Clearly Arabella loves a good party! She begged me to have a Halloween party with her class at school. I thought it would be a good way for the newly started K class to have some extra time outside of school to bond, so YES let’s do it! We originally wanted to have a cozy outdoor fall movie night on our lawn but the rain suggested otherwise. So we set up inside, Arabella did the writing for the sign outside and it turned out so cute and spooky.
MOVIE
I was torn on what movie to play, Arabella and Windsor really love the movie Hocus Pocus but I was worried it wasn’t age appropriate because it has a PG rating. For my kids I know what they can handle and although PG all the virgin talk, and “explicit” things go right over their heads. Even Windsor who is 2 is not afraid of the movie, because they know it's just pretend. ANYWAYS, I put a poll on a mom group I am in and it got mixed reviews. I decided to go with the safe route and we watched Monsters High. The projector and Screen are from amazon, they are linked.
CUPCAKE DECORATING
This was such a fun idea for the kids. So Kindergartners are awesome, some of the kids (especially the girls) were literally jumping up and down when they saw the cupcake choices they could make and decorate. I ordered 4 dozen cupcakes from Mariano’s and had the frosting put on the side. The kids had six options to choose from and there was enough for them each to make two. Eat one after pizza and take one home. I’ve described them each in detail. I bought pink & black cupcake boxes so the kids had a container to take their cupcake home.
MONSTER — Cotton candy hair, white chocolate melt & m7M (eye)
BLACK CAT—Hershey's (ears cut into triangles), Pocky sticks, m&m eyes and tongue, tootsie roll nose
SPIDER— Lindor truffle, m&m (eyes), tootsie roll (legs)
MUMMY—Eyes, sprinkles, white frosting
BAT— Oreo, white chocolate melt, m&m
WITCH HAT—Chocolate cookie, sprinkles, Hershey's kiss
SUGAR SKULL CRAFT
This craft was so cute, even for the boys! The idea was to decoupage the entire skull and then add the crystals and gems and embellish. Most kids, but expected only did a few tissue decoupage squares. The Crystals are from Walmart/amazon and the eyes, glue, Embellishments. The Skulls are from Oriental Trading. I pre-packed and wrapped them with bags from Walmart.
BALLOON ARCH
The balloon arch is by far the easiest and most cost effective way to add a little big decor to your party. I use this electric blower from amazon and this kit to attach the balloons. The kit has already allowed me to do 3 balloon arches and I still have some tracking left to make at least one more, the best part is its only $8. The black and white marble balloons specifically for this are from amazon, the rest I had and probably are from party city, Walmart, target. Originally the balloons were going to go on the outside of the outdoor party tent. I needed a plan B since the party was now inside. I have this awesome folding wall I got here, and used that and added some honeycomb spiders I got here.
TRICK OR TREAT BAG
My kids love SHARPIE markers (linked). I think because I rarely let them use them unless its in a super controlled area. I got a bunch of sharpies and some fabric markers and these blank tote bags and let them go crazy and make their own trick or treat bags. These were also perfect and acted as a tote for them to carry everything home.
PARTY FAVORS
This is by far my favorite thing to do for parties. Maybe because i love useless junky-haha! Arabella & Windsor love picking apart their party favor bags and honestly they play with the stuff for a few hours. I always thing this is helpful for parents who doesn’t want a two hour break after attending a party. I bought the puzzles here, the wind up toys here, the spider ring here and the sticker craft here. The bags I closed with Martha Stewart Halloween tape which i found on Amazon.
DINNER & SNACKS
Pizza is by far the easiest and most loved food option for parties. We had about 19 kids and I would say 8 adults stayed. I made the party a drop off option but also I wanted parents to be able to stay in case their kids were not ready for a drop off. I ordered 2 XL (18inch) cheese pizzas for the kids, I was so surprised they actually ate the pizza, usually we waste so much but these kids were hungry and kept asking for more. Probably because it was a dinner party and right after a long day of school. For the adults I ordered a few various other options. I also had popcorn for during the movie, cheese balls (because they are orange and so appropriate for halloween), juice boxes and water, and wine for the adults. For dessert the kids ate the cupcakes they decorated and I sprinkled all kinds of pink lollipops on the tables.
PAPERLESS POST
I tried paperless post for the first time and loved it. I usually do paper invites but since this was a more low key last minute thing I decided to try an online invitation. I really loved the ease of receiving the RSVP back online. I will definitely use this method again in the future for last minute things, but I still do love the paper invitation for more formal or extra special events.
THE PARTY WAS SUCH A HIT
All the kids had so much fun and it was totally worth all the work! I knew if I was going to do this party I needed a plan B option for the rain. So I moved all the furniture out of the great room including our massive rug. We have these two huge black and white rugs from IKEA and I replaced those so we didn’t have to worry about our rug. I used low tables for the kids to sit and eat at and I used a coffee table for one craft and the kids table (you can purchase here) for the other craft. I added pillows in front of the big screen for the kids to sit and get cozy. Even though I am a little bit exhausted from entertaining my rule is I need to clean up everything right away. Oddly enough, I don’t mind the clean up, its kinda therapeutic. Then the next day I don’t have anything to worry about. The kids wore dresses from H&M and my romper is from here. I love throwing parties for my family and can’t wait to do the next one!
