Daily Party Dish

Boo Mitzvah! A Halloween Theme Bar Mitzvah

Happy Halloween from everyone here at Party411.com!  We love a great Halloween party and were thrilled to see our friends over at Mitzvah Market featuring a Halloween theme Bar Mitzvah today.  What a fun and unusual theme!  We hope you enjoy it as much as we did -

See all the pictures from the Boo Mitzvah!

Pumpkin Bread Recipe: A Halloween Treat

My best friend in the world, who is also the head room parent of my 6^th grader’s class, said to me recently, “this year since the kids are too old for the Halloween parade, the teacher wants to do something different.”  Immediately the uh oh, hang up now bell went off in my head, but since she is my best friend, I didn’t.  I slowly said “yeessss,” wondering where I would fit in to this project.  So she tells me ”the class is having a Halloween luncheon and all you have to do is make something tasty, Halloweeny and healthy!”  Oh, is that all, I think. No corn syrup, no candy, is this even possible?  But then I remember I have a fabulous recipe for pumpkin bread.  It’s delicious, everyone loves it and there’s nothing in it that’s not on the food pyramid in an acceptable category.   

Note: this pumpkin bread can be made in 2 traditional loaf pans (lined with wax paper) but for a more seasonal twist, use pumpkin-shaped molds or muffin tins.  Once cool, they can be decorated with cookie icing.  Halloween molds and icing are available at any discount or craft store.

Pumpkin Bread

• 3 ½ Cups Flour
• 3 Cups Sugar
• 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
• 1 ½ Teaspoons Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 4 Eggs
• 2/3 Cup Water
• 1 Cup Oil
• 2 Cups Pumpkin (this is one 16 oz. can)
• 1 Cup of Raisins or Dried Cranberries (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add the oil, eggs, water and pumpkin.  Mix well.  Stir in raisins or cranberries. Turn into your pan of choice.  Depending on the type of pan, baking times will vary.  Traditional loaf pans take at least one hour.

Happy Halloween!

• Halloween Party Ideas from Party411.com
• Healthy Halloween Snacks
• Lollipop Pumpkin
• Find the perfect Halloween Costume

Halloween Decoration Inspiration from Halloweekends at Cedar Point

This weekend I was lucky enough to spend the day at Cedar Point's HalloWeekends. The park was decked out in Halloween decorations! Some of the displays were amazing, and I snapped a few shots to use as inspiration for my own Halloween decorations.

I love this "Dead Rock Star Cemetary" in the middle of the park:

There were a lot of funny displays with skeletons... like these painters who have had some horrible accident -

Or this unfortunate plumber -

Not all of the skeletons were working. Some were chilling out -

Some were just trying to get away -

Not that I blame them for trying to escape. This thing was just around the bend -

Even the diner where we had dinner was decked out. The theme was aliens/Little Shop of Horrors. Which was admittedly odd, but it worked :)

We had a great time, and now I have many ideas for my Halloween yard decoration! Thanks Halloweekends!

• Halloween Party Ideas from Party411.com
• Outdoor Halloween Decorations
• Dead Rock Star Halloween Party Theme
• Halloween Party Games
• Find the perfect Halloween Costume

 

Crazy Spider House Outdoor Halloween Decorations

I wanted to share some pictures of these great spider Halloween yard decorations I saw near my Grandma's house the other day. I am arachnophobic and I am still impressed!

If you wanted to do something similar here are a few products you could use to create this look:

• Black 50" Posable Spider
• 50" Brown Spider
• Light Up Gigantic Tarantula
• Full Size Skeleton
• 36" Shaking Cocoon Corpse
• Hanging Spider Cocoon Victim

• Halloween Party Ideas from Party411.com
• Outdoor Halloween Decorations
• Ghost Cookies
• Halloween Office Party for Less Than $100
• Healthy Halloween Snacks
• Find the perfect Halloween Costume

DIY Halloween Window Silhouettes

1. Grim Reaper Window Scene
2. Scary Silhouette Gargoyle Window Decoration
3. Mummy Window
4. Ghoulies Silhouettes
5. Shady Spiders Window Scene

I love Halloween window silhouettes! A few years ago I made a few witches for my front window. They were very easy to make (no sewing).

