Although I can't believe it, our baby girls turned four years old in July! Four is a big deal, they are such amazing little people now, maturing and changing so much every day. They're always talking and coming up with the craziest plans and stories, often about all things spooky (I might have a strong influence on this), especially Halloween. So it wasn't really a surprise when they excitedly told me they wanted to have a Halloween 4th Birthday party.Admittedly, I initially tried to sway them into something more practical, less labor intensive for me, like a day at the Town beach with close family and friends or a backyard BBQ as we've always done, but they were adamant about needing a Halloween party (despite having never seen nor attended one in their short lives). So, the planning began and in the end, I have to say I'm pretty proud of how it all came together. Not to mention that the girls were over the moon with excitement and joy to share one of their favorite celebrations with all their family and friends on their special day.
You might think it would be difficult to pull off a Halloween party in July but thanks to Amazon, Spirit Halloween Store and Party City, as well as my own fairly well-stocked supply of Halloween decorations, it was a piece of cake. I still think one of the best parts of this party that I will be able to reuse almost every bit of decor for as long as it lasts - and our house will be decked out for Halloween! I don't have a ton of decor pics but we basically just used lots of regular old decorations, some special purchases from Etsy and my amazing sister truly worked some magic with her streamer skills!
I tried to keep the food simple, though Pinterest was mightily tempting me to do all the Halloween themed things. I put together Jack O'lantern fruit and veggie trays, took way too much time cutting out cheese and lunch meat with adorable Halloween cookie cutters. I was happy to do it, but by far the most popular items were the pizza we ordered and the Pirate's Booty so next time I'll just buy 10 bags of that.
We kept dessert simple with banana ghost pops, basic cakes, and cupcakes stuck with some Halloween toothpicks. As much as I wanted to have one of those cool witch cakes or something that looked too good to eat, this was perfect and super budget friendly. The kids also took some Halloween candy home in their goodie bags, which also included some play-dough and some fantastic Halloween goodie bag swag.
The kids (and some adults) wore the cutest costumes including Elastigairl, a princess, a unicorn, batboy and a football player. Even the adults got involved; GG dressed as a bumblebee, Aunt Kate in her football jersey, their great aunt Lisa as a cat and Debz as Batgirl and their Jama, in the most clever and comfortable costume of all, her work scrubs! I dressed as the only costume I've worn since college - a witch (so did the girls and my cousin, because we are all kindred souls).
I set up a few activities to keep the kids entertained, although if I ever do this again I'll just set up 20 helium balloons and space for them to run! The big girls loved the coloring books and make your own jack o'lantern stickers though.
I also set up a little dress-up area full of masks, capes, wings and various costume parts. It was a big hit, even the adults were trying on bits and pieces throughout the party.
We also played our first party game of Pin the Smile on the Skeleton. I forgot where I put the prize though so everyone just got a piece of candy with the winner getting two!
I don't have a ton of photos as I always get caught up and forget to take enough I hoped others would capture some more but realized that it was just for show anyway. The photos don't really matter, because I have the memories of my girls' huge grins, their excitement at the transformation of our living room and all the fun we had - and the fact that we're still talking about it a month later!
Xo,
Maigen
