The celebration called Halloween has been influenced by many cultures over the centuries. From the Roman's Pomona Day, to the Celtic festival of Samhain, to the Christian holidays of All Saints and All Souls Days.

In the United States, September brings in our first day of fall and Halloween party planning begins! Even though the origins of the festival and celebration have morphed into our current modern interpretations of Halloween, we still look forward to Halloween as a  yearly opportunity to throw one of the biggest parties of the year.  Make your fall party plans and kick the mood off for your party by ordering personalized Halloween party invitations early from online stationery stores like ImpressInPrint.com. ImpressInPrint.com is the oldest and most reputable online stationery company with thousands of imprint able invitations and stationery. Their selection of fall invitations, autumn invitation themes and Halloween invitations are incredible. Their most popular invitation for Halloween is so attractive and fun. See for yourself!

Halloween parties are all the rage and very, very popular each year. Families, neighborhood groups, churches and civic organizations are holding parties in lieu of individual "trick-or-treating" in neighborhoods. The parties promote fun and safety instead of having our children out roaming the streets among other people who are disguised. The fall themes and inventive costumes are always a favorite. ImpressInPrint.com has a variety of halloween party invitations and papers that will be perfect for your Halloween party!

For some reason, people of all ages love balloons. A helium tank with several hundred balloons can cost around $49.00 at a party store and is well worth the investment. An orange and black balloon arch is an impressive way to direct guests to your Halloween party area. Arches do not have to be filled with helium, but can be if you want to use the arch as your “give-away” balloon display which will help you clear out some of the decorations as the guests leave. Simply alternate black and orange balloons and attach air or helium-filled balloons to a ribbon about every 12 inches and secure it to the ground on either side of your doorway. Attach a few helium-filled balloons to your mailbox or driveway area to show guests where the party is. Be sure you have enough balloons to give one to each party guest as they leave.

Another cheap and easy party decoration is crepe paper. Tie four to six pieces of alternating orange and black crepe paper from the center light fixture in the room extending to the corners and walls. Twist as you go and secure with masking tape or rubber cement, both of which are easily removed after the party is over. For an extra fancy effect, twist two different colors of crepe together. Attach a couple of orange and black balloons over the crepe paper ends to cover any tape or glue.

Hang crepe paper strips in doorways from the top of the doorway to the floor creating an orange and black crepe paper “curtain“. Alternate colors for more visual interest. Of course, black and orange are used but you can use various shades of yellow and some browns for fall colors as well. Balloons and crepe paper alone are enough to give your party area a fun and festive atmosphere.

Personalize your party table with some homemade embellishments. Start with a tablecloth designed by anyone in your group or by yourself. Cut a length of butcher paper decorate it with colorful markers, crayons, pictures cut from magazines, construction paper shapes - let the imagination run wild! This can be used as a party activity if you want to turn this decoration into a keepsake activity to remember all that attend your party.

For the Halloween theme, you can feature all kinds of images such as pumpkins, black cats, witches, witch hats, acorns, colorful maple leaves in all shades, cauldrons, broomsticks, skeletons, skulls, tombstones and vampires! Then, sandwich the creation between a colored plastic tablecloth and a clear one, so it can be appreciated by all, yet protected from spills. It is something that can be kept and used from year to year in case you do not want to do a new one every year! Great keepsake!

For the past five years, there is one table decoration that gets the most attention, laughs and photo opportunities. It is the barfing pumpkin. Cut your Jack-o-Lantern in the usual way except save the “pumpkin guts”.  Trail the pumpkin innards from the mouth out onto a cookie sheet. I usually elevate the pumpkin by putting it on a stack of books and covering the books and cookie sheet with a large black trash bag. That way the focus is just on the pumpkin and its’ misfortune.

Spider cakes are full of fantastic Halloween surprises. When you cut the cake, it spurts out green goooo! If you want to take it a bit further, you can mix gummy worms, gummy spiders, or gummy eyeballs into the gelatin. Icky fun!

Batter

• 18 1/4 oz box white cake mix
• 4-serving package green gelatin

Black Frosting

• Blue food coloring
• Chocolate frosting

Decorations

• 4 black licorice whips
• 2 big green gumballs
• 6 little gumballs or chocolate candy “eyeballs”

Prepare cake using two 9-inch round cake pans. Cool the cakes after removing from the oven.

Prepare the gelatin according to package directions. It works best if it is just a little on the soft side.

On a foil-covered cookie-sheet, place one cake layer for the body. Cut a smaller circle out of the center of the layer. Place this smaller round of cake as the spider's head. Fill the hole left in the body layer with gelatin. Place the other cake layer on top of the body and trim cake slightly to shape , if desired.

To prepare frosting, in a mixing bowl, add blue food coloring to the chocolate frosting until black in color. Frost the entire cake black. Cut the black licorice whips in half and insert for the eight legs. Position the gumballs or chocolate candy “eyeballs” as eyes.

Watch everyone squeal with delight as you cut in to the cake! Be sure to have a camera!!!