Happy Halloween to you all! 

For some of you Halloween probably started this past weekend with various parties and Halloween fall festivals to attend. Over the past few days I have seen so many different costumes and Halloween decorations everywhere I have been. 

If you are celebrating tonight don’t forget to try one of these fun Halloween food ideas and if you still haven’t figured out what you are dressing up as you can choose a costume idea off of my list of 2012 costume ideas.

What are you doing for Halloween tonight? Happy Haunting!!

xoxo
Megan


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Tuesday Ten: Halloween Party Foods
Halloween Party Costume Contest
Tuesday Ten: Halloween Costume Ideas
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Last week I shared with you how to make a Halloween treat: nutter butter ghost cookies. While searching for an amazing Halloween food idea to share with you last week, I came across so many great Halloween food ideas. So for today I have put together 10 of my favorite Halloween themed party food ideas for you. Enjoy!

1. Ghost Drinks. Take the aquapod water bottles, remove the label, paint white and then add a ghost face. You could also paint them orange and turn them into a pumpkin. Idea from Kara's Party Ideas.
2. Cheeseburger Jack-o-Lanterns. Turn your burgers into Halloween jack-o-lanterns by cutting out a pumpkin face from the cheese. Idea from Red Ted's Art Blog.
3. Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats. This easy to make treat looks like the seasonal favorite, but turned into the kid favorite rice krispie treat. Idea from Martha Stewart Living.
4. Monster Pudding Cups. Take the traditional pudding recipe, add a little green coloring, top with oreo crumbles and draw a monster face on the cup. A perfect traditional dessert guests of all ages will love! Idea from A Turtle's Life for Me.
5. Chocolate Dipped Boo-Berries. Turn strawberries into white chocolate dipped ghosts for a Halloween party treat. Idea from Taste of Home.
6. Monster Jaws. Decorate apple slices with monster faces for a healthy Halloween treat. Idea from Our Best Bites.
7. Spider Web Snacks. With some melted white chocolate wafers turn pretzels into some creepy spider web treats. Idea from Mom Endeavors.
8. Gummy Worm Ice Cubes. Turn any drink into a spooky one with gummy worm ice cubes. Idea from Martha Stewart Living.
9. Mummy Dogs. Turn your traditional pigs in a blanket into Mummy Dogs which both kids and adults will love. Serve with a ketchup "blood" dip. Idea from Our Best Bites.
10. Vampire Gingerbread Men. This was one of my favorites as I have grown up with my grandmother always making gingerbread men for holiday treats. Now they can also be made for Halloween by turning them into vampires! 
What is your favorite Halloween themed party treat? Don't forget you can follow me on Pinterest @PreppyPlanner to find these and more great event planning ideas!

xoxo
Megan


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I hope everyone's weekend went well. I hope everyone that is being hit/going to be hit by Sandy aka Frankenstorm (those weather people think they are so funny with their Halloween play on words) is all prepared and safe. Today's site from my window isn't too happy to look at with all this gloom and rainy weather. Hopefully it will pass by soon and with no power outages. (fingers crossed!!)
I had a much better weekend before all this weather came through. On Friday night I headed up to JMU for a great fundraising event that is hosted by the JMU Duke Club; The Duke Club Scholarship Auction. This yearly event is their biggest fundraiser for student-athlete scholarships. They organize a silent and live auction with over 200 items for the guests to bid on. I have always enjoyed this event as it is a great social gathering each year at JMU. 
When it comes to planning an auction fundraiser there are a few important things to remember:

1. Have a diverse selection of items. Your goal is to have at least 1 item that will appeal to each person walking through your doors that evening. 
2. Have original items. Find items to auction off that your guests will not be able to purchase anywhere they want to. The more original the item the more appealing it will be to your guests and the more money you will be able to get.
3. Add descriptions. People will not bid on an item that they do not know about. A great way to inform your guests on the item displayed is to include a description with the item. A fun new "modern" way to do this is to attache a QR code to your items that your guests can then scan and learn more about through their phone. Just make sure to advertise this before hand to your attendees so that they come prepared.
4. Stagger ending times. When you have an auction with a large number of items it is a good idea to have staggering end times for bidding. Your goal is that you want to allow everyone an opportunity to be able to walk away with an item at the end of the evening. If you have all your auction items ending at the same time it will become very chaotic with people trying to bid on multiple items and it is very hard to keep track of everything. Staggering your ending times allows people who did not win anything from the first group of items to bid on something else.
5. Have fun! Remember that this is a fundraising event for a good cause. Even if you end up paying a little more than what the item cost just remember that your money is going towards a good cause.

