Walking Dead Party

My besty cousin's birthday and the mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead on the *very* same day?  Inconceivable! (Anyone?  Anyone?)  We must celebrate!
 

 

WARNING!  SCARY (COOL) PHOTOS AHEAD!
No, really, we dressed up and we did goooood!  Those with weak dispositions towards yucky zombies, be warned.

Just look at this place!  Doesn't it ROCK!?

Let's take a closer look.....

 

I covered the doors with paper, spray painted just as the cafeteria doors in the hospital look in the pilot episode.  Plastic chains (dug out of my Halloween décor) "locked" the doors to keep the "dead" inside.  The hands were cut with my Cricut.

 

 

More of those hands were coming from my fireplace which was "boarded" up with cardboard strips wrapped in faux wood paper.  The mantel was dedicated to those we've lost over the years.  Note, the family photos have been removed from the frames on the wall.  Must have been taken by the family that abandoned this house.  *wink*

On the TV we watched a loop of the CDC's MRI.  Test Subject 19 looks to be getting into the celebration.

The windows on either side were protected with more "boards"....

....and being breached by more zombie hands!


Zombie Eats

This *is* a birthday party so we must have cake and candles... wait, is that a candle?  You may remember those "Dynamite" candles from my Goonies Backyard Movie Night.  I got them from Party Swizzle.  The axes, from Etsy seller SugarFoxShop. 

These fantastic cupcake liners are available to print for FREE over at Birthday Express.  The inspiration for the cupcakes came from Annie's Eats.

Look at the "yucky" (YUMMY!!) "brain" (cherry pie) filled inside...

To drink we enjoyed toxic liquid, of some sort.  It tasted a lot like white grape juice.  *wink* 

I cut the biohazard symbols out of vinyl with my Cricut.

We also enjoyed Rice Krispie Treats, colored red to resemble braaaiiinnnnssss....

 Speaking of braaaiiinnnnssss....

 

This classic shrimp cocktail hors d'oeuvre gets a gruesome makeover, thanks to Martha Stewart.  And it was a HUGE hit.  Zombies do love their braaaiiinnnnnnssss..... (and it was really delicious!)

 

Also, on the menu, 7-layer taco graveyard and Violets in dirt.  Chocolate pudding and crushed Oreos topped with gummy pigs.

 

 
Mmmm... eyeballs.  Thanks to Dabbled.


Goody Bags!  Errr... Survival Kits.

 These FABULOUS survival kits were inspired by one I saw on Instructables.com.

Each survival kit had a flashlight, hand sanitizer, first aid kit, bottled drinking water, Top Roman and a Twinkie (of course!).


Our Cast of Characters
*though fake, and 100% makeup, some of these are still graphic*

 

 

 

We hope you had a scary good time....

 

A Christmas Story themed Christmas Party

Last year we celebrated Christmas Eve with Buddy the Elf, this year we celebrate with Ralphie, and A Christmas Story.

 

One snowy day after school, I triple-dog-dared my 8 year old to stick his tongue to the flagpole, he said "No way, Mom!".  This lady ain't rasin' no fool!  Instead I took the photo over here... while he pretended to stick his tongue on the pole over there... all whilst the 5 year old pretended to be shocked by the whole thing.  Viola!  Our Christmas Eve invitation was born.  Layout was inspired by this one.

 

Ralphie's little brother may not have eaten voluntarily in over three years, but no one had to be forced to eat tonight!  Check out the yummy (and themed!) food we enjoyed!

Red chocolate bars of "soap".  Melted Wilton red candy melts poured into soap molds.

And super yummy Ovaltine Cookies!  Recipe found here.

 

The kids had a bunch of fun with the bars of chocolate "soap".  Luckily, no soap poisoning here.

 

 

Triple dogs!  Hillshire Farms 'Lil Smokies, slow cooked in a mixture of grape jelly and chili sauce for a couple hours, and skewered (in groups of three, of course!).  And mini "meatloaf, smeatloaf, double-beatloaf".  These delicious little bites were made in my mini muffin tin and topped with ketchup and mashed potato "frosting".  So gooood.  Err, I mean "I hate meatloaf".

 

Rice Krispie Treats, drizzled with red, green and white chocolate.  Each has a "handle" that I stamped with "fa ra ra ra ra".  And glasses sugar cookies with their eyes "shot out".  I got the great cookie cutter from etsy seller Almost Necessities.
 

 

Black Sixlet "BBs".  The little BB containers are actually glitter bottles.  The bottle labels are available for free download at the bottom of this page.

 

Ooohh ffuuudge!!!

 

 

 Much like the Parker family, we dined on Chinese food rather then dumb ol' turkey.  I can't blame Bumbuses dogs though... the time crunch was my foe.  Note the be-headed "duck".  (It's actually a rubber chicken with it's head and feet cut off.  Ssshhh!)  The lanterns came from here.  The gold tree and pail were found in the "Dollar Spot" at Target.  The gold platters, also Target.

 

 

 The, I mean "THE" lamp, is available at Bed, Bath and Beyond during the holiday season. If you're looking for it off-season, you can still purchase it here or here.  And, for reference, this one is the 20" desktop size.

 

The backdrop is meant to look like the window the lamp sits in at the Parker's.  It's made from a sheet of poster board and draped in a curtain.  The wooden crate is from Michaels and I stenciled it with "fra-gee-lay"... only I spelt it correctly.

 

 

signage free for all!

 

 

 

You can find LOTS more ideas for your Christmas Story party on my Pinterest board.

 

 

Got a couple extra minutes?  I'd love for you to be one of my "100 people surveyed"!

Welcome back, Waldo, our Elf on the Shelf

Heeeee's baaack!  Our favorite elf, Waldo, joined us again for the 2013 holiday season.  Much like last year, he was a bit of a trouble maker, which the kids loved.

They couldn't wait for Waldo's return, so Thanksgiving night, they made him a card asking when he'd be joining us for the holidays.  To their surprise, he was sitting on our mantle the very next morning.

 

 

 

 



Waldo's an artist!  The next night we found an autographed original on our refrigerator.




 

 

 

Just like last year, Waldo wrote the kids a good-bye letter on his last night, with permission from Santa to give him hugs and kisses (hence the kiss(es) booth).  He also brought them brand new Christmas pajamas.

 

 

After their good-bye's, they made Waldo a card and set it beside him.  Before bed, they noticed he'd climbed right in and made himself comfortable.

 

 

Until next year, friend.