When Mike and I moved in, we set the day for a housewarming party right away. Not because we love to party, but because we knew having a party would actually force us to unpack! I also secretly knew that by having a party in October, I would be able to buy spooky decorations and Mike would go along with it. I love me some Halloween!
Lots of spiders on the front porch
Zombie crossing!
The front lawn
I took exactly two pictures before the party started. Then, once the party began, I was busy catching up with family and friends and didn’t take any more pictures until it was over. This is the pre-party shot of the food:
We served savory and sweet foods. The savory food were veggies and dip, chips and salsa and guacamole, cheese and fruit, spinach dip, deviled eggs, and ham roll ups. The sweets were rice crispy treats, apple slices and caramel, pumpkin cool whip dip and graham crackers, chocolate covered frozen bananas, Halloween popcorn, and chocolate-covered pretzels. I also made my famous sangria to go along with wine, beer, juice boxes, soda, and water.
Here it is empty table after:
I found the little lights at a drug store, and they looked so cute on the dining table.
Cheesecloth made for spooky curtains
Styrofoam eyes and skulls helped make the dried flowers more festive. The wig is always there. Just kidding. It’s usually on Mike’s head.
Pumpkins in the fireplace, and Halloween candles, pillows, and toys on display.
My kitchen display, with a lone left-over chocolate-covered pretzel.
Annie and Maddie’s first year photo collages, with battery-operated candles.
bloody hand print!
The photo booth, which was a huge hit.
It was great to show the house to our family and friends. Now that the party is over, I don’t plan on doing any unpacking or cleaning for at LEAST a week!
Sue says:
Your house looks absolutely gorgeous, Heather,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,with a whole lot of creepy and spooky thrown in! You did such a great job, and I’m sure your guests had tons of fun! How do you keep Annie from messing with all of the decorations?
Greta says:
Your house looks great!! I hope those fake spiders don’t catch you off guard one night!! I guess the wig is the one Mike wore to the amusement park.
Kristin says:
Fabulous decorations, especially the cheesecloth curtains, and the bloody hand print is the perfect touch.
Shan says:
Love it! What cute ideas you have Heather!! I just had a get together on Friday and wish I would have seen this before then!!
Jenn says:
Hey Heather,
I thought (and actually I texted both you & Mike) to wish you guys a GREAT party! It looks like you all had the best time and I’m so happy you did!!! I was hoping you would show your photo wall finished. Did you settle on your perfect picture of Maddie? Can’t WAIT to see it – if you do plan on sharing it that is!
Enjoy the memories of your 1st halloween/house warming party and enjoy your week off of NOT preparing for any parties this week!!!
Marisol says:
I LOVE your house! And your kitchen…OMG! Can’t wait until i can buy a house… lol. Congrats on the beautiful home!
Lisa_in_WI says:
Very cute! Love the bloody handprint on the shower, I might have to steal that for my Halloween party!
BTW, I made your meat sauce last night, and it turned out great!
Erin says:
I like the idea of the handprint but something about it being in the bathroom just kind of…grosses me out. If you know what I mean.
Made the pull-apart bread yesterday and actually greeted it this morning with, “Hello, lover. “. You rock, Heather.
katrina @ They All Call Me Mom says:
Everything looked great!
Normally I don’t put up spooky and creepy Halloween decorations until the week before Halloween. For me, they just aren’t too pleasant have around, and a week of them is enough for me. I put up Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving because they are so pretty and festive – the Christmas season can never be stretched out, too long, you know? But Halloween? Um, not so much. Although I love Halloween and all it’s spooky fun, I hate getting up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water when a glowing skull is there to greet me at the kitchen table, or the creepy skeleton on the wall of our pantry smiles at me and causes me to chug my water and hurry back upstairs. They just doesn’t make for good dreams, you know? I can take a week of that, but a full month? No way. Problem is, as my kids are getting older, it’s they who request to put up all the Halloween decorations as soon as October 1st arrives. I try to delay it as long as I can, but eventually I give in to their requests.
Lately I just keep bottled water on my nightstand, which eliminates the need for midnight trips to the kitchen!
Catherine says:
Wow! Your house looks amazing!! I hope your party was great.. you sure outdid yourself with the decorations!
Andrea says:
Love the Halloween decorations. We don’t go all out for Halloween at our house as we decorate more for fall and Thanksgiving rather than Halloween. Is is bad that I am already getting excited to decorate for Christmas though?
Lanie says:
The house looks great! Glad that you had fun. Take care.
Amy Collen says:
The bloody handprint definitely takes the cake. Such a benign scene with such a horrifying statement. PERFECT!!!
Glenda says:
Beautiful HOME! Perfect! Enjoy it!
Michele says:
Wow! The house is beautiful. Good for you!!
Ray says:
“The wig is always there. Just kidding. It’s usually on Mike’s head.”
Lol! =P
Love the way you decorate. Can’t wait to see what you have in store for Christmas! ;o)
Melanie B says:
Gorgeous place and I love the festive decorations…you did good mama!
AmazingGreis says:
Wow, everything turned out so great. Glad the party was fun!
Emily says:
LOVING the cheese cloth window treatment!
vanessa says:
Love it all ….but PLEASE share your sangria recipe…I’m having an octoberfest party and have been looking for a good sangria recipe …our
Heather says:
Yay! A party. OK, here it is:
1 bottle red wine (I use cabernet)
2 cups club soda
1 shot brandy
1 apple, cut into small pieces
1 orange, cut into small pieces
1 lemon, cut into small pieces
NOW. You have to squeeze the juice out of the orange and lemon. They are really just floating around in there to make it all look pretty. The final ingredient is sugar. I put in a TON of it. Like, probably half a cup. I say probably because I start with two tablespoons and then I stir up all the ingredients and taste it and it’s NEVER sweet enough, and I like my sangria SWEET. SO. Here’s what I suggest. Make the sangria hours before the party – the day before, if you can. Add in sugar to start, maybe four tablespoons. Then, over the course of the next several hours, taste the sangria. As it sits, it gets sweeter and better and oh man, I need to make some right now!
vanessa says:
Thanks so much Heather I will definitely be giving it a go ..our octoberfest is ‘around the world in one night’ themed ..each family brings food and drink from a particular country and must wear an outfit to make us guess the country …now I need to go check if sangria is Mexican or Spanish !!