While Hurricane Sandy did prevent my office from having our Halloween party on Tuesday, October 30th, we really can’t complain – our families and friends were safe, and our homes, unlike many in New York and New Jersey, were left in one piece.

That said – I wasn’t about to not have our Halloween party. Especially after buying decorations and makins for delightful food.

Here are a few pics for some party creation inspiration.

Make cupcakes. I prefer mini. They are cute. Little. Fun to decorate. Plus, large cupcakes go to waste and are messy to eat. This is also a decoration, so dress em up. People aren’t crazy about dessert at parties – they want something sustainable (pizza) to go with their beverage (whiskey). So make this fun, but don’t stress out!

Buy a mini cupcake tin. They also work for mini quiches, mini whoopi pies, cookies, and something bacon-wrapped – I’ll leave that to you to decide.

Next. Decorate. Mentioned in a previous post, I bought everything I needed from Amazon. com and Party City. Again – look for coupons online! You don’t need fancy noise making monsters or large cemetery displays to make your decorations rad. What I bought –

a couple bags of cob webs – make sure to spread em out!

black fall leaves

table netted cloths – black, blood-stained, and creepy

Something to hang – I chose paper lanterns and cheesy bats

This year, I found plastic wall decorations of zombies and creepy frames-these were fun and spooky

crepe paper. duh.

For food – I bought pizza and beer. Alright. I also bought a load of things to make for appetizers. Buy some apples, cheese, cured meat, and some veggies…make your own display tray. Cheaper than buying one, and this way you can decide what to include. Make sure to have veggie and vegan friendly options. Surprisingly, there are some options in the freezer aisle – spring rolls, falafel balls. Chips and guac. (a classic) Also – artichoke dip. Everyone loves it. And I know  you do, too.

**  Note – Yes. I would normally cook more items to share. But given this was a work party, after work, after the storm… time is everything. Choose your battles.

Another note – Make your spread pretty. Use bowls and plates to display everything. Bags of chips makes me think frat party. Ok for a Netflix Breaking Bad marathon. Not ok for a work event. Additionally, I always save the catering trays that places like Au Bon Pain use when catering. We work with them a lot for big meetings – wash em, reuse em. Win.

Lastly. I created a photo booth for folks to take pics in their costumes. Set the scene, and create a frame out of decorations that will be a nice backdrop. Check out what I’ve done here. Super cheap. Definitely worth it. For the photo booth – set up your laptop (I’m a MAC user), and use the photo booth app. You can change the settings to snap four pics in a row – hilarious.

That’s it! Have fun – don’t give yourself a lot of work. Set things up in advanced, and enjoy the party!