# Mythical Creatures Halloween Party 2014



## Shortpants (Aug 29, 2014)

Now that we have finally decided on a theme, let the planning begin!! Our group chose Mythical Creatures as our theme this year since some of our crew is into the creepy/scary side of Halloween, and some aren't. It seemed to be a good middle ground theme that suited everyone. So far we have a wood nymph, succubus and Medusa, possibly a zombie, hubby is thinking Grim Reaper (mind you he is 6'6", so should be a rather imposing Grim Reaper!), and I am flip flopping between dark fairy, vampire or witch. So we should have a good cross section of costumes represented. Costumes WILL be required, the consequence for not wearing a costume is that you have to wear one of my old maternity dresses, complete with prosthetic belly and wig. LOL!

DECORATIONS - INSIDE:
Still mulling this one over. We have one big combined living/dining room and I'm thinking the dining half will be an enchanted forest scene, and the living room side will be more monster-y and have some scenes to use with photo props for guests to take pictures. I'd like the buffet table on the enchanted forest side with some shot options. I have a great glass-front cabinet in the dining room that would be perfect for labelled potion bottles and spell ingredients, so probably going to do that. I'm looking at the scene setter wall coverings, but not sure if that is the route I will take yet. 

DECORATIONS - OUTSIDE:
Really need to do some thinking on this one. Although I might be incorporating the outside decorations into our games somehow, so I'll probably wait until I get games nailed down first. I do want to make the TP roll/glow stick eyes to stick in the bushes for sure, and do either a huge spider nest or massive ghost group in a creepy looking tree in our backyard. Still working on this one... 

FOOD:
We always do a theme buffet, so this year will be things like Yeti Spaghetti with Pegasauce, Unicorn Kebabs, Cheese and Kraken, just to name a few. Since everyone contributes a dish to this meal, it's pretty fun to see what we end up with. 

GAMES:
Still thinking on this one too. I'd like to play deadly wink, do a treasure/scavenger/photo scavenger hunt, and I have a few more ideas that I'm seeing if I can work into our theme. 

That's it for now, since our theme choice is still pretty new I'm just figuring things out. Would love to hear suggestions or input anyone has! TIA!


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## miles (Sep 18, 2013)

I like the mythological creatures idea a lot.

it would be awesome if you have one empty corner spot in the living room or dinning room were you could build a fake tree that could have vines and limbs crawling around the rooms. lots of moss! don't know if it would be a hassle but having leaves n the floor would add to it. maybe some pixies/fairies hanging around tops of things or light fixtures. are werewolves making their way into this!? lol cause I love me some werewolves. I don't know how far you plan on incorporating some rooms...but if the bathroom has a tub, mayhaps a creature from the black lagoon/mermaid? or tentacles...im a sucker for tentacles(no pun intended) spiders are always a good way to creep people out lol. I like the ghost group too, chicken wire? sheet ghost? all fun. I'll try and think of more things for the outdoors.


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## bettyboop (Jul 24, 2010)

Hmmmmmm. Interested to follow this Thread..........


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

It sounds like you have a lot of great ideas!
Is there any way you could do one of those little garden bridges with trolls outside? Immediately my mind starts working on how that would look in *my* yard. This forum is going to be so bad for me!


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## Shortpants (Aug 29, 2014)

Thanks everyone! I love the ideas! We do have one of those fake ficus trees in the living room that I was planning on using for the enchanted forest, but I really love the idea of making it grow vines up onto the ceiling and around the room! That would look so cool! I wish I had more tiny fairies, I had gotten some handmade hanging fairies at some Ren Faires I've been to that look sooooo real, now I wish I had about 20 more! Right now I have them inside glass enclosures I made that look like little terrariums, but I bet I can still work them in somehow. Come to think of it, I have quite a few fairy figurines that I have collected over the years, thanks for the reminder!  OMG, I am wishing we DID have a tub! I'd have a kraken or loch ness in there for sure! LOL! We only have a stall shower though, and we will be getting a porta potty for the party, wonder if I can wind some tentacles around that? hahaha! I do want to get one of those creepy toilet seat clings for the porta potty, like a zombie crawling out or sea monster if I can find one. Definitely want to do a big spider tree and a ghost grouping, I'm planning on doing ghosts on the ground and hanging from the tree, and now I've got hubby working on lighting and possibly adding strobes. I'm also trying to figure out how to build a headless horseman, but I'm going to put him on our rider mower, not on a horse. ROFL! We are lucky that we have two outbuildings in our backyard, and both have electric to them, so access to power for lighting/fog/sounds/etc. will not be a problem. I just checked moon phases too, and there is like NO moon Halloween night and the night after, nice and dark for creeping people out! Mua-ha-ha-ha! A troll bridge would be so awesome! Great idea! Our lawn is pretty flat, but I'm wondering if I could use our porches (one on front and back) to make a bridge scene where a couple trolls could hang out. I'll be thinking about how to add that one for sure!

