Where is October going?!?

This week is all about the Halloween party -- and I still have so much to do! And since my post-a-day obviously failed... I'll be binging on tweets right up to and through the party.  Want to see how I'm adding the final touches to the decorations or what we're cooking up?  Click below and follow me on twitter!

@atasteofmybrain

Time to jump in the deep end of the Halloween Season

It's always this time of year when I realize how incredibly behind I am on Halloween preparations.  I spend the summer casually going over past plans and ideas thinking about how far away the season is, then go on family vacation for a week in the middle of September.  And here I am.  There's only *looks at calendar * 44 DAYS UNTIL HALLOWEEN!!  

You may think that's a lot, but ohhoh, no.  Especially when my big party falls on the weekend prior to Halloween weekend.  Now I only have five weeks to get ready!  Complain as I'd like, it's time to really get into now.

So what's there to do before the big day?  Well, the invitations have gone out and RSVPs are beginning to trickle in.  We have our basic menu that we use every year, but I'll need to nail down the themed treats in the next couple of weeks.  Normally this consists of me thinking I can create all these fabulously decorate sweet and savories and maybe two of them actually come into fruition...

Perhaps most timely at this point are the decorations!  Bin after orange-and-black bin will be brought down from the attic this week for me to sort through and distribute about the house and exterior.  Then I'll decide that I need knew decorations - because obviously I don't have enough!  This year is slightly different, though.  I've already decided on a project: a giant, frightening scarecrow!  One that will hide and loom just around the corner for approaching guests.  I already anticipate a lot of blood (both fake and real,) sweat -- I want this thing to be HUGE-- and tears will go into this.  If it doesn't work, I'll cry.  If it works, I'll cry harder.  And maniacally.  

So here's fair warning: I'll (hopefully) be posting throughout this little project of mine.  Be prepared to cringe, to laugh, and even scream - I hope in terror and not in frustration like I do every Sunday at the Eagles.

You're invited... It's that time again.

Halloween in April: Last year's Halloween mix

Here is the playlist that I came up with for last year's party.  Although, it was hugely under-appreciated due to the Phillies game that every demanded be on...  I won't ever let an Eagles game get in the way of my wedding game, but that pushed me over the edge!

So why post this now?  I started planning for that party around this time last year.  Really.  So I was wondering if anyone had any good ones to add to list for next year.  Can you help a ghoul out?

Halloween 2010 Playlist

Thriller - Michael Jackson

I Put A Spell On You - Creedence Clearwater Revival

This Is Halloween - Marilyn Manson

Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.

Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers

Somebody's Watching Me - Rockwell

Shout At The Devil - Motley Crue

Welcome To My Nightmare - Alice Cooper

If I Was You Vampire - Marilyn Manson

Time Warp - Original Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast

(Don't Fear) The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult

Superstitious - Stevie Wonder

Witchy Woman - Eagles

People Are Strange - The Doors

I'm Your Boogie Man - KC & The Sunshine Band

Boom Boom Ba - Metisse

The last one, since I'm sure that's the one no one would recognize, is a song used in many of the episodes of the vastly underrated show Dead Like Me.  As for the others on the list, I spent an awful lot of time coming up with them - I looked online, went through every iTunes Halloween list and browsed my entire library of songs.  Now, I do have other things that I play during the night like spooky sound effects, Tubular Bells, and the score to Sleepy Hollow.  There are also some songs that I just didn't want to include.  For example: Matt & Kim's "Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare," which just would have been to cheery for my theme of the night.

So what's good?  Should I include songs like "Zombie" or "Bad Moon Rising"?  I also tried to keep in mind the audience, although, to be honest that audience ranged from 3 to big kids that fall under the "senior citizen" demographic.

Help me out.  Let me know!  If you frequent my parties, what do you want to hear?

Halloween 2010: Update! - Decorations

So far I have the invitations and reminders sent, a mini graveyard constructed, and some gruesome window scenes.  But, I suck at taking pix in a timely fashion.  Look for pictures soon to follow!  In the meantime, here are some of the things I used:

This kit is very similar to the one I used (if not better.)  We got our kit at Party City; I'm not sure how much it was there, but they gave us a 30% off coupon at the register!

On our one large window, we've had an eagle's head (Philadelphia Eagles logo) for a few seasons.  Since Halloween is in the middle of the football season, I didn't want to take it down.  So what I did was take Red Window Paint marker (or similar enough), covered my hands in it, and marked up the window around the bird with some nice, bloody hand smears :)  On a smaller window, I used my red, white, and black window paint markers to create a skull and bones frame with creepy eyes in the middle to watch passers-by.  (I know I sound cornier the more I write...)

As for our big side window, which is the first our guests will pass since our home faces a courtyard, I used the "Chop Shop" theme.  I had fun with this one and I'm not done yet!  I'm still looking for links to some of the products, but I'll post pictures anyway.  On the window, I started with gel window clings of blood spatterings with razor blades.  Yep, you read it.  Then I took Spray Blood Aerosol Paint for Fabric & Rubber to the top (after taping off what I could of the sill, ceiling and sides.)  It created a nice dripping effect, but the consistency was way too thing!  Every dripping ran to the bottom, left more of an orangy-yellow color behind (and marked up my hands pretty good.)  I emailed the company ahead of time to make sure this stuff would come off of windows.  Let's hope they're right...