First I searched for 2 witch silhouettes and enlarged them on a copier. Then I traced them on to inexpensive black fabric and cut out my beautiful ladies.

I used stitch witchery fusible bonding web (inexpensive at any craft or fabric store) and an iron to attach them to flat white sheets I bought from the thrift store. Hang and backlight for a fun decoration!

Here are a few more pics from a few creative people who made their own.

 
Here is a display from Kellie that she made with an inexpensive plastic black tablecloth!

Wes and Tracy did several very fun silhouettes with black paint on white fabric.

Even though window silhouettes are hung on the inside of the house, I think that they really add to the overall creepiness of your outdoor decorations.

• Halloween Party Ideas from Party411.com
• Outdoor Halloween Decorations
• Ghost Cookies
• Halloween Office Party for Less Than $100
• Healthy Halloween Snacks
• Find the perfect Halloween Costume

Fun DIY Couples Costume Ideas

As Halloween approaches every year, I’m always reminded of trips to the sewing store as a child to pick out our costume patterns.  My Mom then got to work and made our costumes for me and my brother.  I’m still impressed.  Today there seem to be so many fantastic costumes available that it’s not necessary to make a costume at home.  There are, however, many fun costumes you can make at home!  Here are a few handmade couples costumes that I love:

  
Hersheys: Plain…and with nuts.  This great costume was a hand me down from a friend’s parents.  A joke that never gets old

 
Twister: Super cute and super easy to make. 

 
The baker and the Bun in the oven.  That’s me pregnant with Sam many years ago.

 
Here is a creative rollar coaster costume (photo from krossbow) that I love. Easy and creative!

Have you made or seen any creative homemade costumes or DIY couples costumes?  Post your pics over on the Party411 Facebook wall – we’d love to see them!

Now back to working on costumes for my kids…without sewing.

-Sam’s Mom

• Halloween Party Ideas from Party411.com
• Halloween House Party
• Group Halloween Costumes
  
• Punny Costumes
• Find the perfect Halloween Costume

Dead Celebrity Halloween Party

The Party Girl and Party411 plans many local events in our hometown of Cleveland Ohio. We were just looking back fondly on one Halloween party (many years ago) and we thought we would share some of the photos. The theme was "Dead Celebrity", and the party was for a local TV station.  Guests were encouraged to dress as their favorite dead celebrity.This party inspired our Dead Rock Star Halloween Party Theme!

The event was hosted at Grey's Armory, an old building in downtown Cleveland that has the look of a haunted castle. 

When guests entered, the lobby was decorated like a haunted graveyard, complete with spooky houses, trees and a graveyard with cutouts of the ghosts of famous celebrities.

In the main ballroom, guests were given Halloween masks as nametags.  Sharpie pens were out for people to write their names.

Another fun decoration was a display labeled, "Programming Brain Bar" - perfect for our host, the TV station.  Jars with "brains" were labeled for different TV shows like, "Brains of Losers on The People's Court."

The room was dark, of course, and we added to the spooky feel with fog machines scattered around the room.  Other decorations included black balloon arches, graveyards, dancing skeleton balloons, cauldrons and lots of candy!

The guests all dressed to the nines and had a great time dancing the night away.  As they left, everyone was given a gift of chocolate skeleton teeth.  Yum.

• Halloween Party Ideas from Party411.com
• Dead Rock Star Halloween Party Theme
• Halloween Party Games
• Custom Halloween Invitations
• Haunted Glowing Portraits
• Find the perfect Halloween Costume

Bloody Chocolate Chip Cookies – Dripping with Good Taste

Here’s a quick and easy way to turn a favorite cookie into a seasonal treat!  While I’m a bit of a purist and like my chocolate chip cookies in their “natural state,” the younger crowd howled with joy when they saw these bloody delights.  Who knew that “these are yummy” and “oh gross” could be used in the same sentence?

