apple is a red delicious doused in a gross, oversweet corn syrup coating with some red dye in it. Well, no longer! Over at Skillet, our food and cooking blog, we have a complete guide to making candy apples great again. Read and heed for your own Halloween adventures.


4. Pair Your Candy with the Perfect Wine and Beer


Whether you’re having guests or just relaxing at home, you’ll probably have a lot of candy on-hand. Well, pair that candy with the best adult beverages you can get—and the ones that’ll taste the best with the treats you plan to eat!


We have recommendations for the best wines to pair with popular candy, and another guide that lists the best beers and spirits to pair with your Halloween bounty as well. Mix and match and have a great night.


3. Save Money on Candy, Costumes, and Decorations

One of the biggest time and money sinks on a holiday like Halloween, where atmosphere is so important, are the decorations and such. We mentioned some of them above when we talked about building a webcam to spook the littles, but if you want to save some dough and still get that spooky atmosphere, there are plenty of ways to do it.


A DIY fog machine doesn’t cost a lot of money and you can use it for more than just Halloween, and some free music and spooky sound resources can help you set the mood for your yard or your party. Even some eerie, flickering lights are a quick build that you still have time for.


2. Score Some Freebies of Your Own


While you’re spending time getting everything just right for your Halloween party, or to go out to someone else’s, or just to set the mood for the trick-or-treaters, don’t forget to reap the benefits of the holiday for yourself, too! There are plenty of freebies available on Halloween, including discounted snacks in both stores and fast casual restaurants like Chipotle and Sonic, although locations vary. The important thing is to keep an eye out for them!


1. Raid the Half-Off Shelves for More on November 1


Finally, perhaps the best Halloween hack of all is to hang tight until November 1 and then hit the grocery stores and convenience stores...where all of the leftover candy will have been marked half-off and moved to the discount aisles. If you gave away all of your candy the night before (or just ate it all), this is the Halloween treat that keeps on giving after the night is over—and a good time to grab some sweets to get you through to Thanksgiving.


Photoss by Scott McLeod , Seth Werkheiser , Meghan Splawn , depotdevoid , photogmateo , Adam Barhan , angela n. , and Robert Couse-Baker .

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