Have you been to a fundraising auction before or planned one? What are some tips that you have for those attending and for those that are planning one? Share your tips below! And for those on the east coast today: stay safe!!

xoxo
Megan
 
It’s finally Friday!!! I thought a fun way to celebrate the end of the week would be with a fun Halloween themed treat; Nutter Butter ghost cookies.

To make these ghost cookies you will need:
     -  Nutter Butter Cookies
     -  White Chocolate Wafers
     -  Mini Chocolate Chips
     -  Chocolate Frosting
     -  Cookie Sheet
     -  Pot or Glass Bowl to Melt Chocolate
     -  Wax Paper
     -  Piping Bag
     -  Optional: Lollipop Sticks

Step 1: Melt the white chocolate wafers per their melting instructions. I have always melted my wafers in the microwave in a glass container. You just have to be careful that you don’t overcook the chocolate by zapping it in 60 second increments and stirring regularly.

Step 2: **If you want to have your ghost cookies on lollipop sticks you will want to insert the candy stick into the cookie before dipping it in the white chocolate.**

Step 3: Once the chocolate has melted dip each nutter butter to have it be fully covered. Lay them onto a sheet of wax paper to cool.

Step 4: While the white chocolate is still warm take two mini chocolate chips and create your ghost’s eyes and use the chocolate frosting to pipe on a mouth.

Step 5: Let your ghost completely cool before serving. If you are in a rush you can stick your ghost cookies into the fridge.

Enjoy!! What is your favorite cookie treat? Have a great weekend!!

xoxo
Megan


You might also enjoy…
Halloween Party Costume Contest
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With Halloween just 6 days away I hope you have already picked out your costume. Still need some help? You can check out my post of some great Halloween Costume Ideas. One of the fun things about a Halloween party, whether you are hosting or attending a party, is the Halloween costume contest.

When hosting a Halloween costume contest you just need a few things to make the contest a success.
     -  Entry Sheets
     -  Ballot Box
     -  Awards

It is always nice to let all your guests know to come dressed for the occasion and that you have fun prizes for the winners. If you really want to be proactive you can let your guests know the categories that will be judged.

Once guests arrive make sure to have ballots available where everyone will be able to find them at your party. You can even coordinate your ballots to the holiday by staining them and making them look old like these by Very Vegan Holiday.

Near the end of the evening tally up your ballots and announce the winners. You can present the winners with ribbons, trophies, or some Halloween themed goodie bag. The DIY skeleton award below was made by blog owner Mizerella and she provides a great step-by-step tutorial on how you can make them for your Halloween party.
What is the most creative/original costume you have ever seen at a Halloween party before?

xoxo
Megan


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I have seen some very out-of-the box wedding themes before, but when it comes to taking a holiday like Halloween and creating your wedding around that you might just get the award for most spook-tacular wedding event. For those that are true Halloween fanatics this is the perfect time of year to hold your wedding. Just beware, some of these Halloween ideas might have your guests turn into creatures for this All Hallows Eve event.
What kind of theme did you or would you have at your wedding? Only 1 more week until Halloween!!!

xoxo
Megan
 
With Halloween just over a week away the costume craze is in full swing. Whether you are hosting a Halloween party, dressing up for a day at the office or going to a hosted Halloween night event I have always found it so hard to choose what to dress up as. For those that are having trouble figuring out what to be for Halloween this year (this includes me!) I have put together 10 great costume ideas so that you can just worry about what Halloween treats to serve instead.

Here is my list of 10 great Halloween costume ideas for 2012:

1. NFL Replacement Ref. Wear a stripped jersey and carry around a whistle while making absurd calls all evening long.
2. Fifty Shades of Grey. Taking the book and spinning the name a little can give you a great costume idea like this DIY from a Lauren Conrad fan Kaycee.
3. Honey Boo Boo. Thank you TLC for giving us the newest craze in America: Honey Boo Boo.
4. Disney Characters. You can’t go wrong with the classics like the Minnie costume or any other Disney character.
5. Hunger Games. Since the first Hunger Games movie, dressing up as Katniss Everdeen is both a great Halloween costume ideas as well as fashionably in style for after the holiday.
6. Election Candidates. With the election just around the corner you can always find a candidate mask to make your outfit complete.
7. Rock, Paper, Scissors. This is always a great DIY option for a group of friends.
8. Dr. Seuss’ Things. No matter how many you have in your group this can be a great costume idea for both guys and girls who don’t want to spend too much money. These girls made Thing dresses which are too cute!
9. Spice Girls. With the reunited Spice Girls performance at the 2012 London Olympics you can dress up as the original or modern day group members. 
10. Gangnam. As the latest dance party crazy you can’t go wrong dressing up as the man that started it all, but just be warned you better know the dance!
There are so many great options for Halloween this year! What are you planning on dressing us as for Halloween this year?

