Halloween Party Goodness

Our Halloween party was fantastically rad! 

Saturday and Sunday morning was chaotic. I spent much time running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to clean the house and get things done and pulled together. My girlfriend down the way watched Anthony for me Sunday morning so I was able to get everything done with only one child attached to my coat tails. :) And I have to say Sammy was such a HUGE help. If it weren't for him, I would have never been able to pull everything off. He rolled up his sleeves and helped me make all the treats and hot foods. 

My hard working man!

I was really disappointed when I realized the day was going to be a rain fest....but I must say we had a great time regardless. I had really wanted to get photos of the kids and parents out on the hay bales we had set up, but when we had the one and only rain break everyone was too preoccupied with other party goodness. I managed to take one photo for a new gal pal (I met her this past Friday) and she also snapped a photo of Sammy, me and the kids. So that was cool. And no pumpkin carving out on the porch. It was raining so hard and it was so windy that even the covered porch area was soaked! So we wound up putting a tarp and blanket on the living room floor and a couple people carved pumpkins there, lol. The food was a hit, the cupcake decorating was a hit, the decorations were a hit. Rain or not, the party was fantastic. What more could I ask for?

I had a few people RSVP yes that wound up not making it, but that's to be expected. I still had a great turn out and it was fun watching Anthony play with all the kids. He was such a good boy and had a great time! Molly was Papa's little girl the whole time.....which was fine by me! I was able to drink it up and socialize like I wanted to. In all, I didn't take as many photos during the party as I would have liked, but I'm not crying over it! lol, I had too much of a good time sipping my Spooky Spiked Tea and chumming it up. I was able to take a few CUTE photos of my friend's baby gal, Kara in Molly's room and managed to get a few shots of the kids having a good time, so that's all that matters.

OK, enough blabbing.....ready for photos!?

Decorations:

The pictures don't do my decorations justice! You just had to be there to be able to take in all the awesomeness! lol And it's hard to get pictures of decorations....it's something that needs to be seen as a whole....not in little snippets. I had spider webs everywhere, the living room, bathroom and kitchen. I had "cracks" with bugs crawling out of them on the mirror in the living room and bathroom. I had birds perched in the living room and bathroom. Sammy's candy corn tree was placed on the bathroom vanity. I had lighted pumpkins in the living room. Balloons in the kitchen and living room. Streamers in the kitchen. Then the table itself was decorated and I made fun little name cards for the food and I made two strings of candy corn garland (that was time consuming!) to place on the table. SO MUCH LOVE AND WORK went into this party. :) I wish you all could have been there!!!

Living room

Bathroom

Kitchen

The Spread:  

Cupcake Decorating Table- I took the black bed bug net I had and hung it from the kitchen ceiling. Nestled inside was the table topped with a tray of cupcakes and goodies to decorate the cupcakes with. Candy corn, M&M's, Gummy worms, 6 different types of sprinkles, frosting.....YUM!!!! The kids had a great time being able to make their cupcakes special and then stuffing them in their cute little faces. :) I think Anthony had 4 cupcakes. Dang!

The Snack Table - Complete with food name cards and candy corn garland, it was exciting to see everyone come in and ohh and aww over the food. :) I received many compliments and it made me all warm and fuzzy inside! haha

I failed to take a group shot of the dessert counter and hot food counter. But trust me, it was just as cute. In front of the meatball crock pot I had, "Savory Balls" and in front of the little smokies crock pot I had, "Smokie Weiners."Too funny, yeah!? I kept hearing the guys say, "Sammy, I've got to get more of your savory balls!" :) HAHAHA


Snack Foods:

Monster Fingers- String cheese and carrot slices. You can use whatever you want for the nails. The original recipe called for green pepper slices, I chose carrots since that is what I had on hand. Simply cut the cheese string in half. Make indents with a knife for knuckles and notch out the nail area. Cut your carrot into thin "nail shaped" slices and place on the cheese. You can use cream cheese to make them stay put if needed, but I didn't have to. The kids had these demolished in the first 30 minutes of the party!

