Web Sites to look at

I found a couple of cool web sites that should help in your planning as well as mine.  I don't know about you but I usually like to have a theme in mind and start working towards the party in August, and its getting closer!

Divine Dinner Party -has good themes

Yahoo Voices -neat theme ideas

eHow -a great checklist and info for beginners

These are a couple to start with.  Leave me a comment with your favorite party planning web sites.


-Liz

new year, new party

Soooo..... 2012 has arrived and that brings with it our 2012 Halloween party.  Yes, I am crazy and started thinking about it and making lists for it this weekend.  I am already thinking about it.  Expect some crafts to come your way this month as Full Of Great Ideas No Spend January inspires me to make things with what we already have on hand (which is a lot of stuff)  I could possibly decorate our party with whatever we currently have in the house.  Also... my Halloween thoughts of course led me to think about what theme we want for this year and you guys, I think I'm going to do something unprecedented.  NO THEME.  I was thinking we could just put up decorations we like and everyone can come as whatever they want to.  Its a crazy idea for me since I insist on picking a theme each year that everything must coordinate with, but I'm really considering it.  What if our theme was just Halloween?  Sounds like a stress relief to me but it is still to be seen if I will follow through with it.

Looking forward to October.

Starting Paper Mache

When starting a paper mache project it is always good to have an idea in mind of what you really want to make.  Just because something looks difficult does not mean that it is out of the question.  The first year I wanted to do this I always wanted to make one of the alien creatures from the movie Alien.  In particular the ones that burst out through the chest.  When starting projects they don't always have to go exactly with the theme to a party, but it is always fun when it does.  Print off the best picture of whatever it is you want to make so you can get all angles,(since it will be a 3-D model and not 2-D.  Now that you have an idea and pictures you need to get your supplies.  Except for the painting, this will come pretty cheap if you know where to look.  If you receive a daily paper make sure to keep it and not throw it away, if not just go to your nearest grocery store and grab a handful of the green sheets or any of the free papers they have up front.  After that all you need is a roll of masking tape and some flour and water.  With the masking tape make sure its the thin roll and you will only need two rolls if you are making a lot of projects.  The flour you probably already have but if not the smallest bag will be fine since its just used as a thickener when you start applying the paper mache.
That's all you need to start up your new project, look for the next installment where I share how to make the base figure.

Thomas

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