Halloween decorations can be expensive and difficult to set up, so here’s an idea that’s cheap, cool, and very easy to set up. Save toilet paper rolls and goes to the dollar store to buy glowsticks. Cut eyes out of the toilet paper rolls and stick the broken glow sticks into the rolls and stick them into bushes or trees. The effect is cool and very, very cheap.

The best costumes are always very expensive and often do not have all the pieces needed so this year try going as a zombie. Zombies are very popular right now and you can use old clothes that you never wear anymore.

If you do not want to buy and spread fake blood on your clothing there is a simple method that you can use to create your own fake blood with supplies around your house. So what you are going to need is a pot, 1 cup of water, 1 tablespoon of flour, and a couple packs of kool-aid. Black cherry for creating a dry blood look and fruit punch for a lighter colored “fresh” blood look. Mix the water and the kool-aid together and bring to a boil. Slowly mix in the flour, adding more flour for a thicker “old” blood liquid. Let the mixture cool and then you are ready to spread your clothes with your own homemade blood. You will not even gross out your friends because you will not smell like you are rotting, instead you will smell like fruit!

Do your neighbours say you are too old to trick or treat? After Halloween there is always plenty of leftover candy at the stores that they sell for more than half off, all you have to do is wait until the morning of November 1st, that is if your trick-or-treating did not go as well as planned. You can get those huge bags of candy for less than what your neighbours paid. Many adults now frown upon teenagers standing at their doors on Halloween night because they’re too old to be trick-or-treating.

Here is another idea: if you have younger siblings make a deal with your parents. Tell your parents that if they buy you some candy of your own, you will take your sibling around the neighbourhood trick-or-treating. With either method you get candy and get to dress up, right?

Halloween in Colorado is always cold so before you go out to trick-or-treat with friends or siblings warm your bellies with this delicious Halloween treat, Pumpkin soup. Here is what is needed: three to four cups of mashed, cooked pumpkin (canned works), one tablespoon of minced garlic, one large sweet onion, six large carrots (either finely chopped or grated), three tablespoons of butter or margarine, one half teaspoon of salt and a pinch of pepper, one pint of half-and-half cream, two teaspoons of thyme, four tablespoons of chopped parsley, and two stalks of celery.

After all of your ingredients are gathered follow these steps: Step one: chop the onion and the celery. Step two: Sauté the onion and celery. Sautéing is using butter in a skillet to cook the onion and celery. Step three: add the rest of the ingredients (cooked pumpkin, garlic, carrots, salt and pepper, half-and-half, thyme, and parsley) cover and simmer for ten minutes, occasionally stirring.