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It's celebrated in a variety of ways and activities including trick-or-treating, ghost tours, bonfires, costume parties, "haunted house" tours, carving pumpkins (Jack-o'-lanterns), reading or telling scary stories, watching scary movies and so on.
There are several traditional games associated with Halloween. One common game is dunking or apple bobbing, in which apples float in a tub or a large barrel of water and the participants must use their teeth to remove an apple from the basin. A variant of dunking involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and trying to drop the fork into an apple. Another common game involves hanging up treacle or syrup-coated scones by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity that inevitably leads to a very sticky face.
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Here are some simple recipies for fun and kreepy treats.
Ghost-on-a-Stick Snacks
To make Ghost-on-a-Stick snacks, you will need:
- A baking tray lined with wax paper.
- A wooden stick or spatula.
- A wide, shallow glass or microwave-safe bowl.
- White Chocolate Pieces
- Bananas Cut in Half Lengthwise
- Popsicle sticks.
- Candy, Raisins or other decorations to form the ghosts' faces.
Once you've gathered your ingredients and tools, follow these instructions to assemble the Ghosts:
- Place the white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat it at 60% power (or level 6) for 1 minute.
- Stir the melted white chocolate. If there are still some solid pieces in the bowl, microwave it again for no more than 1 minute, and then check and stir it. Repeat as necessary until all of the white chocolate has melted.
- Once the white chocolate is completely melted, take it out of the microwave and let it cool a bit until it's just slightly warm.
- Dip the banana halves in the white chocolate to coat them.
- Place the coated banana halves on a wax-paper-lined cookie sheet.
- While the white-chocolate coating is still tacky, use candy, raisins or other decorations to form the ghosts' faces.
- Refrigerate the coated and decorated bananas for at least 20 minutes.
- Insert a popsicle-stick into the bottom of each banana to finish off your Ghost on a Stick snacks, and then serve them within one day.
Creepy-crawly Cupcakes
- 1 Chocolate cupcake per guest
- Canned chocolate icing (or caramel)
- Chocolate sprinkles
- Red sweets, Smarties, Jelly beans etc.
- Black string lace licorice
To assemble:
- Frost the cupcakes with chocolate icing or caramel.
- Roll the tops of the cupcakes in chocolate sprinkles to create a “hairy” look.
- Press two red sweets in the center of the cupcake to serve as eyes.
- Cut eight 4-inch pieces of licorice per cupcake for the legs. Bend each “leg” in half and crease. Push the end of each leg into the cupcake (four on each side).
- Serve!
Ice Cream Jack O'Lanterns
To make Ice Cream Jack O'Lanterns, you will need:
- Navel oranges.
- A knife or a permanent black marker.
- Vanilla ice cream and/or orange sherbet.
- A baking tray.
Once you've gathered your ingredients and tools, follow these instructions to make the Jack O'Lanterns:
- Cut a round lid out of each navel orange.
- Hollow out the oranges by scooping the pulp out of each.
- Use a knife to carve a face in each orange, or draw on faces using a permanent black marker.
- Fill each orange with vanilla ice cream and/or orange sherbet. If you carved faces into the oranges, be careful not to let any ice cream ooze out of the holes.
- Put the lids back on the oranges.
- Place the oranges on the baking tray and freeze them until you are ready to serve them.
The Year-End Party!
It is getting to that time of year when we look forward to a well deserved break. Often though, the year-end function can be boring, monotonous and not much fun. The year-end function is supposed to be an opportunity for employers to thank their teams for all their hard work and dedication, and for employees to celebrate with each other. So what will make a good office party?
I think the number one ingredient is the attitude that both the "boss" and "workers" adopt towards it.
If you as the owner approach it as something you are obliged to do, or something you must get some value out of, then it is doomed to fail. Think of it like this. It's a party for goodness sake! It is just for having fun and to relax and unwind. If you were having a party at home you don't think of it as something you have to do, or "how can I get value out of this?"
If you as an employee approach it as a "get off work early" ticket so you'll go, but leave as soon as possible, then not only will you not enjoy the party, but you may actually spoil it for others. Again, It's a Party! Go with the intention of having great time.
Wow! talk about telling it as it is! Sorry if I rocked the boat a bit. Here is an article I found that give some goodideas to help make your party great. I particularly like the statue one.