Monster Smiles- Apples, peanut butter, small marshmallows. Cut your apple into slices. Dunk the slices into a mixture of lemon juice and water to prevent apples from browning. (This work wonders, btw!) Spread some peanut butter on one side of the apple slice. Top with marshmallows for the "teeth." Take another apple slice and spread one side with peanut butter. Place that on top of marshmallows. This was my favorite treat out of everything I made. Cute and DELICIOUS! I forgot just how much I love apples. And peanut butter. And marshmallows. :) 

Chunky Monster Salsa- Chips and salsa. I'd like to say I made my own homemade salsa, but I did not. My friend Justin was suppose to make some salsa (he makes the best!!) but he wound up not showing, what the heck!? And my friend Ashley and her husband were suppose to bring black salsa chips, but they had an emergency and couldn't make it. So in a pinch I grabbed a plain 'ol bag of chips and the Costco Mango Salsa I had on hand. Crisis adverted!

Along with these snacks, we also had two types of pasta salads, two different green salads, and another dip to go along with the chips. All except for one of the green salads (which we provided) was brought to us by our guests.

Hot Foods:

Buggy Mac N' Cheese- My homemade mac and cheese topped with spooky bugs! ;) Don't ask me for the recipe right now, haha, I'm much too pooped out to type it all up with the directions. Maybe in a future post. Just know that it was delicious and everyone loved it. Sammy and I have made this at pretty much every party/get together we have because it is so popular.

Mummy Dogs- Hot dogs and crescent roll dough. Cut the hot dogs in half. Roll out the crescent roll dough flat on counter and cut into strips. Take half those strips and cut them in half. Wrap the larger strips around the bottom of the hot dog and the smaller strips around the top of the hot dog to make the mummy "hat." Bake according to crescent roll instructions or until golden brown. These wound up being the favorite amongst the adults!

Along with these two hot dishes, we also had meatballs, "Savory Balls" and little smokies, "Smokie wieners"  which Sam cooked up in the crock pots.

Desserts:

Dirt N' Worms- Chocolate pudding, crushed Oreos, gummy worms. Make the chocolate pudding according to directions. Drop a gummy worm into your clear cups then spoon in your pudding. Top with your crushed Oreos and another gummy worm. I love chocolate and I love Oreos. Win-win for me. :) The kids loved the gummy worms and one actually got a little freaked when I told him I was eating dirt! LOL!!

Candy Corn Pudding- Banana cream pudding, butterscotch pudding, cream cheese pudding, red and yellow food coloring. Soooo the recipe really called for white chocolate pudding, but I couldn't find any so cream cheese had to do. I hate all things cream cheese :( so this treat was one I wasn't going to eat, but everyone else liked it! Anyway, make the banana cream pudding according to directions. Mix in your yellow food coloring....you kinda have to just wing it....until you come to what you deem a good candy corn yellow color. Make the butterscotch pudding according to directions. Mix in your yellow and red food coloring until you reach your desired orange color. Make the cream cheese pudding according to directions. Layer your pudding in clear cups! Looks cool, huh!?

Along with my two desserts, my friend Jessie made a pumpkin pie!

Drinks:

Kid Friendly Monster Punch- 7-up, powdered orange drink mix. The recipe called for Tang drink mix, but I couldn't find it in my grocery store, so I just used some Hi-C drink mix I found. I think it was like 1 cup of drink mix and 8 cups 7-up. Something like that. Anyway, the kids loved that it was orange and quote "tasted bubbly." :)

Adult Spooky Spiked Tea - Water, 3 family size tea bags, sugar, frozen lemonade concentrate, citrus flavored vodka, sweet tea flavored vodka. I never knew such a delicious alcoholic concoction existed until I tasted this. Friends, once you have this you will want it EVERY DAY. Haha! In a medium saucepan bring to boil over medium heat 1 quart water. Remove from heat and add your tea bags, letting them steep for 5 or so minutes. Remove tea bags, strain tea into a pitcher and add in 3/4 cups sugar, stirring until dissolved. Add one thawed container of frozen lemonade concentrate, 1 1/4 cups sweet tea flavored vodka, 3/4 cup citrus flavored vodka, and 2 quarts water. Thank me later.

The hubby and I as convicts enjoyed a "test drink" of the Spooky Spiked Tea before our party guests arrive.

Papa and Mols....she was a Tiger!

Mama and Mols

Jessie as a biker chick and her daughter Madie as a cute little hobo!

Cupcake decorating!

McKenna proud of her rad cupcake!

Happy cupcake eaters!

Madie the hobo enjoying her tasty treat.

The Bliss boys. I met their Mama on Friday at a friend's get together and she is my new pal!

At least Sammy and I are looking. Yes, Anthony is the UPS guy. HAHA

Jenna working on her pumpkin.

The Barnette Family carving pumpkins!

Mckennd, Anthony's future girlfriend....I've got no doubts about that! :) 

With love,

Mama Hauck