Day of the Dead Balloon DIY

This weekend isn't just Halloween. It also marks the Mexican Day of the Dead Festival. A celebration of both life and death, remembering those who are no longer with us in colourful festival style.

We've been busy designing our very own Day of the Dead inspired balloons, drawing on the iconic candy skill design. The balloons are so simple to recreate, all you need in a good permanent marker pen and a pack of plain white balloons! Then get creative! Draw on your unique candy skull designs and then inflate with helium to let them sway around the house and add some character to your Halloween or Day of the Dead parties this weekend. A perfect DIY decoration activity to get the kids involved with and teach them a little bit about the festivities of another culture.

So make sure this weekend isn't all about the spook and gore! As some colour and a touch of the Day of the Dead festivities to your weekend.

If you are focusing on the Day of the Dead or throwing a Halloween party in the spirit of this festival, then there is still time to grab a load of fancy dress, masks, decorations and more to get the festivities under way!

And remember! If you stop by in store to pick up your a few packs of white balloons and other decorations, then you could even get your Day of the Dead face paint done for free!

Will you be celebrating Day of the Dead this weekend?

Find your Fancy Dress for less than £15!

Still struggling to pick what you will be dressing up as this Halloween? With only a few days to go the pressure is mounting!

Find yourself the perfect Halloween costume in time for the weekend with Flingers. Check out our sample of spooky costumes all available for less than £15! Complete the looks with any of our fancy dress accessories (many available for less than a fiver!) and get ready to welcome in the Halloween weekend without a worry about what to wear!
 

 1. Devil Costume - £14.99

Everything you need to transform into a foxy, fiery devil this Halloween!

2. Carnage Cape - £10.99

A gory style white cape with blood splatter all over it. Perfect to add the finishing gruesome details to many costume ideas.

 

3. Gothic Bride Kit - £14.99

Includes rose and skull veil, choker and gloves. Everything you'll need to portray that Gothic bride to be look!

4. Vampire Bat Wings - £8.99

Black Vampire Bat Wings with High Collar. A must have for a bat costume.

 

1. Dungeon Master - £14.99
Transform into an eerie dungeon master this Halloween. Complete with a tunic and hood, simply accessories with your weapon of choice.

2. Vampire Cape - £4.29
Black PVC cape complete with Dracula inspired high collars. An essential element of any vamped up costume this Halloween.

3. Stabbed in the Back - £11.99
This novelty fancy dress option is for those of you who rather base their costume on a clever play of words.

4. Punk Skull Rocker - £14.99
Perfect for the music aficionado! Team this terrifying punk rocker mask with your most appropriate band tee for a haunting punk rocker look! Complete with piercings and Mohawk - but a skull face!

Stock is running low with Halloween right around the corner. So grab your fancy dress essentials before you miss out!

If you plan on stopping by to pick up your last minute Halloween costumes, decorations, balloons and more in store on Saturday 31st October, you could even get your face painted for free! The best way to complete your fancy dress plans!

Will you be stopping by to try out our free face painting service this weekend?

FREE Halloween Face Painting

It's time for another Halloween special treat!

In need of some top face painting to complete your Halloween costume?

Take advantage of our free face painting event at Flingers when you spend £10 or over in store on Saturday 31st October. Stop by to collect all the accessories, fancy dress, decorations and tableware you'll need to throw your Halloween extravaganza - and then get your face painted for free!

This special event is for one day only, so stop by on the spookiest day of the year between 12pm until 5pm to join in.

Find us at 73-75 Gloucester Road, Patchway, Bristol, BS34 5JQ. And remember our free face painting service is on a first come first serve basis! So don't miss out!

Will you be joining us?

Creative Pumpkin Ideas

Looking for a goo-free pumpkin carving session this year? Or just looking to get more creative with your pumpkin creations?

There are a million ways you can decorate and customise pumpkins without having to get a big spoon and start digging out those messy pumpkin insides! With a little imagination, you can have stylish pumpkins with minimal mess! Check out our top 5 ways to customise pumpkins this Halloween and create a stylish feature to decorate any Halloween event with.

Glittertastic Pumpkins   |   Dip Dye Mini Pumpkins

1. Go Glitter!
Turn your pumpkins into sparkling wonders this Halloween.  Follow glitterinc.com's DIY tutorial to recreate these stylish dip dye glittery wonders.