Office parties can often be stiff and uptight affairs. However, a few innovative office party ideas and games can go a long way to break the ice and liven up things. For example, a great office party idea is to incorporate some theme such as getting the party attendees to come dressed as famous politicians, or their favorite star or celebrity. Or, perhaps you could have a hippie’s ‘60s or psychedelic ‘70s party, with dressing up according to that period and also playing the music of that time. Or, simply go for the old favorite – come in fancy dress. Or, if it is an office Christmas party, why not have a Santa Claus dress-up, along with some great Christmas office party games? Apart from the theme, to set the mood, here are a few office party games that will turn your office party from being a bore to a blast!
Guess the Movie Game: Before the party, jot down the names of several well-known movies on slips of paper, and put these in a bowl. Tell the party attendees to pair up, and then select one pair to be the first actors. They must pick a slip from the bowl and enact a scene from the movie written on it. The others must guess which the movie is. The first person that guesses correctly will become the next actor along with his/her partner. The game can be continued until every pair has had a chance to become actors.
Famous Movie One Liners: Before the party, write down famous bits of quotes from well-known movies, e.g. "I'll be back." – Terminator, "Would you be shocked if I put on something more comfortable?" – Hell's Angels. Then, during the party, read out these quotes one at a time, with the guests having to guess which movie it is from. Whoever guesses right gets a point. After every quote has been done with, whoever has the most points becomes the winner. To make it more challenging, extra points can be given if they can name the character, actor or actress who said it.
Statue: Explain the rules of the game once the guests arrive. One person has to be chosen as the statue. At a certain point of the party, this person must turn into a statue, in the middle of whatever he or she may be doing. As the other people begin noticing, they too turn into statues. Whoever notices what’s going on last becomes the ‘statue’ for the next round. This game can be quite hilarious, especially when people have to turn into statues in the middle of saying something.
Liar, Liar: Let the guests gather around either a table or just in a circle, and appoint someone as the score-keeper. Each person tells one statement about themselves that is true, and two that are untrue. As each player finishes his/her turn, the others must vote on which statement was the truthful one. The truthful statement is then disclosed, with the player given a point for each incorrect guess. After all players finish, the person who ends up with the highest score is given the title: ‘The Biggest Liar in the Office!’
Transferring the Cotton Balls: This is a hilarious game, and before long everybody will be razzing and laughing at the proceedings. You will require 2 buckets, 2 chairs, some cotton balls, a large serving spoon, a blind fold, and a timer.
Place the two chairs about five feet apart, both in the same direction. Put a bucket in each of those chairs. Put the cotton balls in one bucket. Blindfold the first player, turning him/her around 2-3 times and placing him/her in front of the chair that has the cotton balls. Give the player the spoon, placing it at the edge of the bucket that has the cotton balls, in order to give the player an indication where it is, and setting the timer according to a specified time, say about 2 minutes.
As soon as you say ‘go’, the blindfolded player must start using the spoon to scoop the cotton balls up and putting them into the empty bucket, on the other chair. After each person finishes his/her turn, count the cotton balls that were actually put into the empty bucket. After everybody has had their turn, the one who could successfully transfer the most cotton balls is declared the winner.
Although this game may not sound like anything much, however, it can be a hilarious sight to see the blindfolded player carefully transporting the often empty spoon to the other bucket and gingerly putting empty air into it.
Give Me: This is a fairly simple game, which nevertheless can be quite fun. Get a caller to go in front of the room, and call out the names of various items, like:
- red lipstick
- black shoe
- $10 bill
- nail clipper
- pack of Kleenex
- a picture
- a quarter or some other specific coin
- a flowery handkerchief
Whoever runs up first with any of the items gets a prize. Always ensure having the prizes ready before the party. You can buy little novelty items from the dollar store or inexpensive gift certificates.
October 2010 Newsletter!
Welcome to our newsletter filled with interesting articles related to the celebration of life. Please let us know what you like or dislike in this newsletter, and if there is anything you would like to see in future newsletters. EMAIL US
The Year-End Party!
It is getting to that time of year when we look forward to a well deserved break. Often though, the year-end function can be boring, monotonous and not much fun. Here are some suggestnions on how to fix that.What New Website?
We have
completely changed our website funlights.co.za
Since this month ends with Halloween we thought you would enjoy these simple recipies for fun and kreepy treats. Get the simple recipies here.
Read this newsletter on-line here.