Two Kids and a Party

Today my daughter and I decided to hold a Harvest/Halloweenish Costume Party. We don't want it scary so we will tone done the scary stuff. I just love preparing and having parties. She wants her husband to dress up as Luigi. He will make a great Luigi. Not sure I can get Larry to dress up, maybe something simple, like a pirate, we'll see.



This is perfect.
We have lanterns and shepherds hooks from the wedding and wondered what we would do with them after. Some orange lights, some black facial pieces and wahla.



With every party I decorate our arch coming into our yard. I love this arch and I have candy corn lights from past Halloween celebrations. I also have this mechanical thing of bones that lift and separate as you approach it. Might be on the scary side so it might not work. I need to research how I can temporarily make my white pickets black for the event. Or I could buy one section of pre-made picket fence ($24 at Home Depot) cut it in half and only paint it black, not my whole fence.


I think I want to take this idea in a different direction. We plan to have bobbing for apples and I already have the rocks, so not only would it be a prop but also serve a function.

In searching for idea's I found these fun games:

Ghost Bowling – Collect ten empty one or two liter soda pop bottles (use the larger bottles for younger guests). Paint the bottles white and decorate with silly ghost faces. Use a small playground size ball as the bowling ball. If you can find orange ones, decorating them as jack-o-lanterns can add to the fun.

Jack-o-Lantern Faces – Hang a picture of a jack-o-lantern on the wall and have matching face pieces cut out of black paper for the eyes, nose and mouth. Place sticky-tack on the back of the pieces. Blindfold each player when it is their turn and play the same as pin the tail on the donkey except players put the eyes, nose and mouth on the pumpkin face. Younger children can do just the mouth, while older children and adults can do the entire face for more of a challenge.

Ring the Pumpkin: Line up three large pumpkins with stems, to form a ring toss. Use embroidery hoops or make hoops with rope and duct tape. Mark a throwing line on the floor and take turns trying to ring a pumpkin stem. It doesn't matter if the players make a "ringer" or not, reward them with small prizes or stickers. Smaller children can attempt to ring an entire large pumpkin with a hula hoop.

Popcorn Relay Race: The object of this game is to be the first team to successfully transport popcorn from a full bowl to an empty bowl, using only a small measuring cup. On one side of t he room place the bowls filled with popped popcorn. This is where the teams will line up. Then place the empty bowls on the the other side of the room. Players take turns filling the cup, running to empty bowl to pour out the popcorn and returning to the team to pass the cup to the next player. Continue until the bowl is empty. This is a messy game - plan it for the end of the party!

Scarecrow Relay Race: the object of the game is to be the first team to complete a scarecrow. You can pace this in a variety of ways depending on the age of the children or the group size. Provide each team with the clothing and stuffing. They can take turns running to work on the scarecrow or stuff the scarecrow or simply work together as a group. Either way it's fun and will require cooperation.

I really like this craft idea:
 
Paper Bag Scarecrow

What you'll need:

• Brown paper lunch bag
• White craft glue
• 2 medium wiggle eyes
• 2 feet of ribbon infall colors
• A stir stick
• 2 sheets of newspaper
• Black marker
• Scissors
• Orange foam flower
• Construction paper: white/tan, brown, yellow, pink, orange
• Pattern for hat

How to make it:

1. Trace the pattern onto white or tan construction paper. Cut out. Draw some stitches onto the rim and hat top by making tic-tac-toe symbols.
2. Lay the paper bag on a work surface with the flap side facing down. Glue the wiggle eyes in place roughly three inches from the top of the bags.
3. Cut out a triangle from the orange construction paper for the nose. Glue in place slightly below the middle of the eyes.
4. Cut out two circles from the pink construction paper. Glue on either side of the nose, and draw a smile from the bottom of one circle to the other (see photo). Draw a few stitches on the mouth.
5. Use a marker to draw eyebrows above the eyes.
6. Fold yellow construction paper in half, greeting card style. Cut along the fold so you have two pieces. Cut one piece into thin strips. Starting at the top of the bag, glue some strips on so they hang down like hair. Cut some strips shorter for bangs.
   
7. Cut a strip of brown construction paper to glue onto the hat top as the band. Fringe- or scissor-cut the top of the hat brim piece. Glue the brim to the hat top so it partially covers the brown brim.
   
8. Glue the yellow foam flower to the hat. Cut out a circle from brown construction paper and glue to the center of the flower.
   
9. Glue the hat on top of the yellow hair.
   
10. Carefully fill the bag with crumpled newspaper.
    
11. Coat the first three inches of the paint stir stick with glue and insert into the bottom of the bag.
    
12. Crumple the bag around the stir stick, being careful not to let the end of the bag stick to the stirrer.
    
13. Tie a ribbon around the end of the bag, about two inches above the bottom. Tie the ribbon in a tight knot and then tie into a bow to close the bag.
    
14. Cut some of the leftover yellow strips in half or thirds and glue them to the stick under the bag.
    
15. Carry your scarecrow by the stir stick.

Are you planning a boo bash? Have any ideas to share with us?