Witches Night Out: A Halloween Party

We all know that ghouls just want to have fun. So what better way to celebrate All Hallows’ Eve than with a Witches Night Out Party!!

My family loves to throw a spirited get together. So when my oldest was 18 months, we decided to have a Halloween party for our friends with little ones. That way, we could dress the youngsters up, but keep them inside where it’s safe and warm. I found some fun trick or treat bags and filled them with toddler appropriate treats and toys. I made sure that the party was fun for kids and parents alike.

We continued this tradition for many years. I loved creating holiday themed cocktails for adults and finding crafts and games for the kids. Having a babysitter on hand allowed the adults to enjoy the festivities while the babysitter and kids set up camp in the bonus room (formerly known as the ‘play room’ before a certain book deemed that moniker inappropriate).

Creating The Buzz

After all these years, I was so excited to have another Halloween Party that I couldn’t wait to get the word out. So, a month before the party (yes I was that excited), I created a Facebook event. I’ve posted gifs, memes and songs. The interaction has been a lot of fun and I can’t wait for the actual party to start!!

Spiderwebs, Jack-O-Lanterns and More!

While my kids are too old for trick or treating, we still love decorating the house for Halloween. Even though we have more Halloween decorations than we have time to decorate, I still love finding new inspiration. This year, I found some wicked pieces from Pier 1 to add to my collection.

Enter, If You Dare

I definitely wanted to make a statement and set a festive mood for when my guests arrived.

For my entryway, I used the picture of a witch and black cat walking through some wheat fields, from Pier 1, as my inspiration piece. What spoke to me was the combination of natural, outdoor elements combined with the traditional Halloween characters. This allowed me to mix things up a bit, as you can see in the pictures.

At the foundation of the vignette are the natural Fall elements, that will reach past Halloween and into Thanksgiving. These items include:

A table runner with beaded Autumn leaves (new from Pier 1).
A watercolor painting of leaves, courtesy of my son, from many years ago. I love the combination of colors and imperfect leaves that give it an abstract look. My art collection includes numerous pieces from my children, and this is one of my favorites.
The metallic ceramic pumpkin certainly reflects the Fall season, along with numerous faux foliage pieces that are woven through the vignette.

To incorporate the Halloween decor into the Autumn foundation, I followed the direction of my inspiration piece and simply combined the two elements into individual statements, as follows:

I added some antler moss and a mini raffia pumpkin into a wax skull.
The small black lantern, on the table, has a shiny wax black cat candle, which is cradled in faux Autumn leaves and foliage. It’s topped with a random black iridescent feather napkin holder that I found at Pier 1 (that places is seriously a decorators dream come true!)
The large lantern, on the floor, also has the Fall elements along with a cute little jack-o-lantern. Once Halloween is over, I’ll remove the black and white ribbon and replace the jack-o-lantern with a gourd or pumpkin.

I’m absolutely loving the wreath that is hanging along the mirror. It brings together the skull and feathers, providing a whimsically wicked effect! Off to the right, the Halloween centric bar cart and wall shelf provide a nice segue into the next room.

Monster Mashup

For the dessert table and surrounding area, I went to full on Halloween mode. While traditional Halloween colors are primarily orange and black, I like the pops of color that purple and chartreuse/green add. The addition of green simply makes sense because it’s already included in the pumpkin stems. However, the purple and chartreuse really liven things up and add more dimension.

The foundation of the table is a black and white spider-webbed table cloth that I’ve had for years. I layered it with another beaded table runner from Pier 1, and then scattered ghosts, skeletons, witches, jack-o-lanterns and more on because when it comes to Halloween decorations, more is more!! The end result is my own little Halloween village, complete with spooky branches and monster silhouettes.

To complete the picture, I created a multi-layered backdrop, using some shiny black fringe and a purple sheet. Then framed it with a festive balloon garland, some glittery spiders and a S-P-O-O-K-Y banner, and wha-la!!

Trick or Treat?

I’ll take the treats, thank you very much. If I can guarantee you one thing, it’s that if I am throwing a party, I will be doing some baking! I really enjoy trying out new recipes for my guests, and so far no one has complained (knock on wood).

For the photo shoot, I experimented on a few things. I found an amazing Death by Chocolate cake recipe, which was to die for (he he, pun intended).

While the recipe called for a chocolate buttercream frosting, I wanted to play around with some colorful frosting techniques. I was afraid that the chocolate would mess with the color of the frosting, so I went with a plain buttercream instead.

As you can see in the picture above, I attempted the striping technique. It will definitely take some more practice to perfect the striping, or even come close for that matter, but it did provide a delicious pop of color for the dessert table.

For my actual party, I will make the chocolate buttercream and dye it black, per the instructions. I’m also excited to try the currently trending fault-line frosting technique with this cake. I have a bunch of Halloween colored sprinkles, from Fancy Sprinkles, that will be perfect for the “fault line” in the design. I’ll make sure to post pictures on the BellinghamSTYLE Instagram page. Since you can never have too many treats at a Halloween party, I will also serve some lemon cupcakes, ghost meringue cookies and decorated sugar cookies.

Drink Up Witches

I simply can’t have a Halloween party and not create a signature drink! This year I’m going with a Candy corn Martini.

I have found several recipes that I will try before I decide on what to serve my guests. The one common poison is a candy corn infused vodka. The various recipes include orange juice, pineapple juice, cream and ginger beer. I’ll be doing a taste test a few nights before the party. Fingers crossed that my fellow witches agree with my potion of choice!! I’ll keep you lovelies posted on the results.

Another must have will be bottles of fresh blood, aka red, red wine. One of my favorites is a blend by Coach House Cellars. It’s a local Bellingham wine that is made using low amounts sulfates, thus keeping my wine-drinking headaches to a minimum. For Halloween, CHC bottles up the blend with a special Dead Red label, which is perfect for our Witches Night Out celebration!!

Mr. DeMille, I’m Ready For My Closeup

Since I’m going all out for my ghoul friends, I thought it would be wickedly fun to treat my friends to some face art. Makeup artist, Nicole Seabolt (Coleseaboltmua), will join the festivities and share her talents with us.

Take a peak at the creative looks that she provided for our photo shoot. I don’t know about you, but I think every costume party should include Nicole!!

So, what’s your go-to Halloween look? “Too cute to spook” or “pass me the toilet paper scary?”

They Did The Mash….

After all is said and done, it’s finally time to get down to business and party! And as the song goes, they did the mash, they did the monster mash!