How to Throw a Halloween Party for Under $10!

Welcome!
 Entertaining is one of those things that seems really difficult to do on a budget.  Last weekend I was able to open my home to all the families in my mom’s group for a fun Halloween brunch.  We played games, bobbed for apples, and ate until we were stuffed.  How much did I spend on this  3-hour brunch? Only $2 out of pocket!

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say upfront that this was a potluck party. Every family brought a dish, whether it was a quiche, apple pie, cheese and crackers, or a (universally lauded) red wine chocolate cake.    For edibles, I offered coffee and tea (which I had already), and made a french toast bake with strawberries from my freezer. Since I baked the bread from scratch, I had no out of pocket cost.To set the mood as people came in, my husband had the idea to tune into Pandora for some spooky tunes. Did you know there is a “Halloween Party Channel” on Pandora? And it’s all free!

What did we do? Well, judging from the noise level, the kids (all between 6 months and 3 1/2 years old) had a pretty good time.  We played “Toss the Cookie in the Pumpkin’s Mouth.”The Pumpkin bag toss looks a little, well, amateurish. I made it using an old Amazon box, a pair of scissors, and paints I already owned. I borrowed the bean bags from a friend. Cost= FREE

Next, we bobbed for apples:Sidebar: when we were cleaning up, my husband noticed that every.single.apple had one or more small bite marks on it.
Cost= $2 for a bag of apples at the Public Market. We had the tub already.

Finally, we played outside for a bit:A cowbow, 2 giraffes, and a dinosaur walk into a plastic house. . .  (insert silly joke here).  I think I can safely say that everyone left tired, which, with 3 year olds, is the sign of a good party.

Total Out of Pocket Cost: $2!  The only thing I specifically purchased for this party was the apples. Yes, I used resources like pantry items for the coffee, tea, and French Toast Bake, and I used up all the black paint  making the pumpkin toss, but I consider this a major win because I didn’t actually have to spend much money out of pocket. And most importantly, everyone had a spook-tacular time (sorry, I couldn’t resist ).  I think I might even host again next year!