The company where I work used to have costume contests for Halloween, both for individuals and departments. One year, the marketing department became the “ghoul scouts.” This badge program will help you examine how to create a theme in the spirit of Halloween.
P.S. Our department did win first place with our “ghoul scouts” theme.
Steps
1. Brainstorm.
Start with brainstorming. List all things that you can change from normal to “ghoulish” to add to your holiday fun. Check out Pinterest and Google to help with ghoulish ideas.
2. Uniforms.
You could wear black, white and gray, coordinated, of course. A dark plaid also helps break up the solid colors. White pancake makeup on our faces helped us look ghoulish. Look through sites and find clothing and makeup tutorials to help perfect your ghoulishly good looks.
3. Accessories.
Since all scouts have uniforms, we needed them as well. Our “sash” was a black strip of material and we tied the ends together. Instead of year pins, I made skulls with the help of a clay mold and pin backs. Our troop number was “666”. Our faux badges included:
- Bat Obedience
- Care of Familiars
- Cauldron Craft
- Fairy Collecting
- Grave Robbing
- Noose Tying
- Roadkill Identification
- Voodoo
Starting with these ideas, explore ways you can craft your own ghoul scout accessories.
4. Your way.
As you read through this badge program, note what items you would like to incorporate as well as additional ideas you have to make the theme of Ghoul Scouts your very own.
Props
5. Field trips.
Scouts like to go places. Since we had to come up with a way to show where we had been, I made a “field trip” book of partially destroyed buildings, cemeteries and the like. Look around and see what kind of things you can photograph and add to a faux scrapbook. Making the images black and white helped carry the theme.
6. Photo album.
This was an “on the spot” project. The book was made before the event. We took digital pictures, sized and printed them on location and finished the book. It was a great way to show all the “ghouls” together.
7. Faux cookies.
Print and design faux boxes of cookies. Be sure to keep the creep in mind. Our cookie types included EyeBalls, Jacks, Lady Fingers, Misfortunes, Snake-a-Roos and Spider Bites. See the supplements for Ghoul Scout cookie printables.
8. Fairy.
After running many fairy events, the use of this fantasy creature helped our ghoul theme. Think bug collection, but using fairies instead. It was complete with t-pins holding the fairies in place. What other collections might Ghoul Scouts make?
9. Body parts.
Check out local party stores, unused materials and crafting ideas for “body parts.” We got some cut off fingers and put them next to the guillotine paper cutter. Look around yourself and see what you have that can be incorporated into your theme.
10. Recycled.
Take a piece of art and adjust it to make it ghoulish. Somehow I had acquired a painting of grapes that was not good. Using white acrylic paint, I adjusted the grapes so they looked like little faces. Finding things and adjusting them can add to your collection easily while giving you mementos (if you want to store them).
11. Props.
One of our group was a Halloween addict like myself. She had props at home like a backwards running clock and a rat on a stick. What items do you have at home that you can use for a ghoul theme?
12. Ravensblight.
This site has awesome printables that we used for supplementary prompts. Check out the site and save those items that would be really cool for your own ghoulish event.
Snacks
13. Extraordinary.
You can jazz up normal food by adding a few things to make it extraordinary. For example, a plate of normal cookies had flies and gummy worms included. When your chocolate chip cookies are still hot, use a toothpick to pull some of the chocolate to give the chips “spider legs.” Remember to put a note if any of the items in your “food” tray is inedible.
14. Misfortunes.
For a long time, my oldest would claim that her fortune cookie always said . . .
“Pain and misfortune will haunt your pathetic soul for all eternity.”
We took this idea and made fortune cookies with misfortunes in them. Check out the supplement for some of the misfortunes we used.
15. Others.
Look through holiday treats and find some that look “tasteless” that kids will love. Of course, Kitty Litter Cake comes to mind immediately. Collect a few recipes and try them out before using them for your ghoulish theme.
Supplements
SUPP_ Ghoul Scouts_2in_12up_larajla
- Avery 2” round label printable, 12 up
SUPP_ Ghoul Scouts_Checklist_larajla
- Badge checklist
SUPP_Printable_BOX_Eyeball Cookies_larajla
- Box for Ghoul Scouts Eye Balls — soft meltaway with a juicy center
SUPP_Printable_BOX_Jacks Cookies_larajla
- Box for Ghoul Scouts Jacks — Firm cookie with a flaming filling
SUPP_Printable_BOX_Lady Fingers Cookies_larajla
- Box for Ghoul Scouts Lady Fingers — Bite-size with a crunchy center
SUPP_Printable_BOX_Misfortunes Cookies_larajla
- Box for Ghoul Scouts Misfortunes — Crunch and a curse in one
SUPP_Printable_BOX_SnakeaRoos Cookies_larajla
- Box for Ghoul Scouts Snake-a-Roo — Chewy and long-lasting flavor
SUPP_Printable_BOX_SpiderBites Cookies_larajla
- Box for Ghoul Scouts Spider Bites — Crunch and gooey goodness
SUPP_Printable_CC_Ghoul_larajla
- Unpleasant cootie catcher
SUPP_Printable_Misfortune Sayings_larajla
- Samples of misfortunes you can print and put into fortune cookies (felt or craft foam)
Sites to Explore
The owner of this site is the other Halloween crazy person mentioned in the badge program above.
Get the infographic here > larajla blog post
Get the PDFs of the badge program / supplements here > Full badge PDFs