xoxo
Megan
 
Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. This past weekend I headed back to Richmond for my brother’s senior night and was able to see him perform. He plays on the drum line at his high school and this was the first time I was able to see him perform this year.
Last week I talked about different events that you can take part in or organize in honor of October’s National Breast Cancer Awareness month. It just so happened that my brother’s school also planned this past weekend’s game as their pink out game. The event organizers coordinated with the visiting school to have both teams participate in Pinking Out. One of their biggest fundraisers was making shirts for both of the schools to wear. The band and football teams also had a variety of pink items that showed their support of the cause.
The drum line was able to pink out a little extra with their shiny pink drum covers during their 4th quarter performance. 

Have you attended a Pink Out game or event this month? Don’t forget you can keep up with The Preppy Planner by signing up for email notifications on my website here. Have a Preppy Pink Out Day!!

xoxo
Megan

 
Happy Friday! I hope you enjoyed the Harry Potter party theme ideas from yesterday. I keep finding more great Harry ideas and it is just so hard to choose a few so the post isn’t a mile long. For today I have found a great DIY Harry Potter treat that you can have for all your guests. I found these great Quidditch broom treat bags done by Jennifer Sbranti. They are easy to make and allow you to put whatever Potter treats inside for your guests to take with them back to the Muggle world. 

To make a Quidditch treat bag you will need:
     - 2 lunch-sized paper bags
     - scissors
     - gold ribbon
     - wizard treats (candy)

Step 1: Trim two inches off the top of the paper bags.

Step 2: Open the first bag, push out the base until it forms a squared-off triangle shape and fold in the left and right sides to flatten it out. 

Step 3: Starting from the top, cut the flattened bag into thin strips, stopping short of the base (just above bottom crease).

Step 4: Cut just the top of the second bag into thin strips, approximately 1.5 inches long. 

Step 5: Fill this bag with your wizard treats and place it inside the first bag.

Step 6:
gather the sides of both the bags, insert a pretzel rod, and tie the top shut with a gold ribbon.

This Harry Potter treat is really easy and guests of all ages will love it! You can be as creative as you want with your wizard treats and can always go back to the Harry Potter classics of Bertie Botts’s Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Cauldrons, Exploding Bon Bons, Sugar Quill Lollipops, and Chocolate Frogs. What is your favorite Harry Potter treat?

xoxo
Megan 

 
I have been waiting for today’s post for quite a while. A few months ago I found some amazing harry Potter themed party ideas but sadly had to hold onto them until closer to Halloween. Being the Harry Potter fan that I am, I could not wait to share some of the amazing idea that I found. So now, for all those Potter fans out there I have some great ideas for you on how to put together a great Harry Potter Halloween themed party.

To officially be a Harry Potter party a great way to start is with the decorations. At the doorway you can create the Platform 9 ¾ that transports your guests in the world of Harry Potter. Upon entering you can string floating battery operated candles from your ceiling with fishing wire and setup a Quidditch court in the front or backyard.  
Platform 9 ¾ and Quiddith field from Martha Shmartha and Floating Candles decoration from Spaghetti Arms.

Once your guests have arrived at Hogwarts it is off to the sorting ceremony. Have a sorting hat with slips of paper inside for your guests to choose their house. At the sorting hat you can place school colored ties, scarves, buttons, wands and capes for your newly sorted students.
When it comes to the food there are so many options. Since the books have come to life you don’t just have to imagine the food that J.K.Rolling described in her books they have now come to life. There has even been a Harry Potter cookbook published that you can get ideas from. However, I have found some of my favorites. 
From left to right: Harry Potter cookies by Kooking in Kate’s Kitchen, The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, Golden Snitch cake pops by Spaghetti Arms 

And of course there are the countless number of officially Harry Potter items that you can buy for your party like the every flavor jelly beans, chocolate frogs, official movie posters and table décor. For any Harry Potter fan the more “magical” you are able to make the party the better. What is your favorite party of the Harry Potter story that you would include at your party?

xoxo
Megan