This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween....

Jack & Sally

 I've got to start by saying this Halloween was definitely one of my favorites!!  And a special thanks to my little man for giving me the idea of theming this year's party around Tim Burton's movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas."  I am so surprised that my three year old loves this movie, and especially Jack Skellington.  Can't even tell you how many times we have watched the movie.  We even dressed up in character for the party and Trick-or-Treating.  The hubby was Jack Skellington, I was Sally, and Liam was Barrel (the little skeleton kid that kidnaps Sandy Claws).  Everyone loved our costumes, it was A LOT of fun!    

The Table Scape

Movie Quotes

     As for the party, since Jack Skellington is black and white, that's what I decided to focus on with a few Tim Burton-ish items thrown in.  I found a beautiful black glittery swirl fabric that I turned into a tablecloth, and since I can't sew, I used a heat adhesive strips to adhere the edges under.  For the table runner I found another wonderful black and white skeleton fabric that I cut into a good length for the table.  I did the same with the edges as I did with the tablecloth.  Then I took some shiny sequins and hot glued to the edges, just to add a little sparkle to it.  I printed out some of the quotes from the movie and burned the edges to give them an antiqued look.  I placed them on some spooky black glitter trees I found on sale at Jo*Ann.  I also modge podged different sized plastic pumpkins with some black and white fabrics, glitterfied them, and painted their stems.  I also set the table with white blood dripping candles, a lit up Jack-o-Lantern, and a Tim Burton-ish curly tree with spooky ornament people (thanks Kristi).  Behind the table I hung up a white tablecloth then overlapped it with a black lace Halloween tablecloth.  Then draped some white LED lights above to make the white draped cloth and table runner glow a little and provide some lighting.  For the mantel, I used another black lacy Halloween cloth, some black candelabras with red candles, some spooky framed pictures, glittered skulls, black tea light candles, Frankenstein & Bride of Frankenstein statues, and a Halloween paper chain (made by my son).  Above the buffet I hung up a Halloween Town sign I made and some streamers.  The buffet pretty much just had black plates, napkins and the eating utensils, along with the Jack Skellington pumpkin I painted, a Gingerbread Haunted Mansion (my son & I made), and some cute light up white plastic Jack-o-Lanterns (also on sale at Jo*Ann).  We had black streamers and orange Halloween lights hanging down from the ceiling starting at the front door all the way to the dining room.  It was exciting seeing all of it coming together.  I even had some fun Halloween tunes playing the whole night.  For the Trick-or-Treaters, the hubby set up the fog machine and the strobe light outside.  We got a lot of great compliments on the the decor, makes me smile.

The Mantel

The Buffet

Fangtastic Food..

     Planning the menu for the party was a lot of fun.  I did a lot of looking online searching for some spooktacular Halloween recipes. Here's what I came up with: Black & Orange Tortilla Chips with Wolf's Bain Salsa, Veggies with Worm's Wort Dip (Ranch dip with orange food coloring), Cheesy Skull Puffs, Bat's Wings, Jack Brie en Croute, PB & J and Turkey Skull Sandwiches (for the little ghouls), Jack Cookie Pops (Halloween Oreos dipped in white chocolate, used a black gel cake decorating pen for the face), Jack Marshmallow Pops (used a black food writer to decorate Jack's face on the marshmallow), and Jack Cupcakes. {I posted the recipes below}  I plated all the food on square plates or bowls, so they would stand out on the black tablecloth and sticking to the black and white theme.  For the Jack pop displays, I wrapped a piece of black and white ribbon around some black vases and placed them on small white square plates to match the others.   

The cupcakes were displayed on a really cool tiered spiderweb stand I found on sale last year at Target.  Out of all the food, the Bat Wing's were the biggest hit...and I was worried no one would eat them because they really looked like black wings of a bat.

Chips & Salsa                                                    

Brie en Croute and Veggies & Dip

Jack Pops & Jack Cupcakes

   

Bat Wings

Cocktail Concoctions...
     I picked out a bunch of different Pumpkin Ales, Octoberfest Lagers, and Hard Apple Ciders and put them on ice in a big black bucket, simple and easy.  For those who don't like beer, like me, I found some amazing red wines which were perfect for a Halloween celebration.  And for those who don't drink at all, I made a Deadly Night Shade Punch served in a bubbling cauldron (can I say, I just love using dry ice).

Ghoulish Games.....

    What would a Halloween party be without some fun games for the kiddos to play?  One of my friend's, drew up a picture of Jack Skellington and a few heads to play Pin the Head on Jack.  I drew a picture of Oogie Boogie with a few split seams to play Bug Toss.  I supplied the kids with some plastic bugs which they threw into the holes of Oogie Boogie.  I also painted some cheap dollar store plastic pumpkins black and white to act as "pins" and bought some real small round pumpkins to act as "balls" for Pumpkin Bowling.  The kids really enjoyed playing this game.  With the same black and white plastic pumpkins, we set them in a few different places and used some glowing necklaces to play Pumpkin Ring Toss.  For the younger ones, I printed out some pictures of the characters from the movie for them to color.   These were really great to keep the kids occupied before we headed out to go Trick-or-Treating.

    

  

Bootiful Bags.....

      I put together a few goodie bags for the kiddos.  I knew with it being Halloween and going Trick-or-Treating they would have tons of candy.  So instead, I put some Halloween fruit snacks, some "The Nightmare Before Christmas" stickers, glow sticks, Halloween socks, and an Oogie Boogie Man I made out of felt stuffed with some plastic bugs.  (I posted the website below with directions on how to make him)  The kids loved them and so did my hubby.  He's wants me to make him his own Oogie Boogie Man for his desk.  We shall see....

   
     Overall, the night went A-MAZ-ING!  I couldn't have been happier how everything looked, tasted, and that everyone had a great time.  Now with Halloween over it's time to look forward to the next holiday, Thanksgiving.  Hope everyone had a Spooktacular Halloween!!

Recipes:
* Skull Puffs  (I used a skull cookie cutter instead of the pumpkin one to make Skull Puffs vs Pumpkin Puffs)
* Bat's Wings
* Brie en Croute
* Jack Skellington Cupcakes
* Jack Skellington Pops

* Deadly Night Shade Punch

Party Favor:
* Oogie Boogie Man