You may have been contemplating some fall and Halloween style decorations for your home and for your yard as well, and believe it or not, it’s not too soon to start putting them out now as the cool crisp days of fall are nearly upon us. 

One of the newest trends in Halloween decorations that will create both a dramatic as well as festive flair to any yard or garden is that of inflatable yard art.  At night when the decoration is inflated and illuminated, the figure literally comes to life with nearly animated features that create an exciting effect with a very huge impact.  These are decorations that cannot be ignored and create a lot of bang for your buck.

Another very versatile prop to own is that of a completely posable dummy.  The generic dummy form can be dressed in any costume that you like and can be changed from year to year for versatility and to go along with the theme of your other decorations.  Make sure your porch has a dressed for Halloween personage there both to scare as well as watch over all of the festivities. 

A really fun idea for your yard at Halloween is to recreate the scene of a graveyard.  Complete with disinterred spooks, some ground breaking skeletons and a few tombstones your yard can be transformed into a frightful scene that is sure to scare a few trick or treaters.  While you are at it, be sure to add a few animated props to your eerie Halloween scene.   Props that move, talk ghoulishy or jump out at appropriate times are always tried and true favorites for good ol’ Halloween scares. 

Halloween is the second most popular holiday for home and yard decorating, so you won’t want to wait to pick out your favorite selections.  Get what you want now because just like most Halloween spooks, after a while this stuff will simply cease to exist. With the right decorations and props your Halloween is going to be absolutely spook-tacular!

Halloween is becoming personalized in a big way this year! 

You can have your name engraved on just about anything Halloween!

• trick-or-treat bags
• decorations
• clothing
• bibs
• candy bowls 
• pillow cases
• door mats

Nothing makes the fall season look better than an adorable personalized Halloween doormat with a few ghosts, a few pumpkins and of course a black cat all surrounded with a ghostly welcome with your name at the bottom.  They really are cute and a great way to welcome all your little trick-or-treaters! 

My children especially like the personalized trick or treat bags.  They have their name engraved on them so that there is no mix up on whose candy is whose; of course we wouldn’t want that to happen!  They also make great gifts that they can give their friends!

This year personalize your Halloween with these great items from HalloweenExpress.com!

All kinds of weird concoctions and brews await your party goers.  Give them a drink that they’ll remember!

Here are a few ideas of some great killer cocktails for your next Halloween blow-out!

Mali-boo Witches Brew

1 1/4 oz. Malibu rum
3/4 oz. white creme de cacao
1/4 oz. grapefruit juice
3/4 oz. orange juice

Combine ingredients in a shaker filled with ice.  Shake well and serve into martini glass and garnish with Halloween gummy worms.

Satan’s Whiskers

1/2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. dry vermouth
1/2 oz. sweet vermouth
1/2 oz. freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 oz. Grand Marnier
1 dash orange bitters

Stir with ice and then strain into a stemmed cocktail glass. You can garnish with an orange twist.

The Headless Horseman

2 oz. black vodka
3 dashes bitters
Ginger ale

Pour the vodka and bitters into a glass. Fill the glass with ice, then pour in ginger ale. Garnish with a slice of blood orange.

Don’t be discouraged if you’re a beer drinker; Halloween doesn’t discriminate on your choice of beverage!  Get your beer loving friends in on the action by icing up your very own Witch Cauldron Cooler!  There’s not a better way to keep your beverages cold on Halloween!

Wow there is so much going on in the month of February; Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras, President’s Day and the one we just missed – Groundhog’s Day (although that would be a hard one as far as costumes are concerned).

However we all know that the biggest party holiday of the month is definitely Mardi Gras!  There are celebrations, parades, costumes, decorations and parties, parties and more parties all over the country, but none bigger then in New Orleans.  How cool would it be to hang out at the French Quarter and Bourbon Street during some of the crazy festivities.  The Mardi Gras Carnival season actually started back on January 6th, but the grand finale is Mardi Gras Day (also known as Fat Tuesday) on February 16th.  

If you can’t make it to New Orleans this year then bring Bourbon Street to you!  HalloweenExpress.com has everything you’ll need  from wonderful Mardi Gras costumes and elegant sequin masks to those infamous Mardi Gras beads and boas to make your party one for the record books!

Don’t let this February 16th pass you by without throwing your own Fat Tuesday party!

The same goes for Halloween!   Don’t you want to know what the new trend in costumes for 2009 is going to be?  Every year HalloweenExpress.com comes out with a sneak peek at the years new costumes.  This year is no exception!  And best of all, you can check out the Halloween costume ideas 2009 right here.  There are plenty of costume ideas for everyone.

