SERVING UP SOME HALLOWEEN FUN!

There are so many darling, spooky and fun ways to serve your food at your Halloween parties.

This spider has to be one of the cutest spiders I've ever seen. This would be perfect if your decorating theme was on the cute side or for a child. As hard as you try, I don't think you could make this sweet face look scary though.



The silver skulls are pretty popular these days. They are great for a little glam look while still having a touch of that creepy feel to it.

Good for Pirate theme parties too.



This would be great with a cake in it or setting out on your buffet table with a big skull or a rat inside and used just as a decoration.



I showed this one before. I still think it would be an easy DIY project.

Boo! Did this ghost scare you? OK, well not all ghosts are scary. But, I bet he made you smile a little bit.



This year I'm going to be doing an orange and black theme and thought these would great for my party.

They would be great with about any theme really. I can see them being used for a witch party, spider party, vintage theme party and so on.



It's not often you find a great looking chip and dip set like this one!

This is one of my favorite serving dishes I've seen for Halloween. I love it.

Perfect for that Spider theme party you may be having. Also great for a black and white theme party or haunted house.

Another great witch theme serving piece.

This one is great for all sorts of themes and items. It can be used to serve cupcakes, finger food or even to use as a display area for cute Halloween decorations.

There are so many great things out there. Each year I promise I'm not going to be buy one more Halloween thing. After all, I have enough stuff to open up my own store. However, when I come across things like these serving pieces, well, I just want to go nuts and buy all of them.

TRICK OR TREATING WHEN I WAS A KID

Looking back to when I was a kid and went Trick or Treating, I can really see a big change in the type of candy we had and the type of candy the kids today have.

We had some pretty bad stuff back then. Things like wax lips and wax bottles filled with this awful liquid inside. Gum that looked like yellow rocks, I mean gold. The outside was hard and almost broke your teeth. The gum was so old it would kind of fall apart in your mouth and then once you chewed it enough then it would come together and become gum.

Oh yes, let's not forget the wonderful candy cigarettes. Guess they figured they would try to hook kids while they were young.



Today kids go Trick or Treating and they come home with great stuff. Candy that kids and adults like. Lots of chocolate!

We didn't get much chocolate in our Trick or Treat bags. If we did, they were little tiny bars but, highly treasured!

Some houses would make up popcorn balls. What was up with that? Didn't they know Trick or Treating was all about CANDY and not popcorn. Plus, we couldn't eat it because LSD was everywhere and people would put it in popcorn balls along with razors in the apples. At least that is what we were told at school and by our parents.

Getting a popcorn ball made you feel like Charlie Brown. Only it wasn't a rock, it was a LSD Popcorn ball.



Suckers were a big thing back then. Every kid would go home with lots and lots of suckers.

The houses that were big spenders would sometimes give you those gross wax lips.

Even though they taste bad, we loved them. We would wear them and no matter how many times we were seen in them, we would always get a laugh. Or, at least a chuckle.



While suckers weren't thought of as any special treat, Dum Dums were a step up. At least they came in fun flavors.

All kids love Necco Wafers.

Have you had one lately? I think they must be for kids only because as an adult I think they taste like chalk! YUCK.

The peanut butter bars were pretty popular too. I never liked them. I still don't much care for candy made with peanut butter. I love peanut butter but not when it is used to make something sweet. I know, I'm strange.

Many families would buy wrapped candy by the pound at the grocery store. Caramels were almost guarenteed to be found in the Trick or Treat bags of days gone by.

I remember getting things like these strawberry filled candies. I used to think these were more for adults then kids. You would unwrap them and they didn't look anything like a real strawberry. In fact, I don't think they really taste like strawberry either.

Come on people, these candies belonged in the bottom of mom's purses. She could drag them out when you were in church to keep the kids quiet.

Oh, Bit O Honey candy was something that always made my heart skip a little beat.

While most houses would give you a few pieces of candy, some would only give you one. That's right! Only one little piece of candy.

Some houses would use these cute little bags and you didn't know what you got until you were home.

I remember one year, my mom allowed me to get some of these cute bags and I spent the night before Halloween putting the candy in them and folding them up.

