Written by Sara Lilkas, Marketing Intern  BOO! Did Halloween sneak up on you too? Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. Growing up I took every single excuse I could to wear a princess dress and ran with it. (I mean there was also the free candy thing, but who doesn’t love running around in a poofy ball gown?) Now that I’m 23 and trick or treating is no longer an option, more creative measures have to be taken to celebrate this spooky and sugar high inducing holiday. For adults, even those who are reluctantly adults, there a couple of fairly simple and budget friendly options that can be planned out in almost no time at all! The Scary Movie Marathon A movie marathon is an easy and fairly cheap way to get the spook factor in. Even though video rental stores are no longer a thing, RedBox sometimes has seasonal offerings and for around $1 a night you can’t really go wrong. Another option is to ask your friends to bring over their favorite scary movie DVDs if they have any. I personally don’t believe any scary movie marathon is complete without The Shining, a film from the Scream series, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. I am sure there are some horror aficionados out there who will disagree with me, but these are the scary movies I grew up not being allowed to watch, so obviously they became my favorites….well at least once they stopped giving me nightmares. Now for those who are feeling nostalgic I would recommend the Halloweentown series or Nightmare Before Christmas (or really anything done by Tim Burton since he has mastered the art of being creepy and awesome without being terrifying.) And there is simply no such thing as a Halloween movie marathon without Hocus Pocus. I don’t care what you are doing when Hocus Pocus is on TV, you sit down and watch. But the pillowcase full of free candy is still missing. Now this is the true tragedy of growing up. What hits the sweet spot (see what I did there) is inviting your friends over for a spooktacular movie marathon with Halloween themed baked goods and snacks. One of my favorite Halloween time movie snacks is this sweet and salty popcorn recipe featuring peanut butter and the sugary goodness known as candy corn!  Now I have personally decided that the calories from candy corn consumed in October simply do not count. So I recommend adding it to as many snacks as possible such as Halloween themed trail mix and cupcakes. The Halloween Party Now if you do not think it is fun to watch movies that are meant to terrify you, a more low-key affair may be more your style. And by low-key I mean anything from a few friends over to a raging costume party. Halloween can also be the perfect excuse to throw a masquerade party(I’ve always wanted to go to a masquerade party so I’m just throwing that out there.) At any Halloween event costumes should be required, it does not hinder your cool factor to dress up, in my opinion it makes you more awesome, but let’s talk about planning this thing. No matter how extravagant your Halloween affair may be (or how big your party budget is) there are plenty of easy food and decoration ideas, using a lot of things you may already have around the house. Creepy pictures can be printed out and put into the frames you already have, and food dye can go a long way for making regular drinks look like something you’d find in the Haunted Mansion. Instead of having all the lights in your house on, save some electricity and use candles where you can. Painting items is also a fairly cheap way to decorate, but is obviously more permanent. Using black paint on every-day items can go a long way in creating a spooky feel for your party. Try painting your pumpkins in addition to carving them and I’m sure you will win spookiest house on the block. (Plus make sure you save the pumpkin seeds while carving, you can bake them to make a tasty snack!) Whether it’s black painted pumpkins, frames, or other items, matte black paint can make decorations look eerily goth, but not childish (chalkboard paint is another cool option here, since you can then write and draw on the decorations as well.) As you may have guessed with my ramblings about the black paint, black is my go to decorating theme for Halloween (and let’s face it, for everyday life), but I’m also a girl who happens to love glitter. A can of black glitter spray paint costs around $4 and can be purchased at any home improvement or craft store. I personally believe that glitter can be added to almost any decoration depending on the feel you are going for with your party, but beware once you put glitter on one thing it will get everywhere, there’s just no stopping it. As always check out our Pinterest board for more holiday recipes and ideas!