No matter how you plan to spend Halloween this year, here are some ideas that are sure to spice it up.

COSTUMES

Make your own costume on a budget by getting most of it at a thrift store. Buy something like a crusty, old wedding dress for $5 and get that special someone to be the groom (or another bride, or two grooms), wearing a thrift store suit or tux. You can shop elsewhere for accessories that are more specific to your costume if the thrift store doesn't provide.

Better yet, make your pet a costume! Kids who come trick-or-treating at your door will love to see your dog or cat dressed up as a ghost. Again, thrift stores are good places to look for such things as sheets or clothes that you can alter to fit your goal.

If you're feeling very festive, paint your nails to look like candycorn. I had a professor in grad school last fall who did this, and it was quite funny.

Some costume ideas I like for couples are: the Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood; Adam and Eve; Tarzan and Jane; bullfighter and bull; cat and mouse; cookie and a glass of milk; and my favorite, macaroni and cheese. When I was a kid, my parents dressed up as a double bed by getting inside a really wide cardboard box with holes poked in the top for their heads and attaching a sheet and pillows to the outside. It was the best one-of-a-kind costume I've ever seen!

If you and a group of friends are stuck trying to figure out how to dress up, think group costumes. Someone can be a beekeeper, the others can be bees or you can have a zookeeper and the animals. It will surely make for a memorable evening!

If you're in need of ideas or you don't know what you "want to be" for Halloween, check the Internet. There are tons of Halloween sites.

http://ky.essortment.com/adulthalloween_raed.htm

http://www.extremehalloween.com/deluxe.htm

http://www.halloweencostumes4u.com/

http://directory.google.com/Top/Home/Entertaining/Holidays/Halloween/Parties/

DECOR

Carve a pumpkin like you've never carved one before. Sure, there are all kinds of kits and books you can buy that tell you how to carve, but go out on a limb this year. And do it the organic way, with something you already have. Just think about the tools in a new light. Think cookie cutters, pastry cutters, and visuals other than faces. You can buy small pumpkins for 49 cents each at the market. Carve them like their larger counterparts and use them as votive candle holders. These make a nice decoration for coffee tables or even your porch.

I don't know any twentysomethings who still go trick-or-treating (thank goodness), but it's a quirky holiday you can never grow out of that makes for whacky parties.

POTIONS

Add ghoulishishness to your witches brew by filling latex gloves with water, putting them in the freezer for a couple days and then letting them float in your punch bowl. Or, turn your beer orange with a magic spell of food coloring. Green beer is the St. Patrick's Day custom, but give it a new twist this Halloween. You can find food coloring at any grocery store. Mix red and yellow to get orange beer. Use pale ale for a brighter color.

Vampire's Kiss

Ingredients:

* 2 oz Vodka

* 1/2 oz dry Gin

* 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth

* 1 tblsp Tequila

* 1 pinch Salt

* 2 oz Tomato juice

Mixing instructions:

Shake with ice. Strain over ice in an old fashioned glass.

Smashing Pumpkin (shot)

Ingredients:

* 1/3 oz Kahlua

* 1/3 oz Bailey's irish cream

* 1/3 oz Goldschlager

Mixing instructions:

small shaker with ice add ingredients, stir, strain into shot glass

source: http://www.webtender.com/specials/halloween/

Check this site for Halloween drink recipes: http://www.webtender.com/specials/halloween/