Candy Caramel Apples and Halloween Party Ideas

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Growing up, I loved to go to Halloween parties. My best friend and I often had Halloween-themed parties because our birthdays were the first week of November. Now I love throwing them for my kids and their cousins and friends (even though we don’t have any October birthdays) because there are so many great ideas for party games, decorations and candy during this spooky season! We had a party over the weekend and kept it simple but really fun. Here are some ideas for your next Halloween party!

I started by heading to the store to get some ideas. Isn’t it fun to browse the aisles during holidays? It’s one of my favorite places to get inspiration for projects and parties. I knew we would need something for lunch that all the kids would like, and of COURSE – a bunch of Halloween candy! The DiGiorno Original Rising Crust Pepperoni Pizza looked so delicious – this pregnant mama started getting hungry while shopping! It’s easy to grab in the freezer section at Walmart and pop in the oven at home for an easy party lunch.

For the candy-crazed kids I knew would be at the party, I picked up this huge bag of Nestle Wonka Mix-Ups that has some of my very favorite treats: Laffy Taffy, Sweet Tarts, Nerds and Bottlecaps (those totally take me back!) The bag is a great value and easy to grab in the candy aisle while doing your other party prep shopping.

HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS

It can be overwhelming when you’re at the store trying to plan your party with all the choices available.  I like to start with a color scheme, so I chose green, black and white (knowing I’d have some orange in there, too!) The backdrop for my party table is actually double-sided wrapping paper! It’s so inexpensive and could easily be saved for actual gift wrapping after the party. I always use disposable tablecloths for kids parties because it makes clean-up so easy. For the table I added a runner of that tattered-webbing fabric you can always find in the Halloween section for under $3. The rest of the decor was easy – I displayed the food!

I loved these gift bags and didn’t know at first what I was going to use them for, but I grabbed them anyway! Then I ended up grabbing more after I saw how cute they would be as placemats! I just cut the front and the back out, snipped off the handles and they turned out perfectly. I taped them down to the plastic tablecloth so they wouldn’t blow away outside. Gatorade bottles got a makeover with silver Duct Tape, Halloween washi and a cute striped straw. All of these were easy to find at Walmart!

My favorite piece of decor for the party was this Caramel Apple tower! I got the dessert stand (which I’ll use for tons of future parties) and filled it with everything we would use later to make delicious caramel apples! I love those little polka-dot treat cups – they can be used for so many things!

This jar of the candy I bought for the party really got the kids excited. I promised them we would be using it to play games and make a fun treat during the party!

FOOD

When the party guests arrived, our house smelled really good thanks to this delicious lunch that had just come out of the oven! My kids have always handed over their crust to me when eating pizza because they don’t like it, but this crust was seriously SO good! It was so soft and tasted like a yummy breadstick! To add a fun touch we served the DiGiorno pizza on a Halloween platter and I glued this black and white ribbon (it came off afterwards) ribbon to the server.

GAMES

After lunch, the kids were ready for some games! It was so nice to have my hubby run the games while I got the treats ready! First we did Pumpkin Bowling – using everyone’s saved bottles from lunch! Keeping the games simple is key with kids’ parties, and they loved this one.

Next we did a game I always played at parties as a kid – remember the clothespin/milk bottle game? This time we had the kids use the Sweet Tarts and Bottlecaps from the candy mix! They had to hold them on the end of their nose and try to drop them into the bottle.

Finally we ended with a quick and silly game I called, “Don’t Talk With Your Mouth Full.” Each child chose either a Laffy Taffy or box of Nerds and put the entire thing in their mouth. They we had them say phrases like, “Happy Halloween” and “Trick or Treat!” It got lots of laughs and definitely some great photos.

TREATS

All that hard work playing games left the kids ready for some treats! For this party we did a twist on the traditional caramel apples by adding funny faces made out of candy! We covered the table in candy and let them start scheming up what they wanted their funny faces to look like while I brought out the apples. Here’s how we put them together:

1) Wash and dry your apples (I purposely purchased the small size) really well so the caramel will stick.

2) Melt wrapped caramels according to package directions (or use your favorite recipe) and dip apples, covering as much as possible. To make it easy, I wrote each child’s name on the parchment paper so we knew whose was whose.

3) Use unwrapped candy to make faces! The Laffy Taffy was great for molding smiles, hair, and don’t you love those big pink ears? The kids blew me away with their creativity.

4) Have fun! Put your apple in the fridge for at least 30 min. to make it easier to cut and enjoy.

Finally, before everyone went home, I snapped a photo of each guest with their yummy creations! This little photo booth was so easy to do using more of the double-sided wrapping paper I picked up. I love those Nerds eyelashes she made!

I hope this gave you some ideas for your next Halloween party! I think the biggest thing is to go with the flow and have fun! The kids will enjoy it if you look like you’re having fun, too! Happy Halloween!