“Haunted House”warming Halloween Party

Happy Halloween! I can’t believe we’ve entered the last few days of this spooky season! We’re celebrating the adults today with this “Haunted Housewarming” Halloween Party full of creepy cocktails, ghoulish eats, and spooky decorations. Dina Hafez-Suggs of Deliciously Darling Events styled this haunted housewarming to invite friends over to see her new house. Dina loves all things glittered (like us!) and pulled together glittered skulls for spooky lime-green color.

The hit of the party, Dina told us, was the POISONED POPCORN BAR! Dina said, “I found the pumpkin “spitting up” guac picture on pinterest absolutely hysterical so I wanted to recreate it but with popcorn. I still giggle every time I see it. Guests munched on Cake Batter popcorn (my favorite), heavenly crunch, cajun and strawberry shortcake all made by the folks at Heavenly Gourmet Popcorn“.

Eyeball Jello Cups

Ingredients:
1 package of lime green jello (or any color you would like)
30 gummy eyeballs
Vodka

Directions: These spooky eyeball jello cups are so easy to make and are so yummy! Mix the jello packet with water as per the measurements on the package and add 1 ounce of vodka per 8 ounces of jello mixture. For a virgin alternative just leave out the vodka. Pour into adorable little martini glasses and put in the fridge. Once the mixture solidifies add the gummy eyeball or brain or spooky gummy. Return to fridge until you are ready to serve.

Pumpkin Spice S’mores

Ingredients for pumpkin spice cookies
1 package of Pumpkin spice cookie mix by Betty Crocker
1 stick of butter

Ingredients for S’more push pops
1 large package of Jello Chocolate pudding
1 package of chocolate chips
1 large container of Marshmallow Fluff
1 package of mini marshmallows

Directions: The first step is to bake the pumpkin spice cookies as per the directions on the package. Once the cookies cool, break them up and divide among the push pop containers. Add two to three spoons full of chocolate pudding to each push pop container then follow with a handful of chocolate chips. TIP: Fill a large zip lock bag with chocolate pudding and cut the end off. It is so much easier to dispense the yummy pudding into the push pop containers nicely. Following the chocolate chips with a bit of marshmallow fluff (again, so much easier using a zip lock bag or a piping bag). At this point the push pop containers will be pretty full but always have room for a little bit of crushed cookie and mini marshmallow. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve. Yields approximately 12 push pops.

Pushing Daisy Parfait Cups

Ingredients
2 packages of butterscotch pudding or vanilla pudding
Milk
Wilton Food Coloring Gel (in the case the Halloween Drink coloring gel)
1 Package of Oreo Cookies
1 package of chocolate chips

Directions: The thing I love about this dessert is it is super quick and so customizable. By starting out with a jello vanilla pudding as a base you can tint the jello to match your event colors. In this case, I divided the batter into 2 bowls and mixed lime green food coloring gel into one bowl and mixed orange food coloring into the other batch. Allow the pudding to set after you have achieved the color you desire. Now is the fun part, crushing Oreos! In my case, I did it by hand but you can always throw a package of Oreos into the blender and pulse until crumbled. To crush by hand, pour the cookies into a large zip lock bag and hit with a rubber mallet, To assemble, layer the pudding, chocolate chips and top off with crushed Oreos. If you have a large glass you can continue to layer until you reach the top. You could add a layer of heath bar for a toffee crunch or sprinkles. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

Dina shared, “Playing “bartender” had to be the best part of the night! I was so excited to try out the drinks that I have seen floating around pinterest. We had two haunted cocktails, a sour apple martini and a screwdriver. Both were made using vodka that we tinted black with Wilton’s drink coloring. I also whipped up two shooters that my guests just LOVED. The first being a cotton candy-tini, so easy and yummy. Place cotton candy in a mini cup and pour chilled vodka over it. The cotton candy melts and it becomes the sweetest little shooter ever. The second shooter, courtesy of pinterest, is simply key lime sherbet and Tequila.”

CREDITS:  Planning, Styling, Candy Buffet & Printables: Deliciously Darling Events | Photography: Jeremy Adamo | Fondant Toppers: Two Sugar Babies | Cupcakes: Jilly’s Cupcakery | Gourmet Popcorn: Heavenly Gourmet Popcorn | Food Catering & Sugar Cookies: Whole Foods | Glittered Skulls & other Halloween Items: Target | Black Candelabra: ZGallerie | Large Balloons: Balloon Dealer