Last year, without knowing what he was getting himself into, my boyfriend agreed to let me throw a Halloween party at his house. I must say, it was pretty awesome. I of course went to Pinterest to look for decorating ideas, and saw so many good ones that I decided to do each room a different theme. You're probably thinking "that sounds expensive", but with a crafty eye & the right guide, it doesn't have to be.
Unfortunately for y'all, I didn't get the best pictures of all my projects and decor. So if you really want the deets, you'll have to read & not just skim the pictures!
His front yard consists of a circle drive with a small tree in the middle, and some bushes near the house. I covered the tree and bushes in fake cob webs and spiders bought at The Dollar Tree. Around the tree, I made "lawn ghosts" using styrofoam balls with white tablecloths glued to them, so it looked like little ghosts holding hands. (See my Pinterest for similar ideas).
As you walk inside, there's a formal dining room on one side & living room on the other. These rooms are pretty open to each other, so I picked themes that flowed together. The dining room was decorated as a "haunted mansion", & the living room carried that theme but with more of an "abandoned house" flair. I bought life-sized adult & child skeletons from Amazon, as well as a dog skeleton from JoAnn Fabrics.
I had the adult-sized one in a chair at the head of the dining table, with the dog in its lap (as any man's-best-friend would be; dead or alive). I set the table using paper plates (for guests to actually use) on top of silver charger plates (The Dollar Tree usually carries silver & gold chargers year round). I created a spread of home-made food; from cookies, to hotdog mummies, to chocolate pudding gravesites. [Recipes up soon!]
Right before guests arrived, I put out a cauldron full of my "Witch's brew" cocktail. The glasses on the table were made to look like it was set for a final fancy dinner, but they were also available to guests to use as their own glass for the evening. I found some really cool deep red, purple, and green goblet-style glassware from a thrift store.
The banquet table in the background displayed some homemade spell books and potion bottles, as well as old wine bottles turned into candle holders, and other spooky Halloween decor I found on sale at Michaels and JoAnns. I didn't get a good picture, but two chandeliers hung above the dining table, which I covered in fake cobwebs and left a few pieces dangling down with spiders in them. Also not pictured: I cut apart the big cardboard box my skeleton arrived in, into "2x4's" & used brown paint to add on a wood-like design. They were visible from the street, so I painted both sides and it made it look like the room was boarded up.
Across the hall was the abandoned, creepy doll room. I found some super cheap plain white sheets at a thrift store (washed them REALLY well before using), and draped them over the chairs and couches in the room. I had to search several thrift stores for old dolls and toys, but managed to find a good selection. Don't worry if you find one that's missing an arm or an eyeball, because the goal is to destroy them! Click here for the full tutorial.
After methodically destroying the dolls, I purposely placed them around the room. I even found an old photo album, destroyed it, and filled it with creepy pictures I found online. I set that on the couch next to the child skeleton who I dressed in a little girl's ripped up dress soaked in fake blood. One doll had a mini skull glued to her outstretched hand, others had body parts missing, which I filled a vase with, and sat next to another DIY project- creepy letter blocks. The mantle also boasted one of my favorite touches: a working gum-ball machine that I took apart, cleaned out, and filled with plastic eyeballs and mini skulls.
In the corner of the room, I had some empty cardboard boxes covered with sheets & my DIY Halloween artwork leaned up against them. There was also a headless doll, and some glow-in-the-dark rats amongst them. [I didn't want to ruin the walls by actually hanging the art, so I figured propping it up was the safest bet.] The fireplace was the only light in this room during the party, adding to the spook-factor.
We knew we didn't want people going in the home office during the party, but without doors to shut, I had to get creative. I decided to close off the room using "Crime Scene" tape, and then created a crime scene. I used masking tape to outline a body on the floor & placed a few other props to leave guests guessing what went down here. Bloody footprints (gel-like stickers found on Amazon), a (toy) gun, and a feather duster sprayed with blood were all accompanied by a clue number. The numbers were simply cut out of poster-board, folded in half to stand upright, & had a number painted on the front. Cheapest & easiest room by far, but received a ton of compliments on creativity, and worked to keep people out!
The hallway leading from the front of the house to the kitchen has a big spiral staircase which I roped off with Caution tape. I also found an indoor/outdoor projection light with moving spiders that I had shining up the staircase wall to further deter guests from going upstairs.
This brings us around to the living room, which I must admit had the least decor, but that's ok because I wanted the focus to be on the kitchen directly across from it. My dogs are pretty tiny, so to avoid having them stepped on, we had them in a big cage in the living room. I figured the best costume for dogs in a cage would be prisoners! I believe I found these outfits at Michaels, and found the "mess hall" tray at The Dollar Tree. The only other decor in this room was a "mug shot" photo op I created. Bought an old sheet at a thrift store & painted black lines horizontally at 1 foot intervals with the numbers along the sides to look like a height chart. I hung this on a wall & had some mini chalkboards (The Dollar Tree) that I used white paint to write on to look like the sign you hold during a mug shot. I painted on the date, intake number, and "crime" (debauchery, public intox., killing the life of the party) & had chalk for guests to write in their names/characters for photos.
Now time for my favorite room- the kitchen. With the help of some bloody stickers found on Amazon, a few random body parts from Halloween stores, Pinterest recipes, and some creative thinking, I transformed this beautiful kitchen into one messed up morgue!
The centerpiece was made to look like a corpse, with random body parts offered up as food. The visible body parts were bought at a Halloween store. I used empty juice cartons, and those inflated plastic bags Amazon will sometimes use as cushion in their packaging to form the rest of the body under a sheet. I had guts, severed fingers, blood-shot eyes, brain, & bone-shaped cookies with blood splatter for party goers to chow down on.
To drink, I made some eyeball punch, made with lychees stuffed with blueberries to resemble eyes, and a topped it off with a hand-shaped ice cube. [Pour water into rubber glove, tie end & freeze. Cut off glove when ready to use!]. I also found these awesome blood bags and syringes on Amazon. I made red punch to fill the bags with, and filled the syringes with jello shots & kept refrigerated until party time.
I added some bloody stickers to the fridge, oven range, doors and light covers. Be cautious when using those that they won't stain the surface! I hung a few glow-in-the-dark knives above the oven, as well as some doctor masks covered in blood. I also had random blood-soaked knives and body parts throughout the space. I found an old scale and toaster at a thrift store that added the perfect touch. A strobe light in the corner and spooky music throughout the house really topped this off to be an awesome Halloween house party!
Yes, I am aware I said "I" quite a bit, but that's because the only help I had putting ALL of this together was my boyfriend outlining my body with tape in the crime scene room. If I could do all of this myself, imagine what you can do with the help of some friends or family!
I believe I started working on all the DIY projects and planning my designs about 3 weeks before Halloween, but set up was mostly the day of so that our cats and dogs didn't interfere with the decorations.
Don't have exact numbers, but pretty sure I was able to do the entire party (including food and drink) for under $2000.
That may be out of your budget, but remember that if you're big into holiday parties, a lot of these purchases/DIY crafts can be reused for years to come!
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