One Step Stocking Pumpkins   |   Lace Pumpkin DIY

 2. Laced Up Pumpkins
Those pretty lace stockings or patterned tights with the hole in that you'll probably never wear again? Well put them to good use once and for all with one of the easiest but most effective approaches to pumpkin decoration! Get the tutorial here.

Chalkboard Pumpkins   |   Painted Pumpkins

 3. Get your Paintbrushes Out
Perfect for getting messy with the kids, grab some paint, few paint brushes and viola! Find top tips on painting your pumpkins this Halloween with Melissa at honeybeevintage.com. Or open a tin of chalkboard paint to make your pumpkins customisable on the big night! It's a new take on the guest book anyway!

Ribbon Pumpkins   |    Washi Tape Pumpkins

4. Washi Tape does Halloween
Want to go for a more simple and stylish pumpkin look this Halloween? Grab a roll of sticky backed ribbon or even our old favourite Washi Tape, and add rings of colour to your pumpkins.

Swarm of Bats Pumpkin   |   Moustache Pumpkins

5. Paper Cut Pumpkins
Goo-free, paint-free and mess-free! For those of your out there who are more into paper crafts, then get your scalpel out this Halloween. Clever additions can even add some personality to your gang of pumpkins this October!

 Do you enjoy carving pumpkins at this time of year? Or are you keen to try those gloop-free ideas?

Your Halloween Accessories - Under £5

To perfect your fancy dress, we all know it's the little details which make it. That's why we have tons of awesome Halloween accessories for less than £5!

Check out our top accessories to complete your look this Halloween. 

1. Black Cat Kit £2.99
From the ears, to the tail, to the bow tie, this Black Cat Kit will have you wishing bad luck upon anyone who's path you cross this Halloween.

2. Devil Horns £1.59
The classic go to Halloween accessory! A pair of PVC red devil horns is sure to spice up your fancy dress this Halloween.

3. Hatchet Through The Head £2.49
Had an horrific accident? This novelty headband will see to that!

4. Vampire Fang & Make Up Kit £4.69
Grab the complete Vampire Make Up Kit for less than a fiver! Complete with all the paint, sponges,  fangs, fake blood and instructions to perfect your vampire look.

5. Gruesome Wound from £2.29
Whatever your costume, throw in some added gore with bloody fake wounds. From gory bullet holes to vampire bites, what type of wound will complete your Halloween character?

6. Mini Vamp Cape £4.49
For those who like the taste of blood on Halloween - get the vampire look with this mini high collar cape.

7. Spider Web Lace Gloves £4.49
Whether you are going as a gothic bride, wicked witch or any endless stream of spooky characters, these spider web inspired lace gloves will be sure to add a touch of glamour to your ghoulish look.

8. Mini Witch Hat  £4.69
Top off the witchy look with this deluxe hat, complete with gothic veiling. Plus comes in black too!

9. Authentic Witches Broom £1.99
We all know no wizard or witch it complete without their trusty boom!

All this and much much more is available online and in store at Flingers Party Shop.
With delivery from just £1.40 or try our FREE Click and Collect Service to get your Halloween essentials before you miss out. Order now, whilst stocks last!

What are you planning to dress up as this Halloween?

DIY Halloween Prop Box

Our series of downloadable photo booth props have proven to be a hit with all you party planners out there, so we've put together a special Halloween Prop Box ready to download ahead of whatever Halloween plans you are putting together.

Full of scary pumpkin masks, ghoulish skulls, bats, spooky speech bubbles and more! Download our DIY Halloween Prop Box and follow the simple instructions to create your very own party photo booth. Complete your photo booth with a fitting backdrop. Hanging crepe streamers work as a simple but effective background, or put up a ghoulish scene setter for the full Halloween effect.

Halloween Scene Setters - Perfect for Photo Booth Backdrops

How to make your Halloween Photo Booth Props:

1. Download and print our spooky photo props onto A4 paper or card.
2. Mount each prop onto cardboard or foamboard using spray adhesive.
3. Carefully cut out each prop and shape using sharp scissors. Reinforce any slim or fiddly sections (the spider’s legs!) with extra card or secure blunt cocktail sticks to the rear.
4. Attach a short stick to each prop to allow them to be handled easily. A glue gun works best!
5. Bring on the big night!