Then I had invested in a really nice, gory, life-sized head.  It's awesome.  I hung that from the hook in the center of the window [box] we use to hang a wind chime (that gets put up after each plant my mom kills dies...)  I also bought two shrunken heads.  Using white thread and clear pushpins, I hung them on either side of BGH (big gory head.)

Then I threw some black "spooky" fabric on the sill and some 24" Bloody Bandage Decoration.  But I still don't think I'm done.

Other than that, we have these great black scene curtains that my mother bought a few seasons ago.

Slowly, it's all coming together.  But, as always, I'm still looking for suggestions!

Halloween 2010: Help me find one of these!!

I am frantically searching for a Halloween Karaoke CD!

Does anyone know if this even exists?

If not, any suggestions?

Brownie points for any advice!

Thanks :)

Halloween 2010: The Cake is designed

I have to put my Wilton classes to use for my most favorite occasion of the year!  So I drew up this guy, which I thought of on the ride home one day last week.  Forgive the quality of the sketch.  I guess I couldn't find a pencil so I had to use a pen for the body of the sketch, and I also couldn't locate my black Prismacolor.  That's why the midsection is kind of grey; I was actually pressing hard with whatever dollar store version of a black colored pencil I could find.

So let me know what you think, please!  I can go into details of what materials I have in mind later.  The only thing I'm debating right now is whether it's going to just be frosted or covered with a fondant/modeling chocolate shell.  Suggestions? Bring 'em on!

:)

(By the way: I don't claim to be any kind of professional, so please judge my artwork kindly ;)

Halloween 2010: The Invitations are Ordered!

As part of my [hopefully] well thought out plan, I've already put together and ordered my invitations for the  event.  Using the awesome site, VistaPrint, I created the invitations, reminder cards (think reverse "save the date" cards,) return address labels and door prize chances.

We're almost at the Three Month mark as for time left until the party in October.  By ordering them now, I have a safe cushion to be able to receive the order (which was already shipped!) and send them all out just before the Two Month mark.  The reminder cards will go out around the One Month mark so that no one forgets, and if anyone's calendar opens up, then they know they can still come.

I've formatted the designs to share with you, with some minor adjustments to hide some personal information ;)

These are what I really spent any money on.  VistaPrint had a special going on that you could get 10 personalized invites for free, but I knew I would need more than that!  So I ordered 50, which cost about $25 with a full color back and a glossy front for about an extra $5 for the two options.  I chose this design because it matched my personality and occasion the best (although you do have the option to upload your own design.  I wasn't feel up to that though!)  Although these cards are kind of small, I was still able to write a whole message on the back to my potential guests.

In the past, I never wanted to send out the invitations too early for fear of people eventually forgetting about us.  By doing so, though, some people already had plans for that weekend!  So this year, I solved that problem with these babies.  The reminder cards were created on postcards (with blank backs.) I was able to get 100 of these for only $2.49!!  They were on special for 90% off.  Now, I won't need all of them, but that was the lowest amount I could get.

I tried to go with a theme for my materials without having to do too much altering.  These were actually the first items in my cart.  They're cute and simple and perfect for the occasion.  I got 140 of these for FREE!!  This works out great for me; I'll be able to use them for both the invites and the reminders.  Awesome.

Vista also had a special where I could create 250 premium business cards for FREE.  We've always done costume contests at our Halloween parties and gave out door prizes at a few too.  So why not do it this year?  Originally, I had "2010" on there, but since I got 250 in the bundle, I thought it best to take the year off the card and keep the leftovers around to use in the future.  This is an experiment; it's always just as fun to see who actually remembers these things.  It may just end up being, "The one person who remembers this card wins!"

I completed this order on the 14th, and they were shipped yesterday, the 16th!  I had originally planned on getting the cheapest shipping, which would have been the 21 day shipping, but I got offered FREE 14 day shipping.  WOO!  I can't wait to see the order when it gets here!

What do you think about these items?

Do you have another site or method you use for this type of stuff?

Prefer to do it all by hand?  Let me know!

And the planning has already begun...

...for this year's Halloween party!  Yeah, that's right: we're barely into the summer and I've already started the planning for Halloween 2010.  But there are a few differences that make this year stand out.

1) My household hasn't held a Halloween party in a few years.  Since I'll be home (commuting to my final term of school instead of living on campus,) and since there have been numerous complaints since it's been a while, I decided it was finally time where I could concentrate on a kick-ass comeback!

2) I'm 21 now.  That means no responsible (albeit younger) chaperone for the drunken oldies a.k.a. fantastically fun costumed mess ;)

3) I've been baking up a storm with my special focus on Halloween themed treats.  This will be a great opportunity for me to showcase my goodies!  (Don't be a pervert...)


So, quite obviously, I will be sharing all the steps I take with all of you (whoever you may be.)  I'll also be looking for some advice.  For instance: What costume should a don? Needless to say, it has to be brilliant.  I'd love to come up with something on my own, but it doesn't hurt to be steered in the right direction.  Having said that, if you know anyone Halloween/costume/party savvy, please send them a link to my blog or Twitter.  Who knows?  I may even be able to hold a few contests this year...

Thus far, I've only begun building my menu, guest list, and have a fabulous start on a pretty awesome Halloween Mix (request taken, of course!)

Please let me know what you think along the way!

The countdown begins! (already...)