This Halloween has been fantastic so far! What's that you say? It's not Halloween yet? I know! That's the best part! I've still got a full week to pack in all the black & orange, TV specials and candy my heart desires. (Okay, so I should probably put a limit on the candy.) October 2016 has allowed me to slow down and really savor Halloween, and so far it's gone off without a hitch.
One of the best (and easiest) ways to really elongate a holiday is to pack it all in, right? It all started on October 1st when the decorations went up!
What is it about decorating that's so satisfying? You guys will recall from a previous post the awesome setup we have for the mantle
It goes up every year!
New additions for 2016 were these fantastic Halloween throw pillows
(bonus points for my black and orange Halloween toenails!)
This year, Dylan and I rallied up the troops and decided to throw 2 parties in October. I gotta say, planning them was as much fun as having them!
Party #1
We decided to host a Halloween Brunch!
There it is, all laid out! Brunchy good times, with a Halloween twist. Day-of was a blast from start to finish. My girlfriend Audrey came over early to help me prep everything, she was a godsend!
We had a bit of a learning curve with the vampire donuts though. The plastic teeth had a lot more resilience than we gave them credit for. We'd shut the teeth and insert into doughnut, but then they'd push themselves back open and just tear the doughnut apart ...
Also, their eyes kept sliding off. So we figured out 2 things
1. stamp open teeth into doughnut
2. Just make frosting eyes and
Viola!
Adorable ones (lol)
Okay so not all of them were adorable, but they were all delicious.
The spider eggs came out great, totally grossed people out
Peggy actually kept a couple of these plastic spiders as souvenirs, she likes to fling and chase them around the house. Little does she know, she's also been Halloween pranking the crap out of me, who keeps seeing them, and freaking out momentarily. Well played kitty.
The Monster Toes casserole was tater tots, eggs, cheese and bacon. What else do you need?
Frankenstein's Brains was a fun one! It's a cream cheese based dip with spinach and sausage
I used this recipe. I highly suggest you try it sometime!
Making the Devil's Fiendish Friends was both hilarious and adorable. How can you not have a wonderful time making angry little faces on deviled eggs?
Oh, and not on the menu, but featured on the table (thanks to Pinterest) this adorable Jack-O-Lantern made out of grapes and orange wedges!
We even prepped a game!
This had everyone off their feet and looking around, I'm proud of some of the hiding places Dylan and I came up with. (Under the bar stool was the one that really threw people off.) It was competitive and engaging. I must admit, it's deserving of a hearty pat on the back. Here's folks milling about while they search:
Take a look at these amazing prizes!
I think that the Boswell's Dead & Breakfast may have to become an annual occurrence.
Party #2: The Haunt!
This was your basic Halloween shenanigans party, get yourself in a costume, come over and enjoy finger food & booze. Dylan and I were Sandy Cheeks and Mr. Krabs from Spongebob:
I did not get enough photos of that awesome inflatable tail, but I did sneak this selfie with the tail peering over my shoulder and - come on, the Spongebob calendar?! Hee.
Here's the layout of delectable Halloween Haunt goodies
Filled that AWESOME skeleton head bowl with good ol' queso
And! Here's my favorite part of the pretzel story! My bestie Manda came over early to assist on Haunt Night, she too was a godsend. I found these Halloween shaped pretzels in a big bag of little individual bags - so we opened up all of the individual bags and poured them into the bowl. Brilliant!
Come on, how cute are they?
We didn't stray from Spooky Movie Night entirely (and in retrospect, I should have themed out the Haunt all the more, and made it a haunting Spooky Movie Night, but what are you gonna do? I take my lessons with me into 2017, right?) because we did play some deliciously odd and quality horror movies.
First up was "The Worst Witch"
I discovered it thanks to a Halloween Countdown group I follow on Facebook. They shared this crazy video of Tim Curry singing a Halloween song, it was fantastic. You may see it on an episode of "Best of the Worst" someday.
We also took to Netflix to enjoy "Zoombies"
And our buddy Brett was kind enough to bring over The Monster Squad
*ahem* not to mention the fact that Manda, Dylan and I had already watched The Witches, Nightmare on Elm Street and The Nightmare Before Christmas ...
We had candy (of course!)
At least 2 of us played the Halloween Tic Tac Toe game
Most importantly, we had a great time! It was more fun than a barrel of bats and there's still so much time to enjoy more Halloween! So get out there, grab a pumpkin, eat something sweet - live it up! All Hallows Eve is almost upon us!
