Watch this post today, because, as the day goes on, I will be updating links to the recipes and craft tutorials shown here to help you throw your own spooky Girls’ Night In without a hitch!

Are you looking for a spooky, scary, sparkly, and super-duper chocolatey Halloween party? You’re also wanting to plan it on a budget, and get some serious WOW factor in there? Never fear… this Death by Chocolate Girls’ Night in is perfect for you and your girlfriends to get together and enjoy an evening in, and you get to be the hostess with the mostess as you impress with this tablescape.

Start from the ground up… I started with a plain black tablecloth from Party City ($1.99) and a spooky-ooky backdrop from Walmart (Freaky Fabric, Halloween Department, $2.97– I grabbed two and hung one above the other to cover plenty of backdrop). These little details will set the stage for your party.

From there, I dug through my party stash. I’ve found that buying items after holidays on clearance can save big money for party time… don’t worry about buying season-specific items, but instead focus on those items that can be used again and again. Check out those silver chargers I’ve displayed my food on… those were purchased half price after Christmas several years ago, and they’re my go-to party staple. The mirrors? My mom scored them for me on Freecycle… that’s right– FREE! If you love to entertain, keeping an eye on freecycle and craigslist, as well as hitting the after holiday sales, is your best bet for getting some great party basics for next to nothing.

If you don’t have the chargers, though, and love the look, you might check Michaels or Hobby Lobby– I recently found chargers in many colors for only $1.00 each at Michaels!

Several years ago, one of my close friends was kind enough to indulge my obsession with fondue, and purchased a fondue fountain for my birthday. There are many, many fondue fountains available for rent or purchase. Amazon has listings starting at around $30.00, but you can also serve this awesome blood fondue (recipe here) in a standard fondue pot for a laid-back look. I just loved how this looked like flowing blood thanks to some Americolor food coloring!

As soon as I saw that styrofoam glitter skull, I knew it would match my glitter pumpkins perfectly! I found it in the Bargain Spot near the front of my Target store for only $2.50, and as a bonus, it even came in assorted colors– I chose the black skull, but they even had green and purple!

My ice gems were an after-Christmas purchase a few years ago, and I’ve repeated them in several parties again and again, and I decided to add in a little more silver by putting a vase of silver twigs I’ve had for awhile now, which adds a little height and interest behind the fountain.

Check out these fun little spiders on the edge of my plates! It took these fun silver chargers from Christmas party to Halloween party in nothing flat– and the whole 8 pack of spiders cost me just a couple of dollars at Walmart, pre-glittered and everything! These little touches can take a solid colored item from any holiday’s post-holiday sales and update it for a different gathering. I loved how it instantly changed my fondue dippers from a plate of dippers to a glam, spooky plate of dippers!

For beverages, I grabbed some wineglasses I had on hand and a tube of red gel icing (sold at most stores for less than $2.00) and rimmed each glass. You can also use light corn syrup tinted with food coloring if you’d prefer not to purchase the gel. My black punch was very simple– I took water, added some Mio in my favorite flavors (Strawberry Watermelon in some and Blueberry Lemonade in others) and swirled a toothpick with Wilton black food coloring gel (from Hobby Lobby or Michael’s) into it. However, right now, Target has limited edition “Ghoul Aid” in Scary Blackberry that would be perfect for a Halloween event!

For the spiderwebs, I squeezed silver glitter glue in spiderweb patterns onto waxed paper. Once it dried, I peeled it off and laid it on my tablecloths and mirrors for a spooky but glam touch. These pumpkins got the glitter treatment, too… you can find a tutorial for them here.

Finally, I added several tealights on the table to give some ambient lighting and really set the mood for the dark, girly, spooky evening.

This meatball recipe I’ll be sharing later today has been my go-to for Girls’ Night since I was in college, but here it is jazzed up with cocktail forks purchased from Party City– 20 forks for $3.99– and the best part is that you can either throw them away after the party since they’re so affordable, or you can handwash them and use them again.

I also jazzed up some tomato soup and put it in some mini cordial glasses, also from Party City, and skewered a two-cheese faux grilled cheese on top for a lovely appetizer option. The glasses, like the cocktail forks, were budget friendly (10 glasses for $4.99) and had the option of being tossed away at the end or handwashed again and again. Since I’m frugal, I handwash mine and store them for the next party.

For the three appetizer recipes, you can check out the recipes here.

Mini Death By Chocolate Peanut Butter Oreo Cheesecakes add to the very very chocolate side of things (recipe can be found here), while Vanilla Black Sparkle Fudge is decadent without the cocoa (recipe here).

The VooDoo Doll Cookies I served added a touch of whimsy (tutorial and recipe here), while the Black Forest Bars were decadent and almost sinful with their rich, glorious flavor. You can find the recipe for the Black Forest Bars here.

My favorite part of this fun girl’s night in is to play up the voodoo doll side of things. Not only do you have an amazing PMS kind of party with all of this chocolate, but you have the perfect opportunity for venting over a nice glass of… well, whatever your black punch of choice is. For my Death By Chocolate party, I decided to allow my guests to create these adorable little mock-VooDoo dolls (tutorial and free printable pattern can be found here). While creating them, we were able to gripe about our VooDoo inspiration of choice (be it our bosses, our exes, our mothers-in-law, or whoever happened to be on our last nerve at that point). It was the perfect PMS-fueled activity for our very chocolate evening! And didn’t they turn out so cute? These adorable dolls are just perfect for beating the stuffing out of on a stressful day, or cuddling with if you really need a hug.

Add a little more chocolate into the mix, and you’re looking at the perfect girls-only Halloween party.

Want this look for yourself? Check out the tutorials and recipes here!

1. All That Glitters Sparkly Pumpkin Tutorial.
2. Black Forest Bars Recipe.
3. Chocolate Peanut Butter Oreo Mini Cheesecakes Recipe.
4. VooDoo Doll Cookies Tutorial and Recipe.
5. Vanilla Black Sparkle Fudge Recipe.
6. Bleeding Hearts Fondue Fountain Recipe.
7. All Stressed Out Stress Doll (VooDoo Doll) Tutorial and Free Printable Pattern.
8. Sweet Microwave Meatballs, Pepped Up Tomato Soup Shooters, and Faux Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Recipes.