Themes can be important

One of the first things that we like to do each year is think of a great theme for our upcoming party.  We usually have a few brainstorming sessions with each other and/or close friends and work to come up with a theme we are excited about.  It is essential that your theme not be too specific or precise as well as not too broad or vague.  Picking a particular director or actor for example can be very confining and makes it difficult to center a party around.  A theme that is too general or loose, such as scary stuff, can make it hard to bring everything together.  There are of course exceptions and you can make anything work if you really work at it.

We find that the theme helps people choose their costumes and be creative while it dictates the type of decorations and games you will provide as well as food and other items at the party.

Themes we have used in the past.

Horror Movies
Our invitations asked guests to come dressed as their favorite horror movie character.
We created decorations to reflect specific horror movie scenes such as the Psycho shower scene or Carrie's bucket of blood.  Scattering several small decorations throughout the house from various movies allowed us to play a great scavenger hunt game so the decorations did double duty.  Mixing lots of props and scenes gave the house a fun feeling and guests were constantly looking around to see what they could find in our decorations.

Creepy Castle
Thomas and I dressed as demons and covered the house with intricate scenes of mystic psychic tools and Voo Doo dolls.  We lined shelves with witchy books and lanterns as well as candles and made the walls look like stones to resemble a dungeon.  A 'skeleton' sacrifice laid in one room while a graveyard was in another.  Large plastic sheets were made to look like doors that led into other rooms to make it seem expansive.  Bones, tombstones and strange 'artifacts' were spread around to creep out our guests.  Fake blood and plastic rats and bugs added to the fun.

Butcher Shop
A bloody sheet covered with body parts and bones was a very easy focal point that took seconds to set up.  We invested a little bit of money in nice props for some hanging severed heads that will last and work for many themes in the future.  Our costumes consisted of just jeans, t shirts and aprons splattered with red paint to look like blood.  Our make up was intricate, Thomas' face was white and blue with white ice crystals in his facial hair to resemble someone stuck in the freezer and Liz looked like her eyes were gouged out and her face was bloody.  Simple decorations were used from previous years like chains, bones, cloth to cover the walls and spider webs everywhere.  Papier mache body parts fashioned by Thomas were put on shelves to look like meat cases complete with signs and prices.


This year we plan to use a good and evil theme because this lends to easy decorating by just making the house seem creepy and interesting.  Our guests are urged to come as their version of good or evil to showcase their personality and jump start conversations.  We are still formulating our plans so more detail will come as we finalize our ideas.  This theme allows us to utilize things from previous years without needing to buy much else.

Be sure when you are thinking of your own theme to consider the following:
How would you dress for that?  What kinds of costumes would be appropriate?
Is your theme too complicated?  Will you be able to pull this off with the time and budget you have?
What kinds of games can you play?  What would you give out as prizes?
How would you decorate?  Are there specific things you need to create the atmosphere you are looking for?
How far do you want to go?  Do you have the space and time to start early?  Can you work for months or days on your projects?  Is your theme better scaled down or full blown?
What is your budget?  What do you already have on hand?  Is it necessary to buy a lot for your theme or can you make things work you already have?  How far in advance should you start to spread out the spending?
Does your location lend itself to what you want to do?
What kind of food and drinks would you serve?
How sensitive to other people's fears and hang ups?  Are you taking things too far?  Is it offensive?
Will people understand your theme and be able to apply it easily?

liz

Meet the Authors

This Halloween will mark our 6th Annual Halloween Party together.  Until you can get to know us through this blog, here are few photos of our costumes over the years together.

Just a little preview

We thought you might like a little preview of what we have done.  Here are some photos of previous Halloweens.

Back Story

Hey, guys.  I thought I'd give you a little info about us and what we plan to do here.  My name is Liz and my husband Thomas and I just love Halloween.  We spend months making new items and working on new projects for our giant Halloween party each year.  We generally like to pick a theme and then center the games, costumes and decorations around that.  Tombstones, organs, great costumes and lots of other things have been made throughout the years.

Each year I look on line for new ideas and products that we can recreate or purchase and although stores are carrying a wider variety of items these days it is very hard to find any instructions or information about making our own stuff. We thought this year we would start our own page for anyone looking for information.  Although several months of the year are dedicated to getting ready for our big party, we have grown to like our decorations so much that many of them have made it into our every day lives.

Please follow us to learn more about what we make and what we love.  Leave us comments and let us know what you want to know about.  =)