Thanks for all the awesome ideas! I also called in for help from the other ladies in our group, so they are helping me pull together the inside decorations, thank goodness! They also have some great decorations that they can add and we are all pretty handy with the DIY stuff, so it should come out great. One already has the photo booth props (write on/wipe off speech bubbles, mustaches, glasses, etc.) all printed off and ready to laminate already! We also had a Spirit store open up about a half hour away last week... I can guarantee I'll be there soon!!! I have TONS more ideas, but I also have two little hungry goblins pulling at my arm... so I better go feed them! LOL!


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## printersdevil (Sep 7, 2009)

Make your own fairies. Go to Dollar Tree and buy the rope mini skeleton garland. Each has about 4 or 5 skellies on it. Then back in the craft section they have small butterfly wings two in a package for $1. Hot glue them on the small skellies and you have some skellie fairies or Skutter Flys as bethene calls them. Check out other posts on here for many variations of these---especially the craft sections. You can make your own fairies that are cheap and fast. Then you can have all that you want!!!!

If you are not familiar with it, spend some time checking out the Dollar Tree crafts thread. Lots and lots of ideas there.


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## Shortpants (Aug 29, 2014)

Were you peeping in my windows watching me read every single page of the Dollar Tree Crafts thread? LOL! I got so many fantastic ideas! I will definitely be making some skele-fairies! I also found this thread on making the witch library books, and lo and behold, hubby comes home with a whole box of free hardcover old books last night! I guess it's kismet, I just HAVE to make books now! I'm getting super psyched about all the decorations I can do on the cheap. Thanks to everyone here at HF for your generous sharing of information and knowledge, it is much appreciated!

I'm getting some good ideas together for outside, I'd like to make like "vignettes" in different spots in our backyard that incorporate into our treasure/scavenger hunt. I did some research on motion sensors over the weekend and think I figured out how to trigger the scene when they get close. We'll see how that works for real, right? haha! I have a champagne plan on a beer budget. LOL! And no experience to back me up and make it go smoothly. Oh my, what have I gotten myself into?  All these ideas, now I just have to focus and make a real plan out of all of them. I'm thinking I might have a tad too much on my list of "wants", so I need to pick the best of the best and go from there. But every time I think I'm done and I've seen everything, I see that one more thing... 

Ok, chill out, one thing at a time SP...


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## Shortpants (Aug 29, 2014)

Arrrgh, I truly love living in Vermont for about 360 days a year, but then there are the few really nasty, cold, snowy winter days. This past weekend I figured I'd do a little reading on the Farmer's Almanac page and see what the weather predictions were for this Halloween... we could possibly have snow as early as the end of Sept or early Oct this year according to FA and a few other weather sites. Bah! That could put the kibosh on my outside plans for our party. I mean, we are trained from a very early age up here in the frozen tundra to pick Halloween costumes that you can fit a coat or snowsuit under, just in case, but I don't recall ever actually having SNOW on Halloween. Maybe a dusting early in Oct that melts before the big day, but definitely not as early as the end of Sept! I guess I'll just have to have a backup plan if it gets too chilly or if we get snow. So bummed!


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## Shortpants (Aug 29, 2014)

So, took a month off for a whole slew of birthdays, family visits, yadda yadda yadda, so now back at crafting, planning, and trying to pull together this party! LOL! I will be going as a sorceress and hubby will be a sorcerer. I picked up the fabric to sew his cloak today and stuff for my cape and a loooong blue velvet gown. Can't wait to start sewing! Hopefully tomorrow. I've been picking up bits and pieces for the enchanted forest side and witchy potion cabinet. Still looking at different options for the other side. I did make my first skutterfly today though! 















These will be hung from the haunted tree in the enchanted forest.


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## Shortpants (Aug 29, 2014)

I put this guy together today:








Although, in hindsight I probably shouldn't have built him while our 2 YO was napping... she just got up and now just keeps staring at him and won't get off the couch. LOL!

He is going to end up in the backyard on the lawnmower, and still may get changed to the "Headless Lawnmower Man" with a jack o lantern in his lap and no head... not sure until I get it outside. Then, for our treasure/scavenger hunt game, I'm going to swap him out with a live person, so when our guests go to what they THINK is a dummy to get the clue... it will MOVE! Mua-ha-ha-ha!!


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