Eat, Drink, and Be Scary!

I am a sucker for a good Halloween party. So when time came around for our annual Halloween party, I knew that I just had to do something fun. I looked around the house and found some extra oreos, white chocolate and some lollipop sticks. After doing a bit of thinking I decided on mummy pops! I also stopped by our local grocery store and picked up some Wilton monster eyes and I was all set.

As you can see I dipped the oreos in meltable white chocolate, then set the eyes into the chocolate. I placed the stick with an extra bit of chocolate and then finished off the rest of the 'bandages' using icing. Then I tied on some gauze strips for a bit of fun. Last, I popped them in the fridge to set.

Then, I started thinking about how to display the pops. I figured it would come to me at some point, but I started getting a little nervous as the party drew near. Just when I almost decided just to put them in bags to hand out, I came across this:

I found this wooden Halloween box, foam core, and washi tape at my local Daiso store and I was in love. The foam was a little shy of the box dimensions, so I wrapped the foam in gauze and then made some starter holes so the pops would stand upright. The box needed a bit of dressing up so I added the black tape for a bit of fun and texture (it had this great sculptural feel to it). All said and done the pops were done in about an hour and the box in 15 minutes. Perfect for this busy mom!  Here is a look at the finished product:

Spook-tacular! And they were super yummy and nut allergy friendly (a very important thing for our party guests). Here is a quick look at some of our other food...

I started with a eat drink and be scary sign and then had all of my other fabulously talented neighbors and friends bring whatever they wished. Some of the hits that brought peals of laughter were spider crackers, witches hats, freshly exhumed green jello brains, spooky 7 layer dip, monster spoon pops, jello eyeballs, lychee eyeball punch,  mummy piggies in a bandages, and graveyard cupcakes. For flatware, we rolled it as usual and then added vampire teeth as napkin rings. We also played ghost bowling before going off to trick or treat. To entice the adults, we had them vote on whose door decorations were most impressive. The winner loved her bottle of wine (7 Deadly Zins of course!). In terms of other decor we had all of the usual suspects- halloween bunting, witches fingers, spider rings, dry ice in the fountain, spider webs, creepy petri dishes, potion bottles with cool labels, rats, bones, and such. Even an old cape, dress form, witch shoe covers, and broom were re-purposed into a scary witch.  Soo fun to watch the kids check out the phantom witch!

Our neighbors are always super generous with their candy (more than our kid-lings could ever eat!) so all of the additional candy was donated to a local hospital for the kids to enjoy. The kids had a great time and dare I say the adults too. A great spook-tacular time!

The hills are alive with the sound of music!

I am a big fan of the Sound of Music. I love the whimsy, the catchy tunes, and the nostalgia that that era brings. So when we were asked to lend a helping hand with doing an invite for a Sound of Music party we were totally stoked! 

Diya was absolutely in love with the movie The Sound of Music. So of course the theme centered around that. To account for the guests that weren't familiar with the movie, the family decided to make it a celebration of music (hence music notes and guitars) with a bit of Sound of Music thrown in.  

In our help with the invite, we decided to create a concert ticket. From the bar code to the guitar to 5 going on 6, it wrapped up all of the details in a pretty VIP bow!

                                                          

Then she also wanted a "fingerprint" for the party to tie everything together (food, favor bags, and the like). Using the invite as the jumping off point, we focused on the guitar (as the party had a music teacher led sing-a-long). Sound of Music lyrics, dots, and the like helped it to come together nicely.

We also encouraged her to use picnic baskets (those kids were always picnicking!) to hold food, green fabric on the floor in the eating area (grass of course), with low seating and Do Re Me suspended from the ceiling. 

I am so glad that we got a chance to revisit an old favorite and introduce it to other little ones who will love it just as much as us!

For the love of grandparents!

Grandparents are the best! I know some of my favorite memories are when I would visit my Gran and we would spend all day sewing, and talking. I even still have some of the books we read together of which I truly cherish.

When our little guest of honor Nynika visited her grandparents for the first time (all the way to India no less!), we knew it was important to make it super special! Set in a gracious tennis club, there were chevrons and damasks (family favorites of course!), and pink and lime green abound.

As the guests arrived they were greeted with drinks and yummy bites and found a place a resting place for their gifts. Complete with butterflies (is it really a girly party without butterflies?!), a crepe rosette bunting, as well as, chevron and lime running throughout it really set the cheery tone. Such an adorable way to begin their time with Nynika.

The guest tables were clearly a lovely sight! Covered chairs, layered linens, darling pots of fresh flowers..oh my! Such a beautiful way to meet their bundle of love for the first time.

The photo booth area was a hit with the younger set! They were so creative as they tried on various crowns, beards, glasses, brocade turbans, and such. I loved it how the kids hammed it up for the camera!

No party is ever complete without a gracious thank you to all of the guests.  The custom made boxes of chocolates hit just the right tone and left the guests savoring their time with their new little love.  It was lovely how the grandmom had even saved Nynika's mom's first doll and stroller! And so, there she was.. bidding adieu to the guests.

Overall, a sweet event for one adored little girl! Now I am off to go relive some of my favorite memories with my grandparents....What are some of yours?