I wonder if the inside is equally as awesome!

Great inspiration for anyone thinking of doing a Halloween light display.

Now, the problem is, where to start?

Easy Halloween crafts

We’re not talking start from scratch craft ideas here (we have those elsewhere on the site). Instead, there are some nice bits at Yellow Moon which allow your kids to be creative, but not have to get so deep into something that it never gets finished.

Here are just a few of the fun ideas that stood out for me…

Halloween gift bags and gift boxes

It’s always nice to receive a gift, so why should Halloween be any different? And if you want to give someone a special something (be it something genuinely nice, or a nasty surprise) you want it to be presented in the best possible way.

Here are two kits that would make the tackiest gifts look good.
With the gift boxes, each kit contains a coloured card craft box, pre-cut foam pieces and wiggle-eyes. There are 4 designs with a pumpkin, cat, bat and spider and they’re all pretty cute. They’re 6cm in diameter and would be perfect for say… and engagement ring or perhaps part of a severed finger… Or just some sweets I guess.

The bags are a similar deal with 4 designs again (witch, pumpkin, spider and bat) and the same kind of materials for the face parts. The bags themselves are paper and would make excellent party bags or of course trick or treating bags. The bags also offer a bit more freedom with the design as there are more bits to stick on.

They’re good value both coming in (at the time of writing) at around £3-£4 a pack.

Halloween 3D decorations and scratch art

If you’re looking for some nice Halloween crafts to decorate the place with, then a quick win would be the 3D shapes.
No doubt you’ll have seen this kind of thing before. In fact Asda are selling some similar 3D Halloween decorations right now. They’re pretty cheap, but are they HAND-MADE BY YOUR OWN CHILD? No, I didn’t think so. But these items from Yellow Moon could be.
Coming with 3 assorted designs, they come flat, and once opened up can be painted and decorated however you like. They come with the ribbon to hang them with and you can even buy suitable paints from the same site, which is convinient.

The scratch art stuff is cool. These black shapes look pretty spooky out of the packet, but when you scratch away the matt black surface, you reveal the colourful second layer. This allows for some really cool effects and makes for some nice colourful yet terrifying wall decorations.
Best of all, these ones are also magnetic, so you can stick them on your fridge with ease!
Oh, and you get a scratch tool to do the scratching with – essential!

 
Halloween window huggers and tattoos!

If you’re still in the mood for decorating (can you EVER have enough Halloween decorations?) how about trying some ‘make them yourself’ window huggers?
They’re made of card and the idea is that you colour them in, stick them together, then put them on the window using the suction hooks provided. Suction hooks are good because unlike the ‘sticky’ window hugging competition, they will be far more re-usable and so can come back out next year, and potentially many more after that.
Each pack makes 12 huggers which is pretty good for £3.

And when you’ve run out of space on the walls and windows, why not decorate yourselves with these cool Halloween tattoos. Don’t worry, they’re only the temporary ones, so you won’t have to regret the decision for years afterwards.
There are 12 designs in each pack ranging from the cute little ghost to the more rugged and intimidating skull and crossbones. Plus one pack contains 36, YES 36 tattoos!

Halloween finger puppets

Finally, why not entertain your guests with your Halloween crafts too?
Puppet shows always get a crowd going, so put your fingers to good use first making the puppets, then helping the puppets to walk about convincingly on stage!
The first set comes with 6 designs and includes all of your favourite Halloween characters. You can use felt-tipped pens to do the colouring, then it’s just down to you to provide the voices and motivation.
The puppets are a decent size too, at 11cm.

But if you’ve had enough of all the Halloween crafts stuff, why not opt for the ready made, glow in the dark finger puppets?
There are three cute characters to choose from and they would all look great in the dark, or even better, under a UV light. You could even go all out with some glow in the dark paint to create an especially spooky stage for them, but I’ll leave the rest of the creative thinking to you. That’s the point of Halloween crafts after all isn’t it?

This year there have been a few great new products to keep us happy, and what better way to sum them up than a video from one of our resident product testers – Professor Frankenwerter…

 
Full-size Fun

Of all the Asda Halloween 2011 products, Whilhemena the Witch has probably caused the most controversy.
She’s a great product, with great detailing – especially on her craggy, rubbery face. She also has lots of great witchy phrases to keep  you happy and your guests/trick or treaters coming back for more. There’s no doubt that she’s a great place to keep your treats.
However, many Asda Halloween fans were expecting something bigger, and little Whilhemena really isn’t nearly as teriffying as Wanda the Witch from last year’s collection.

