There’s nothing wrong with serving packaged mini-candies at Halloween, but there’s nothing special about them either. If you want to kick it up a notch this year, treat your friends, family and party guests to creative confections that you make yourself. These four DIY Halloween treats are easy and fun — my kids love to assemble them almost as much as they love eating them!

Ghost Kabobs

Ingredients:

• Ghost Peeps
• Powdered sugar mini-doughnuts
• Ghost DOTS candy
• Ghost marshmallows

Directions:

Stack the items on a kebab stick in any order for a sweet Halloween treat.

Pumpkin Kabobs

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin Peeps
• Candy corn DOTS candy
• Candy corn Pumpkins
• Glazed doughnut holes

Directions:

Stack the items on a kebab stick in any order.

Serving Tip:

Place individual kebabs in a clear cellophane bag and close with a ribbon, or stick a bunch into a whole pumpkin and let guests help themselves.

Spooky Pretzel Rods

Ingredients:

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• 1 bag pretzel rods
• 1 bag white chocolate chips
• Halloween sprinkles
• 1 tube black cake decorating gel

Directions:

1. Melt white chocolate in microwave-safe bowl, following package instructions.

2. Dip pretzels in white chocolate and place on wax paper to cool.

3. Cover immediately with sprinkles or use decorator gel to draw a ghost, spider or pumpkin face.

Serving Tip:

Fill a wide-mouthed vase or clear bowl with candy corn and then “plant” your freshly made pretzel rods into the corn.

Edible Spiders

Ingredients:

• Fun-sized candy bars
• 1 bag knot pretzels
• Various small candies
• Halloween sprinkles
• Tube of black decorator cake gel
• Small paper plates

Directions:

1. Unwrap the fun-sized candy bars to create the spider’s body.
Place on a small paper plate.

2. Use little candies and sprinkles to create “spots” and eyes; “glue” them to the body with black decorating gel.

3. Carefully break pretzels to create 8 legs per spider and place on the plate, surrounding the body.

Serving Tip:

Draw a giant spider web on a white paper tablecloth and position the spiders (on their plates) around the web.