How to host a Halloween house party on a student budget

It’s that time of year again … it’s getting colder, the leaves are turning and the nights are drawing in. Things are also starting to look a little spooky! I love Halloween and at home we’ve always draped the house in fake spider webs and adorned the doorstep with pumpkins but at university, throwing a big bash can be a bit of an expensive feat with student loan running low. However,  with a bit of dollar put in by each of your house mates, you too can throw a spooktacular celebration!

Decorations

Getting your house decked out is an essential part of a Halloween party and perhaps just as fun as getting a costume sorted! It doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg (mwahahaha) to create a creepy kitchen. I picked up lots of little bits and pieces from Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s that came to under a tenner.

Fake spider webs are a must and can be put just about anywhere for a creepy effect. These bags were £1 each and they came with little plastic spiders which are fun for popping over picture frames, door ways, TV’s and around the food and drink spread.

I’m obsessed with fairy lights and so these pumpkin and skull string lights  were a must! They’re going to look so cute in photos. We’ve draped these over the pictures in our kitchen and I love the contrast of colours. They are battery powered too so aren’t going to cause any damage. We were going to get a pumpkin to carve for extra lighting but it’s a bit risky hosting a Halloween party in a student house with flames … So I got the next best thing and picked up some LED light balloons with pumpkin faces on (not pictured).

Everyone has bin liners laying about the house and they are your new best friend for Halloween. Cut strips from them and hang them from a doorway for a funky DIY door curtain (or perfect photo back drop!) Bin bags also stick to walls with static, so cut out spooky shapes like bats for some easy themed silhouettes on the wall.

Food & Drink

It’s been a busy week so I haven’t had a chance to cook up anything too spooky and as everyone is going out after our Halloween ‘do, I thought I’d keep it to basic snacks. I got some Butterkist green popcorn from Tesco which looks gross but actually tastes really good! It’s just sweet flavour and looks quite gruesome. I also picked up some chocolate eyeballs to pop in the bowl of popcorn for extra ‘ew’. These were £1 a bag from Sainsbury’s. I picked up these trick or treat buckets for 50p each to put the treats in.

Vodka Jelly Shots are an essential for any student party if you have the time to make them! You’ll need to make these 48 hours before you need them to ensure they’re fully set. I made 80 in total and used lime and orange flavour jelly. All you need to do is pop 500ml boiling water in with the jelly cubes until they’re full melted. Then top up with 500ml of vodka. If you do this all in a jug then it will be easy to pour into the plastic shot glasses. I topped them up with cold water to make them a bit fuller (and less strong!)

To complete the spooky spread, I have made some eyeball drink floats! These are super easy to make and are edible, of course. Simply cut up strawberry laces into small 2cm lengths. With a knife, make a small hole in the bottom of marshmallows and push two lengths of strawberry laces into the bottom and you’ve got yourself some eye balls. Voila!

You can do all this for under £50 – at university, people love an excuse to dress up and go to house parties so don’t feel guilty about ‘charging entry’ to contribute to the decorations and food! Hope you find this useful and it’s inspired you to put on a party yourself. Everything is easily accessible from the supermarkets so even if it’s last minute, you’ll be able to whip something up.

What are you planning for Halloween this year?

*This post was in collaboration with Ocean Finance, for Think Money.