As a result, many prop shoppers have been lured away from Asda by the Sainsbury’s butler who, it is argued, gives Whilhemena a good run for her money.

Inflatables

But Asda do have some big decorations. The inflatable products are definitely worth checking out. As you will have seen in our video, the 4ft ghost is very cool and can be used both indoors and out (in reasonable conditions). The 9ft ghost looks even better. Although we didn’t get to try it the idea of a 9ft menacing spectre in the garden will appeal to most, although it does come with a hefty price tag (£45).

Furry Fun

The floor crawlers offer real entertainment this year with the enchanted broom proving very popular with Asda Halloween shoppers. Triggered by a guest passing by, this life-sized gadget springs to life, spinning around and cackling. Similarly, the wandering ghost could cause a few squeals in your household. Although it is a little let down by its size, we were really impressed by the fact that it senses obsticles when floating about and changes direction to avoid them. They both make great additions to any Halloween party set-up and are competetively priced.

There were a few nice toys with the Ear Flapping Dog and Marty the Monkey singing and dancing their way into our Halloween hearts. They make great gifts as do the cuddly monsters and frankenstein’s monster dolls that are aimed at the younger shoppers.

We at Halloweenerrific loved the man in chains last year and were equally impressed with Convict Colin, a hanging skeleton that writhes about and groans when activated by a passer-by. The only slight let down would be Colin’s small size, but that is reflected in his competetive price-tag.

Grave Matters

The dancing skeleton gravestone was a surprise favourite this year, with lots of shoppers enjoying its moves and sounds. Most impressive were the cool lightning effect that comes on during the performance in time to the music. It’s one product that this Asda Halloween fan may still have to go back and purchase. In a similar vein, the gargoyle with blood pouring from its mouth looks to be another great product to add a little atmosphere to your Halloween gathering. Unfortunately the professor couldn’t get ours to work, so you’ll have to try that one out for yourselves.

 
Along with all that great stuff, Asda have again provided plenty of the usual treats, gifts and costumes that provide good quality at an affordable price.

Asda Halloween 2011 Summary

It would seem that the Asda Halloween 2011 products have been chosen with the economic climate in mind. Big, expensive, life-sized props have been replaced by smaller and cheaper alternatives that make things easier on our pockets and also help to ensure that Asda aren’t left with thousands of unsold Halloween products come November.

That said, many of us were still a little let down that there weren’t more bigger, fantastic decorations on offer.

There is still plenty to choose from though with inflatable ghosts, knee-high witches and roving gouls, so Asda is certainly still sitting atop the Halloween retailler pile this year.

We’re already looking forward to what Asda Halloween products lie in store for us next year!

There are lots of reasons to make sure that you have a suitably spooky collection of music for All Hallows Eve – and not only if you’re planning a devlish dance or two.
There’s nothing like a bit of creepy music to set the scene when you’re eating your Halloween meal, and if you’re playing Halloween games, a bit of music will always come in handy, particularly if you want to play ‘petrifying pass the parcel’ or something similar.

You can of course buy some Halloween CD’s for this purpose. Or if you’re into downloading your music, you can fill your iPod with terrifying tracks.

But as I discovered today, there is another option which can save you money and offer you a huge variety of tracks that you may not have heard of. Yes…

Halloween Radio!

 
HalloweenRadio.net runs all year long and plays a huge selection of Halloween themed music.
There are tunes for every taste from Faith No More to Lou Reed, there are songs old and new to keep everyone happy.
And there’s no need to wait until Halloween to enjoy it either. There’s nothing like a bit of Halloween Radio right now to get you in the mood for the forthcoming fun!

Where to find Halloween Radio

There are a few sites about, but Halloweenradio.net has been my favourite so far. To try it out, you can listen using this banner:

 
Alternatively, why not visit the Halloween Radio site.

Yes, if you’ve made your home look particularly spooky, created a monstrous prop to terrify your guests, or put on the best halloween themed shin-dig that your friends have ever known, we want to see photographic evidence.

We’re encouraging people to share their halloween decorations on Flickr using our own Halloweenerrific Group

Share your Halloween decorations photos

Simply follow this link:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1695694@N20/

Sign up with Flickr (if you haven’t already) and join our group.
You should then be able to upload your images to the pool to share them with everyone.

Not only is it good fun to look at, but it’ll also be a good place to find inspiration for your decorations for Halloween 2011!

If it takes off, we might even run a competition to see who can come up with the best decorations this year with a prize and everything!

Sign up now, and if you have any problems/issuse, just post a comment below…