Planning the perfect Halloween party!

CHICOPEE, Mass. (Mass Appeal) - Halloween is exactly one week away, and that means it's time to start planning your party!

While there are many different ways to approach your party planning, Tanya Costigan, Owner of Bowties and Butterflies Event Planning joined us with creative ideas and tips to wow your guests.

Halloween How-To's:

Skull Goodie Bags
1. Cotton drawstring sacks
2. Skull or other festive stamp
3. Stamp ink pad - any color you would like, I chose black.
4. Candy to fill it with
5. Bowl or festive stand like I had on the show.

Lay each bag flat and smooth out any wrinkles. Take your stamp and place it on the stamp ink pad. Using your finger, rub all around the top of the stamp making sure each edge and detail is getting inked enough to transfer onto the bag. Once you feel it is inked enough, carefully lift the stamp and, with a steady hand, place it on the bag itself where you want it transfer. When doing this, be sure not to move the stamp at all once it is placed. Once slight move could smudge the image. Again, using your finger, rub across the top of the stamp making sure all the ink transfers onto the bag. When you feel like it has been, gently and with a steady hand, lift the stamp off of the bag.

Skeleton Coffin Invitations
1. Invitation boxes (come with skeleton)
2. Glass vials with screw on lids
3. Festive tags , I bought mine rather than creating them
4. Twine
5. Water
6. Food Coloring
7. Glitter
8. Glow Sticks
9. Scissors
10. Small piece of foliage from yard
11. White Rice

I chose to fill the glass vials, that would eventually end up in the invitation box before mailing, with things that matched the labels I printed. For instance, the tag that said skull maggots, I used dry white rice. For blood tag, I used water and red food coloring. Witches essence, I used green food coloring, water and glitter. Poison ivy tag, I used a small weed from my yard. For ghost in a bottle tag, I cut open (carefully!) a glow stick necklace after cracking it into the vial. There are glass shards in it, and if the liquid gets on your clothes, you will glow. Choose any color glow stick you like. I added glitter after putting the liquid from the glow stick in the vial.
Once I was finished creating each vial, I used a paper punch to punch holes into the top corner of each tag and tied the tag around the top of the vial.

Now you are ready to assemble the invitation boxes, wrap the arms of the skeleton figurine that came with the invitation boxes around the vial. Fill in your party details on the inside lid with sharpie. Close it up, address and mail!

Pumpkin Bocce
1. Large pumpkin
2. Many smaller pumpkins
3. Sharpies or paint

Set the larger pumpkin out in the yard. After marking the smaller pumpkins with paint or sharpie (so you can tell whose is whose), each player will roll their smaller pumpkins toward the larger pumpkin. The person or team with the most smaller pumpkins near the larger pumpkin at the end wins!

Here's a spin to put on it:
Carve the larger pumpkin out however you would like. Put a pumpkin light (not candle) inside of the larger carved pumpkin. If played at night, this will make a cool target for pumpkin bocce!
1. White pumpkins from a local farm
2. Halloween themed temporary tattoos - www.tattoosales.com
3. Sponge or wash cloth
4. Small dish of water

Place the tattoo down on the pumpkin as you would when putting it on your skin. Once you have the tattoo where you want it on the pumpkin, hold it there with one hand. With the other hand, dip the sponge or tip of wash cloth into the dish of water. Saturate the back of the tattoo with the wet sponge or wash cloth fully. Usually takes a minute or two. If you don't saturate the tattoo enough, not all of the design will come off of the backing onto the pumpkin. Once you feel it is saturated enough, gently slide or peel the backing off of the pumpkin. Design should remain on pumpkin. Let it set and dry before touching or moving pumpkin.

White Tattooed Pumpkins
1. White pumpkins from a local farm
2. Halloween themed temporary tattoos
3. Sponge or wash cloth
4. Small dish of water

Place the tattoo down on the pumpkin as you would when putting it on your skin. Once you have the tattoo where you want it on the pumpkin, hold it there with one hand. With the other hand, dip the sponge or tip of wash cloth into the dish of water. Saturate the back of the tattoo with the wet sponge or wash cloth fully. Usually takes a minute or two. If you don't saturate the tattoo enough, not all of the design will come off of the backing onto the pumpkin. Once you feel it is saturated enough, gently slide or peel the backing off of the pumpkin. Design should remain on pumpkin. Let it set and dry before touching or moving pumpkin.

Festive Wine Bottle Labels
1. Martha Stewart (or other) Halloween wine bottle lables - www.scrapbook.com
2. Wine of your choice

Halloween Specimen Jars
Apply the labels over the actual wine label to disguise