When we think Halloween, we think orange and black, carved pumpkins and toffee apples, cauldrons and candy. But just like in any relationship, it’s good to spice things up every once in a while. You can show Halloween some love by mixing up the way you celebrate it! Here are 5 twists on Halloween traditions you could give a go this year…
Mermaid Pumpkins
This trend has been popping up on our Instagram Explore page, and is super easy to pull off. Simply spray paint a pumpkin in a pastel colour (available for as cheap as £2.70 on Amazon), spray paint a different colour over a fishscale stencil (also available really cheap on Amazon), and then add your own finishing touches as you like! Glitter, sequins, pearls, shells, fabric flowers – the world’s your oyster. These beautiful mermaid-inspired pumpkins are sure to make a splash (sorry) as some fresh Halloween decorations, and make for a very aesthetic Instagram post.
Unicorn Tears Chocolate Apples
These hugely colourful chocolate apples are a welcome vibrant update on traditional apples dunked purely in toffee. Put 130g sugar, 65g water, 65g light corn syrup and a dab of food colouring in a saucepan. Bring this all to the boil, and then repeat with as many different colours as you like. Then melt 450g of white chocolate (our mouths are watering) and coat your chosen apple in it. (Don’t forget to replace the apple stem with a lollypop stick or something similar first!) Let the chocolate set, and then drizzle your different coloured mixtures over the top to create those unicorn tears. An explosion of colour and sugar, these treats will taste all the better when you remind yourself they count as one of your five-a-day.
Pun-kins
Another twist on the traditional carving of pumpkins, these are a lot easier, way less messy, and there’s no health and safety risk involved. Either leave your pumpkin au naturel, or spray paint it a colour of your choice. Then take a Sharpie and let your cringiest puns run wild – some of our favourite phrases you could use are ‘If you’ve got it, haunt it’; ‘#SquadGhouls’ and ‘Trick or treat yo’self’. (Also very appropriate Insta captions for your best Halloween photos.)
Bathe In Your Own Company
While Halloween can be an amazing time to get dressed up, eat way too much sugar and judge other people’s questionable costumes at Unit One, for some of us it’s a bit more than we’d like to handle (#introvertsalltheway). Tradition states that trick-or-treating and extravagant costumes are a must, but if you’d rather stay in this Halloween, we completely feel you. Treat yourself to a cosy night in, knowing that the next morning you won’t be suffering from a sugar or booze-induced hangover. If you still want to feel the Halloween spirit a little bit, Lush have got some spookalicious bath bombs, soaps and lip tints which will still get you in the Halloween mood in the comfort of your house.
Pumpkin Spice Matcha Latte
It’s good to keep Starbucks on their toes, so why not go for a homemade Pumpkin Spice Matcha Latte every once in a while this Halloween season instead of always going for a ready-made PSL? This recipe is really easy, healthy, vegan and probably cheaper than Starbs, so it’s a winner all-round. Combine 130g boiling water, 130g almond milk, 1 – 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 1/2 a teaspoon Matcha powder, and 1/4 a teaspoon pumpkin pie spice. Then you need to mix them all together – this works best if you (or a generous housemate) has a blender, but if not you can just pour it all into a travel cup/thermos, make sure the lid’s on tightly and shake hard for about a minute! You can either add ice if you fancy a chilled drink, or enjoy hot with a dollop of whipped cream on top.
However you enjoy Halloween this year, we hope you have a fab time and that you enjoy adding a bit of (pumpkin) spice to your celebrations!