There are two options for making the cookies themselves. Based on your own time and love of baking, or not, you can

• Use the recipe which appears on the back of a package of chocolate chip morsels.
• Purchase premade cookie dough which can usually be found in the dairy case at the grocery store.

In addition to the cookies you will need red decorating icing or gel also available be at the grocery store.  An alternative to traditional icings is actual cookie icing.  It can be found in any craft store.   The benefit to cookie icing is that it is a bit thinner than the other products and so drips really well down the cookies.

Once the cookies are baked and cool, simply draw a thick line of icing across the top of the cookie and tilt the cookie so “the blood “ drips down.  If it’s not flowing well, use a toothpick to draw bloody lines.  And that’s it!  In no time you will have platter of bloody, delicious treats that everyone will love.  Want to gross them out a little more? Make a few pools of blood using the extra icing and place a butcher knife nearby to complete the ghoulish effect.  

• Halloween Party Ideas from Party411.com
• Halloween Bloody Banquet Theme
• Black Light Bar - Glowing Halloween Cocktails
• Find the perfect Halloween Costume

Easy Halloween Idea: Tombstone Desserts/Placecards

These simple desserts are easy to make and will thrill your guests at your Halloween party. Cute idea for placecards too!

• Fill half of a mini disposable foil bread tin with chocolate pudding.
• Add a layer of whipped topping and a layer of crushed chocolate cookies (I used Oreos).
• Add another layer of pudding/whipped topping/crushed cookies to fill the pan.
• For decoration, add gummy worms, a marshmallow ghost, or candy pumpkins.
• The tombstone is a Milano cookie (Pepperidge Farm) with icing on it.

Happy Haunting!

• Halloween Party Ideas from Party411.com
• Halloween Party Games
• Custom Halloween Invitations
• Black Light Bar - Glowing Halloween Cocktails
• Halloween Bloody Banquet Theme
• Haunted Glowing Portraits
• Find the perfect Halloween Costume

Halloween Invitation Wording Ideas

 
It's time to start thinking about invitations for your Halloween Party! We get many questions about invites... how early to send them (4-6 weeks if possible), what to include (where, when and what is going on... like if it is BYOB or a sit down dinner) and should you require costumes (request or bribe them).

The most frequently asked question we get about Halloween invitations is about the wording. Halloween is a great time for funny, cheesy invite wording full of bad puns. Here are some examples we use on our Custom Halloween Invitations:

• Eat, Drink and Be Batty at the Henderson's Halloween House Party!
• Calling all Witches, Goblins and Ghosts, the Millers are your Halloween Hosts!
• Join us for a Spooktacular time!
• Come hang out for a spell at the Stepic's Halloween House Party!
• If you like a scare and are fond of fright, join us for a party on Halloween night!
• Fly or Float, just don't be tardy... to our Annual Halloween Costume Party
• Scare up a costume and join us for a Halloween House Party
• A Halloween Party is Brewing!
• Stop on by for a trick or a treat, we've plenty to drink and more to eat!
• Creep, fly or crawl  to our annual Halloween Ball!
• RSVP by 10/20 or a spell shall be cast on that very date, to make you sorry you made me wait!
• If you're not too "drained", RSVP by October 22nd. Can I "Count" on you to come?
• We're dying to hear from you... RSVP no later than October 25th.

Here is an example of a way to lay out your invitation:

Calling all Witches, Goblins and Ghosts,
the Millers are your Halloween House Party Hosts!

We'll be goblin' all sorts of goodies,
and you'd be outta your skull not to attend!

Saturday, October 29

9pm

 

Witch way to go?
974 Spooky Street

RSVP soon or we'll send the grim reaper!

If your looking for more invite ideas check out our scary good selection of Halloween Invitations for 2011.

• Halloween Party Ideas from Party411.com
• Halloween Party Games
• Custom Halloween Invitations
• Black Light Bar - Glowing Halloween Cocktails
• Halloween Bloody Banquet Theme
• Haunted Glowing Portraits
• Find the perfect Halloween Costume