Ahoy, mateys! Set sail this Halloween to a swashbuckling adventure party — courtesy of a few easy tips that will transform your Halloween celebration into a sword-crossing, treasure-hunting adventure this year, from decorations to costume ideas.

Skull Jack O’ Lanterns

Light your way to the celebration with a new kind of Jack o’ Lanterns — grinning skulls!  Instead of traditional orange Connecticut Fields pumpkins, try using White Lumos variety, a medium-sized white pumpkin perfect for carving a skull-like face.  Use a knife to cut your gaping eye holes and jagged missing-toothed grins — a pumpkin carving kit will help you cut smaller details for accuracy.  Once finished, light a row of grinning skulls using a string of low-watt or low-heat clear bulbs and line your driveway, porch, stoop, or other greeting site for guests.

Treasure Chest

Old wooden crates are hard to come by unless you live near a warehouse or lumber yard, so create your own using cardboard, paint, and black markers.  A bottomless form lets you set them easily over drink coolers or snack trays so your guests have to lift the lid to survey the tasty “treasures” inside.  Add a few rust-painted locks to each lid for effect. 

Quick Costumes

If your guests aren’t coming in costumes of your own, you can provide a few quick “dress up” items for the young (or young at heart) attendees.  Fill one of your cardboard “treasure chests” with speckled handkerchiefs, striped sash-length fabric, fake eye patches and beards, maybe even a stuffed parrot or two.  Cheap costume items are easy to find at dollar stores, retail outlets, and novelty shops — but you can make your own if you prefer.  Cut swords from sheets of heavy cardboard and paint them black or cover with cheap aluminum foil.  Use paint, glue, and feathers to transform an old straw hat into a broad-brimmed pirate’s bonnet worthy of Hook himself. 

Hearty Snacks

Paste labels over your soft drink bottles, transforming them into pirate-worthy beverages like “Rich Rum”, “Bottle o’ Whiskey”, or other creative titles.  While tiny sword toothpicks add a pirate touch to your appetizers, you can make a few simple recipes that will go perfectly with your party theme.  Transform deviled eggs into yellowed eyes by placing an olive half in the center of each one; mix jewel-like Jolly Rancher’s with gold coin-like butterscotch candies in a “treasure bowl” (vanilla sandwich cookies work well as gold coins as well).  Make a sea-storm punch using blue Kool-Aid, ginger ale or sprite, and lime sherbet (float a miniature ship on top if desired).

Be creative and choose decorations and snacks that best suit your favorite parts of pirate lore — a unique pirate-themed Halloween party is sure to be a hit with adventure fans of all ages!