 Halloween
invitations - Themes and Decorations
Use your Halloween
invitations to carry the decor of your party.
Children and adults love to receive halloween invitations. Halloween
is a fun time to dress up in scary costumes for the
Halloween parties - so make the most of your custom
Halloween invitations by ImpressInPrint!
This is just a small sample
of our great halloween
invitation selections!
Click on the images to see our entire
selection now!
|
|
|
|
 Halloween
invitations - Refreshment Ideas
Use the theme of your halloween
invitations to setup a table of refreshments. Invite
your guest to create a dish in the shape of one of the
designs that are on your halloween invitations.
 Halloween
invitations - Activities
When you send your halloween
invitations to your guest ask them to
come in a costuming and have a prize for the winner. This
is always the great part of halloween. Plan ahead
for your custom Halloween invitations for next year. Hold
a costume contest and take photos of the group and then
one of the "winners" to use on your photo Halloween
invitations next year!
Halloween is one of the oldest "holidays" with origins going back
thousands of years. The holiday (although - not really fitting the definition of "holiday") we know as Halloween has had many
influences from 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. Hundreds of years ago
in what is now Great Britain and Northern France, lived the Celts. The Celts worshipped nature and had many gods, with the sun god
as their favorite. It was the Sun God who commanded their work and
their rest times, and who made the earth beautiful and the crops
grow.
The Celts celebrated their New Year on November 1st. It was celebrated
every year with a festival marking the end of the "season of
the sun" and the beginning of "the season of darkness
and cold".
Our first day of fall is September 22 and of course, Halloween
parties fast follow in October. Make your fall party plans and order
your personalized invitations early from ImpressInPrint.com!
Legends and History of Halloween
On the eve before their new year (October 31), it was believed
that Samhain called together all the dead people. The dead would
take different forms, with the bad spirits taking the form of animals.
The most evil taking the form of cats.
On October 31st after the crops were all harvested and stored for
the long winter the cooking fires in the homes would be extinguished.
The Druids, the Celtic priests, would meet in the hilltop in the
dark oak forest (oak trees were considered sacred). The Druids would
light new fires and offer sacrifices of crops and animals. As they
danced around the the fires, the season of the sun passed and the
season of darkness would begin.
When the morning arrived the Druids would give an ember from their
fires to each family who would then take them home to start new
cooking fires. These fires would keep the homes warm and free from
evil spirits. The November 1st festival was named after Samhain
and honored both the sun god and Samhain. The festival would last
for 3 days. Many people would parade in costumes made from the skins
and heads of their animals. This festival would become the first
Halloween.
During the first century the Romans invaded Britain. They brought
with them many of their festivals and customs. One of these was
the festival know as Pomona Day, named for their goddess of fruits
and gardens. It was also celebrated around the 1st of November.
After hundreds of years of Roman rule the customs of the Celtic's
Samhain festival and the Roman Pomona Day
mixed becoming 1 major fall holiday.
The next influence came with the spread of the new Christian religion
throughout Europe and Britain. In the year 835 AD the Roman Catholic
Church would make November 1st a church holiday to honor all the
saints. This day was called All Saint's Day, or Hallowmas, or All
Hallows. Years later the Church would make November 2nd a holy day.
It was called All Souls Day and was to honor the dead. It was celebrated
with big bonfires, parades, and people dressing up as saints, angels
and devils.
But the spread of Christianity did not make people forget their
early customs. On the eve of All Hallows, Oct. 31, people continued
to celebrate the festival of Samhain and Pomona Day. Over the years
the customs from all these holidays mixed. October 31st became known
as All Hallow Even, eventually All Hallow's Eve, Hallowe'en, and
then - Halloween.
The Halloween and Halloween parties we celebrate today includes all of these influences,
Pomona Day's apples, nuts, and harvest, the Festival of Sanhain's
black cats, magic, evil spirits and death, and the ghosts, skeletons
and skulls from All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day. All of the Halloween party invitation themes are available at ImpressInPrint.com to set the perfect mood for your gathering!
This Month's Featured Party Theme
Halloween!
Halloween parties are all the rage and very, very popular each
year. More families and organizations are holding parties in lieu
of individual "trick-or-treating" in neighborhoods. The
parties promote fun and safety! 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!.
Featured Party Decoration
Ideas
An orange and black balloon arch is an impressive way to direct
guests to your Halloween party area. Simply alternate black and
orange balloons and attach the air or helium-filled balloons to
a ribbon about every 12 inches and secure it to the ground on either
side of your doorway. Remember to attach a few 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.
CREPE PAPER
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 similar to the 60's beaded
look. 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.
TABLE DECORATIONS
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, and so much more!
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!
Recipe to Enhance Your Party
Halloween Spider Cake
This recipe is TOO FUN! When you cut the cake, it spurts out green
goooo!
~ 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
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 as eyes. Watch everyone squeal with
delight as you cut in to the cake! Be sure to have a camera!!! |