Trick or Treat Props

Don't have the time to create your own DIY Props?

Grab a ready made set of spooky props to keep your photo booth stocked this Halloween! Order these Trick or Treat Photobooth set online or stop by in store to pick up

Will you be trying out a Halloween photo booth this year?

Dracula's Denture Cookies

We're getting very excited about Halloween and all the things that come with it. Including lots of creative twists on your usual party snacks. After all, everything needs to fit the party theme right?

How awesome are these Dracula's Denture Cookies? Made by Christy over on the-girl-who-ate-everything.com, we're very impressed with how effectively she has turned some innocent cookies and angelic marshmallows into something so ghoulish!

Get the full recipe and tutorial to have a go recreating Dracula's Dentures yourself ready for your Halloween party at the end of the month. All this simple recipe requires is cookies, marshmallows, icing and almonds. But we think you could even turn these into a healthy Halloween treat, by substituting the cookies for apple slices and the icing for peanut butter. Healthy and tasty whist still equally spooky!

Are you planning any Halloween bakes this month?

Plan the Ultimate Halloween Party

Time to get planning! Our favourite time of year is coming. From a simple get together or the ultimate Halloween bash, a little bit of planning is essential! Follow out top tips to put together the best Halloween party around.

Download these glittery yet bloody Halloween invites

 Get the Invites Out
There are always a ton of great events or parties to go to on Halloween, so be sure to get the word out and hand your invites out early to make sure all your guests know where to head on the big night!
You can find lots of awesome Halloween invites online, available to download, print out and customise at home. These glittery and bloody invites are our favourite!

 Plan your Decorations
From huge scary scene setters to spooky spider webs to skull chandeliers, there are so many ways you can get your home or party venue looking terrifyingly perfect! Or are you planning to get creative and DIY your decorations? It's surprising what some white napkins, string and a black pen can create.....

Shop your perfect Halloween costumes at Flingers

It's Dress Up Time
As the party host, your costume needs to be perfect! Whether you are more of a zombie or more of a novelty giant pumpkin! At Flingers we have a huge selection of fancy dress for both kids and adults. Stay tuned to the Flingers website and check out all the latest fancy dress as it gets added to the site this week. But don't forget to grab a few extra gory wounds or gruesome boils so that any guests who arrive without a costume can put them on to get into the spirit of the evening!

Cotton Twine and Fake Spiders - All you need to create these creepy-crawly pumpkins!

Prepare your Party Games
 No Halloween is complete with out a carved pumpkin or two! Why not make it into more of a sport and have a pumpkin carving competition at the party. Entertainment and party décor sorted at once! And, of course, bobbing for apples - it would be a crime not too...

Punch bowl surprises await with this simple DIY idea

Stock Up on Spooky Treats
From Poison Black Apples to Screaming Marshmallow Skulls, get some inspiration to make your treats spooktacular!
A big bowl of punch goes down well at any party, but get this year's punch fit match the theme with ghostly floating hands bobbing in the bowl. We made these to spook out our guests last Halloween - they're so simple to create too!

Is Halloween your favourite time of year too?

Rugby World Cup Biscuit Bakes

All set for an important weekend of rugby? Joining in with the spirit of the world cup, we've been on the hunt for some awesome Rugby World Cup treats that we could keep us going the the ups and downs of the weekend to come.

For all round biscuit inspiration, then we all know you need not look much further than www.biscuiteers.com. A world class biscuit bakery based in London were commissioned to create bespoke red and white rugby ball biscuits for the launch party of the world cup. Now that is some good piping!

Grab yourself a Rugby Ball Cookie cutter and attempt to create your own at home. Inspired by your home nation colours, or you could ice each biscuit with the name of a rugby fanatic you know as a surprise gift.

Or if you don't have a cookie cutter to hand, a simple rectangle could be turned into a colourful spread of world cup flags. Check out www.christinabartlett.com to get some top tips and see how she individually created a biscuit flag to represent every team in the 2015 world cup.

Will you be baking up some rugby inspired treats?