I loved doing that. I still love putting little candies and things in cute bags to present them. After all, it's all in the presentation!

Batman was BIG when I was growing up. Not the Batmans of today. They are fake! FAKE I tell you. I'm talking about the REAL Batman. You know, Adam West.

So, the only time it was OK to break the rules and not give out candy for Halloween, was if you were giving out Batman cards!

Then there were the single men, young people who were living out for the first time and those that gave out good candy and so the kids would keep coming back and they would run out of candy.

Those people would hand out pennies.

Not many, just a few. You never knew what you really got until you got home because they would fall to the bottom of the candy.

Yes, kids Trick or Treating today have it better with all the great candy they get these days. Snickers, M&M's, Mars bars and so on.

But, we had one thing on the kids today...

Volume!

We used pillow cases to Trick or Treat with. We would go out for hours and hours because back then, you didn't have parents go with you unless you were really little. There was no one to get tired or tell you that you had enough candy.

We would go with a group of friends and hit up the houses until we couldn't carry any more candy. We would come home with a full pillow case load with sugar goodness.

Once home, we would spend more time sorting it all out.

The throw aways. Which of course was the popcorn balls, apples, unwrapped candy and so on.

Then there was the not so good candy. You would toss in your own Trick or Treat bowl for the older kids who got to stay out late. After all, it wasn't fair they got to stay out late. So, they should get the cheep candy. Teach them for being older.

There was also a stack of candy you were willing to share with mom and dad and the others who didn't go Trick or Treating.

But, the real good kind always ended up in the Don't Touch stack. This was the candy that you would get punched if you touched. Stay away from this candy.

Living in a family of seven it really was impossible to know who ate what candy. I'm sure we all took a few from each others bags. But, no one was brave enough to do it in front of you. At least I don't remember any doing it.

However, I was the youngest and had to go to bed first so who knows. Maybe I should go punch my siblings now because thinking about it, I know they ate out of my Don't touch stack.

NOT YOUR MAMA'S HALLOWEEN SHOP

This shop is off the beaten path in Costa Mesa CA. The name of it is Paris Underground. It's in back of a darling shop called Paris to the Moon. I'll show you that cute place later.

You can tell by the front door that this isn't your everyday typical Halloween store.

The whole place is NOTHING but Halloween decor right now. Though they do change it at other times of the years.

Every space is full of great items. I loved this display as this year I'm decorating with a black and white theme for Halloween.

This guy just made me smile.

You can even gaze into this crystal ball and see what your future holds in store for you. Or you can learn how to read palms.

This area is like a big science lab. Creepy eye balls and body parts can be bought.

I fell in love with this little book but I was good and didn't buy it.

I bet the owner of this shop has the best Halloween parties! Look at all the things he could use. Yes, it's a man who owns this shop and also the Paris to the Moon.

If you don't want to learn to tell fortunes then you can buy this vintage type machine to do it for you. But, I hope you have a lot of money to buy it or it isn't going anywhere.

How about a sparkly skull head? I bet a woman makes these. A little sparkle can never hurt you.

Lot's of black, white and orange candy can be purchased.

There is a great costume for you to wear this year!

A whole bar set up for Absinthe. I hear one goes a bit "crazy" when drinking this. Sorry, but it's not legal to have this in USA. Though in other countries this is a favorite drink by many artists. They say it helps them to create.

Then of course there is the cheerful and vintage inspired items too.

I have to say, I could have spent hours in this shop. It's tiny but packed with so many unique things.

It's a shop you don't quickly forget once you walk in. It sort of "Haunts" you when you leave.

Every year I have a have a Halloween party for Trinity and her friends. Each year we do a different theme. I've noticed as she gets older she wants to get a little more scary in the themes. Gone are the days of the Tinker Bell costumes.

How about you? Do you do anything special for Halloween? Do you decorate with a theme? A style?

Personally I love vintage inspired items. I would love to own real vintage things but most of them are way out of my price budget.

Hope you enjoyed shopping with me. Oh you want to know what I bought here? Sorry, I left empty handed.

Hugs,

Joanne