Halloween Party Supply Round-up!

When I plan my parties, the ideas usually start forming several months before.  People always wonder how I am able to throw these parties and what cost is involved.  Starting the planning process early really helps because it allows me to start to purchase items for the party ahead of time and little by little throughout the months leading up to the party.  It can get spendy, but I RARELY buy things that aren't on sale and dollar stores and thrift stores become my best friend.  If you use your imagination (and Pinterest), you can really make dollar store and thrift store finds come alive!

I wanted to put together a little list of some fun Halloween party supplies that are a STEAL!

The first few items are from the Dollar Tree.

Paper Straws- I have become obsessed with paper straws. They are so versatile and can be used in all sorts of things, from cake pops and marshmallow pops to their purpose of drinking through them.  I can safely say I have them in almost every color imaginable, until I saw the Halloween straws at the Dollar Tree.  They come in several different designs and are, you guessed it, $1 for 15.

Creepy Cloth- This is one of my Halloween go-to's for making my decor just a bit more spooky.  Last year, I used about 2 dozen different colored creepy cloths throughout my garage and it gave it such a neat feel.  The good thing about these only being a dollar, you can cut them up, rip them, stretch them, anything you really want to make them looked well worn and either save them for next year or toss them without worrying about a ton of money down the drain (I save mine).  This year, I used several recycled cloths on my mantel, then placed my decor on top of them.

Spider Webs- These can get quite tricky, but for a creepy party atmosphere, they are a must.  Along with my creepy cloth, spider webs were everywhere at my Halloween party.  They covered any spot that could be covered and gave it the abandoned feel I was going for!

The next item is from H&M

This fun cake stand is so inexpensive and can not only be used for a Halloween party, but for many other things.  At $9.95, it is a steal, BUT, sign up for H&M's emails and receive an additional 20% off of one item!

This item is from Party City

This is a large, plastic cauldron for $9.99.  They only have the medium available online, but I purchased mine in store.  This cauldron was used to keep drinks at our Halloween party.  Fill it with ice and it will keep your drinks nice and cold in a fun, decorative way.  This year, I placed in it front of my fireplace as an added extra to my Halloween decor.

Lastly, never forget to check out your local thrift stores.

Whenever I want to find unique items that cannot be found at any other party, I scour the thrift stores. I have found some amazing things by taking several trips to different stores in my area.  Here are some things that I have found in my journey for creepy Halloween items.  My most recent addition was the old, vintage window.  I am using it amongst my Halloween decor, but am also going to be using it for an upcoming Christmas party I am planning.  Stay tuned for that :).

I hope this post gives you some fun inspiration to plan your upcoming Halloween party!  Until next time!

BOOOO! Halloween Party

There is no doubt that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  I don't know if it is because it kind of signifies the beginning of Fall for me, or if its the excitement everyone gets over dressing up and pretending to be something else for the day!  Last year, I was able to plan my first Halloween party and boy was it a good time.  I scoured Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Dollar Tree, Party City, thrift stores and every Halloween store in town to find the best decoration deals I could.

My husband and I decided we wanted to keep the party in the garage and have it be adults only.  This allowed us to get a little creepier with the decor and by having it in the garage, we could set it up ahead of time.  For this party, I stocked up on a TON of "creepy cloth" and cobwebs from the Dollar Tree.  I wanted the look of this party to be that of an old, abandoned house.

I brought in some small furniture (love seat, oversized chair, side table) from our house and used some patio chairs and rocking chairs from our front porch.  I covered each piece of furniture that was going to be sat in with a white sheet, giving it the abandoned house look.  All of my sheets were thrift store finds and were under $5 (sheets had to be large to fit over the furniture).

I hung the creepy cloth all over the garage, making sure to tear and stretch it to give it an authentic look.  Cobwebs went everywhere cobwebs could go, making it look as if the place hadn't been cleaned in decades.  I also put plastic rats, crows and a variety of bugs anywhere I could.  I had two small tables that I used to put little extras on, such as, spray painted black vases with black flowers, old candle holders, candelabras, creepy pictures in frames, old books and an old creepy telephone.  The room was lit just by tons of candles to give it yet another element of abandonedness.

I had purchased two animated dolls from our local Halloween store.  One little girl that sat on a swing that hung from the ceiling and hummed some creepy tune and one little girl that stood about 4ft high and looked like the girl from the Exorcist.  She too hummed a creepy tune and lunged at you when you least expected it.  I also invested in a small fog machine from Party City that took the party to a whole new level of scary!

A couple of thrift store dolls were given a makeover and turned into some creepy bystanders that
stared at you no matter where you were in the garage.  I was pretty proud of their scary makeovers.

For the dessert table, I covered the table with a black table cloth and spread moss over the top of the table.  I used a roll of "weathered wood" paper from Michaels to create the backdrop, along with a black mirror from Bed, Bath and Beyond and two scary pictures in frames from the Dollar Tree.  The focal point on the table was a huge candelabra from Michaels (use coupons,
it saves a TON) with matching black candles (also from Michaels).  I had two glass containers from another party that went on either side of the candelabra, filled with a skull and bones and more moss.  Of course, everything (besides the food) was also covered in cobwebs.

As for the desserts, I made carmel apples, using a Dollar Tree knife as the stick.  I also made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and shards of "glass" made from drying a sugar syrup and breaking it into pieces.  I made a simple pistachio bundt cake and covered it with red
frosting to mimic blood and made marshmallow pops, stuck into a styrofoam skull.  Lastly, I made piñata headstone cookies with mini m&m's inside and "bones" out of pretzels, mini marshmallows and white chocolate (tutorial shared below).

Marshmallow and Pretzel "Bones"

Ingredients:
1 Package of pretzel sticks
1 Package of mini marshmallows
1 Package of white chocolate (I use Baker's brand)

Take one pretzel stick and push a mini marshmallow onto each end.  Melt white chocolate on double broiler, until smooth.  You may also use a microwave by putting the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heating at 30 second increments, stirring in between, until white chocolate is smooth.  Dip assembled pretzels into white chocolate and let dry on parchment paper.



This party was so much fun and everyone that attended loved it! We loved the decorations so much, we left them up for trick or treaters, some of which were scared to come into the garage.  We had people in our neighborhood giving us so many compliments and I can't wait until our next Halloween party!

Hope you enjoyed this party as much as we did.

Until next time,
Creative Details Event Planning.