Halloween costumes for everyone in your family; women’s, men’s, kids, teens, tweens and don’t forget your pet – there’s new pet costumes for them too!  Want to get some new decorations to add to your old ones from last year?  No problem, they have new Halloween props and decorations that you just have to see!

In addition to all the ideas you get, you can also see a list of the top Halloween costume picks for 2009.  Between all these great costumes ideas and top ten lists, you’ll be more than ready for Halloween!

I’m telling you, HalloweenExpress.com has everything you need to make this Halloween the best yet!!

There is nothing I like better than personalized holiday decorations!  I think they are simply adorable and add the perfect touch to any home.  Having your last name on a ghostly welcome mat at your front door is a great way to welcome all the little trick or treaters in your neighborhood.

HalloweenExpress.com now has personalized Halloween items on their website and to tell you the truth I just spent about an hour checking out everything from welcome mats and candy bowls to trick or treat bags and apparel.   I think I want one of everything!

One of my favorite items that the kids love as well are the personalized trick or treat bags.  It makes it so much easier with their names on them so that we don’t have any fighting over who took who’s bag by mistake.  When it comes to their Halloween candy it’s amazing how children know exactly what candy is in there!  Now if I would ask my son what he did in school today, he wouldn’t have a clue, but ask him what kind of candy he has left in his Halloween bag he can tell you piece by piece!  It’s amazing isn’t it?!

Children love personalized Halloween clothing as well.  Each year my kids have a Halloween party at school and they’re allowed to be out of uniform that day.  Instead of costumes they want the children to wear something that falls in line with the Halloween theme.  That’s where the personalized sweatshirts come in handy.  With “too cute to spook” or “pumpkin princess” written across the front they’re perfect for any child.

So this year don’t forget your personalized Halloween decorations!  It’s the perfect way to add that little extra something to your home and/or yard.

Red wine couldn’t be any more appropriate for a Halloween party because of its color.  Seeing Dracula walking around with a goblet of blood (aka Cabernet Sauvignon) adds an aura of creepiness to the partys atmosphere. 

Halloween Wine with names like “Bone Dry Red” complete with a black and white skeleton on the label and ”Ghostly White” with a label of hands reaching up from the dead are the perfect beverages for your Halloween party!

So this year in keeping with the Halloween theme serve your guests Bone Dry Cabernet or Ghostly White Sweet or Chardonnay!  Believe me, your guests will be dying for it…

October isn’t just a month for Halloween costumes, but Halloween decorations as well.  It used to be you would carve a pumpkin and put it out on your porch for Halloween night, but not anymore! 

Decorating your yard for Halloween has become hugely popular over the years.  Yard haunts, haunted driveways, creepy culdesacs – no matter what you call it decorating your yard for this holiday is the way to go! 

You can make your yard into a spooky graveyard or evil cemetary in a matter of hours and it’s so much fun to do.  We do it every year and the neighbors have now got into the Halloween spirit and have begun to spook their yards up as well. 

Two of the most important things you’ll need to put the finishing special effects on any yard haunt is a fog machine and good scary Halloween music.  Nothing says bloodcurdling, spine-chilling and frightening more than a haze of fog floating along the ground over your makeshift front yard cemetary all the while eerie music playing in the background. 

So this year, don’t just decorate the inside of your house for Halloween, decorate the outside as well! 

With June and July being big months for graduation parties, many parents are looking for ways to make their teenagers party memorable.  The best way to do that is by creating a “theme” for your party.  Here are some ideas:

• Hawaiian Luau
• Fiesta
• Casino
• Mardi Gras
• Sports
• College Bound

The most popular theme for a graduation party is the Hawaiian Luau theme.  There is a lot you can do with carrying this fun tropical theme thoughout your party.  Hawaiian costumes, flowered leis, tiki torches and it’s easy to decorate in a tropical theme with palm trees, coconuts and thatch umbrellas. 

HalloweenExpress.com has everything you’ll need to make a fun-filled grad party, Hawaiian style! 

I can’t believe Memorial Day is only two weeks away!  To me that is the “unofficial” start to summer.  With the parades and families getting together for grill-outs, it’s always a great time to start the summer.  Don’t forget your red, white and blue decorations, accessories AND costumes!  At HalloweenExpress.com you’ll find patriotic costumes for every age. 

Kids Costumes

A great way to keep your little ones occupied over the summer is with costumes.  Playing dress-up is a fun and creative way for your child to play.  With kids costumes you can let your child’s imagination run wild!  They will play for hours as cowboys and Indians, superheroes that save the world, princesses and knights in shining armor.  Girls and boys will both have fun picking out costumes for their summer fun!