Halloweens Past

With all the snow storms we've had so far this year, this Halloween will probably be simple. So I thought it might be fun to revisit our last two Halloween parties.

Last year we visited Neverland.

Invitation in a bottle.


I designed these little invitations and the map with Illustrator and printed them off on our ink jet printer.


Hook's Helm, overlooking the great room.


The treasure map. Each area was represented somewhere in our house. I used Kathie's teepee; Eric built a makeshift flying boat on the catwalk; Last year's tree became Pan's hideout; a pretend fishing pond (where you could fish for treats with poles was the mermaid lagoon,etc. At each place there were hidden toys and candy.


Adults without costumes got to wear these lovely planks.





Hook's flying ship.



Our 11 foot tall London tower - Big Ben. This was lots of fun in the dark with our fog machine.
Materials: papier mache, wardrobe boxes, clear acrylic sheet (protector for a cheap poster frame), floorlamp (inside), handcut paper roman numerals and clock hands


Wendy, S'mee, and Tink


Captain Hook and Wendy


She's got Tink attitude down, don't you think?


Wendy takes flight.


Before her class party



Halloween 2 years ago: Woodland Forest. I can't seem to find any pictures of the girls from this year, although they made cute woodland fairies. I know they're around here somewhere....
For this party, invitees received a little black box with a raven's black claw in it (on a bed of moss) that I cast. Around one claw was tied a red ribbon with a note that said, "Don't forget... Party in the Forbidden Forest."

I was a wood nymph.



Eric was a satyr. I sewed these shaggy pants and we put foam inside to make the shape of satyr legs. We papier mache'ed this tree over garden wire. My man rigged red LED lights inside the tree's knothole to look like eyes. So fun!


Got these great little handmade horns on ebay!


We had so much fun both years. Everyone was an excellent sport and wore awesome costumes. Kids had a delightful time. A word of caution to anyone attempting these parties: you'll most certainly be shampooing blood and chocolate out of your carpet. Whether its fake or real blood has yet to be determined.....muahahaha!!!!


Catching Up

Oh, my! I have let time fly since my last post. I think I win loser blogger of the year award. Lets see if I can condense and highlight.

Girls Birthday Parties: They were lots of fun this year! One girl wanted an outdoor party.
One girl wanted a dog party at her Grandma Kathie's this year.



Goofy kids as the pinata gets lowered.

The kids love to play in our pond.

Hurry and blow out those candles before the icecream cake melts!


Bounce castle!



I'm not fantastic at making pretty cakes like my mom was, but hopefully I get an A for effort.

Yep, she got them all in one puff.


Pets: Remember the post on our hamster? I'm sad to say she died this year, as is the short life of a hamster. But she is featured in the 2010 calendar of Cute Overload. The girls are tickled pink. We got our first family dog. The girls named her Cocoa. She's a long-haired chihuahua. Ever since our youngest daughter was just barely old enough to talk, she toted around a stuffed chihuahua she named "wa-wa." Cocoa is a funny dog who sometimes acts more like a cat, but we definitely love her.

She can totally sleep like this.

The girls love to put her in pink. Yes, we're some of "those" people. Actually chihuahuas get cold easily and we live in Colorado, so you can imagine that a little something on her back now and then helps out.

I think my shoes were bigger than she was when we brought her home.