Halloween Fun with Discover Goodwill – Last-Minute Treats & Decor

• Another oldie but goodie!

Halloween is in a couple of days but there’s still time to throw a few last-minute decorations together or whip up an appetizer or two. Today on FOX21 Morning News, I join morning reporter Lauren McDonald, and Discover Goodwill, to showcase a few easy ideas that are simple and affordable. 

Most of the items I use are everyday decor items you can find at Discover Goodwill or perhaps already own. You could of course buy these items at any store but why pay more if you don’t have to?

Super Easy Decorations 

This year I decorated our house using a black and white theme. After deciding how I wanted to decorate, I looked around our house to see what we might already have that fit that scary black and white theme I was going for and then made a trip to Discover Goodwill for a few more pieces. I like using things I can later use in other ways, such as vases and candle holders, and then fill in my displays with holiday-themed items. This way I’m not spending a ton of money on any one particular holiday and I also don’t have to have lots of storage space for decorations. 

On this shelf every single candle holder and vase is from Goodwill. I filled in the vase with dead branches from my yard and clipped on a few bats from the Dollar Tree. (I also use bats I cut from construction paper and hot glue to the branches.) The cheesecloth, skeletons, cobweb, rat, spiders, and black netting also came from Goodwill, all at very reasonable prices. And I love using books whenever and wherever I can when decorating.

I owned a couple of these books and found the other two at Goodwill for a couple of bucks. I thought the titles were fun and appropriate for Halloween. 

Continuing with my black and white theme, I used white platters and bowls to create a creepy dinner scene. Every single item except for the two owls and candles came from Goodwill. I was going to put water and red food coloring in the wine glasses but because this setting was in a busy part of the house I added a spider and ribbon instead. 

Cheesecloth DIY Ghosts 

Every year I try my hand at a new Halloween DIY project. Sometimes they turn out great, sometimes not so much. This year my friend Sarah sent me pictures of ghosts her and her children had made. She said it was super easy and they really looked great so that was the project I attempted this year. 

In the following recipe they use liquid starch. Sarah used fabric stiffener on the ones she made. I already had mod podge on hand so for one of mine I used that instead, watering it down just a bit. I used a concoction of 2 cups of water and 1 cup of corn starch for the other, which I mixed and then heated in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring about every 30 seconds. Be sure to let it cool a bit before plunging your fingers in it! Lots of options on this project.

www.instructables.com/id/how-to-make-cheesecloth-ghosts/

Here’s the picture of the one I made using mod podge and a styrofoam ball. (I love the black and white plate I found at Goodwill to use as a backdrop on the shelf.)

For my next ghost I used the corn starch/water mix and an artificial lemon for the head…here’s what it looked like after it dried. It pulled all the color from the plastic lemon! 

DESSERT! 

GRAVEYARD CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE DIP 

Prep Time: about 20 minutes              Serves: 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS:

1 8-ounce cream cheese (room temp)

1/2 stick unsalted butter (room temp)

5 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

2 tablespoons milk

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sifted powder sugar

To Decorate With –

crushed chocolate cream sandwich cookies, about 10 (for the “dirt” to cover dip)

vanilla sandwich cookies, like Milano (for tombstones)

black decorating icing

candy corn

candy pumpkins

Serve With – graham crackers, apple slices, and/or pretzels

DIRECTIONS: 

In medium bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Sift in cocoa powder, then add brown sugar, vanilla extract, salt and milk. Beat on low-speed until the cocoa powder is incorporated, then increase speed to high, until very well combined. Sift in powder sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating slowly after each addition to incorporate. Increase speed to high and beat until smooth and light, about 3 minutes. Transfer dip to a serving dish and smooth top with a spatula.

Spread crushed chocolate cookies over the top of dip to form “dirt.” With decorating icing, write “RIP” on vanilla wafer cookies, then stand upright in dip to form “tombstones.” Scatter candy corn and candy pumpkins over top to decorate.

Serve with graham crackers, sliced apples, and/or pretzels. 

Doesn’t get easier than this for a quick appetizer…

For a super simple last-minute Halloween treat you can make in minutes, simply use mini cookie cutters in the shape of ghosts, bats, or pumpkins and press into pre-cut cracker-sized slices of cheddar. Pop out the cheese and place on a cracker. You can also do this with thin apple slices.