Sunday, November 1, 2009

Spooky Nancy Drew Halloween Party Theme

Weeks of planning and designing=one fun Nancy Drew Halloween party! This year I had a Nancy Drew Halloween party. The theme was the 21st Nancy Drew book, The Secret in the Old Attic. I tried to recreate the attic on the front porch complete with items mentioned from the book: trunk, wardrobe with skeleton, cobwebs, spiders, old bottles, sheet music, an old table, hat boxes, a Currier & Ives print and so forth. The Nancy Drew silhouette is featured prominently in the front window.

Inside in the dining room, we had tables set up with vintage Halloween party collectibles and lots of goodies. Take a moment to weed through all the photos from our party from the set up of the porch to the end result and the party festivities plus my Old Attic goodies I gave out the next evening on Halloween to all the trick or treaters!


Spooky Spiders & Webbing in front side window

Spiders light the way on this outside light

It began with a wardrobe - made from 2 cardboard
boxes which were painted brown

Nancy Drew silhouette pumpkin

Silhouette pumpkins by the front door

Poster of Old Attic - Tandy illustration

Skeleton in the Wardrobe & Lots of Spider Webs!

The Attic is Taking Shape with Spooky Footprints!

Might there be a secret behind the wardrobe?

Maybe something hidden in the wardrobe?

Footprints from Martha Stewart Crafts Line, sold here

Old Attic Nappi Cover Poster to set the theme

An old suitcase doubles for the trunk and a candle nearby

Battery operated old-time candle found at Michaels, good for photo op

Lots of sheet music, part of our party game

The Secret in the Old Attic Party Banner

Crepe Streamers, Orange Lanterns, and Vintage Collectibles

Group Photo in front of the collection!

Everyone checking out the collection spanning nearly 80 years!

Treats

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Nancy Drew Old Attic Picks

Yum!

Cream Cheese Peanut Butter Ball & Ginger/Chocolate Cookies

Treats & Appetizers

Awaiting Dinner: Lasagna, Parmesan Chicken, & Salads

Festive Tables Set

Old Attic Treat Boxes for Each Guest

Featuring spider web boxes and ribbons, Old Attic Sticker, & Spider

Goodies: Candy, Googly Eye Rings, Stretch Skeletons, & Keychains

Opening the treat boxes!

Old Attic mystery hunt: Letters on spiders
unscrambled to spell W A R D R O B E


Mini Old Attic books to be found in wardrobe as prizes

Spiders with letters on sheet music -
we hunted for sheet music like Nancy in the book!

Our Nancy Drew Halloween Treat Bag Exchange!

Pumpkin Basket with book covers and lots of ribbons and treats!

Neat Old Attic bag

Another Old Attic bag with image above and silhouette below:


Iron On Transfer Bag with treats!

Neat Mysterious Letter Collage Frame!

Dede, Gail, and Judy brought me this neat
Halloween/Nancy Drew decorated pail shown above and below:


HALLOWEEN NIGHT TREATS:

I made nearly 200 goody bags for the kids featuring Nancy Drew & the Hardy Boys stickers - And ran out of them! Normally we have around 130 to 150 kids, this year over 200! WOW! Or as Nancy's friend George would say, HYPERS!


Little Kids got candy and play-doh plus a bookmark for the girls!

Older kids got candy, spiders, stretchy skeletons, googly eye rings,
and girls got bookmarks. Hardy Boys Skull Mountain sticker pictured above

Inexpensive Jack O' Lantern buckets (great suggestion from Ronda!) lit up with battery operated tea-lights make the perfect lanterns to line your walkway!

Nancy Drew silhouette hurricane next to Old Attic poster

Just before dark, the scene becomes more spooky!

This Halloween was lots of fun and using the Old Attic theme was easy to do. The kids squealed and were delighted with the theme and the goody bags. When I was a kid, I loved getting the treat sacks, so I like to do that for the kids at Halloween!

Jenn:)

Monday, October 26, 2009

Halloween Displays: Diecuts & Lanterns

Richard has sent more photos of his displays--I especially like the Beistle lantern pictured above--it's spooktacular!


Jenn:)

Thursday, October 22, 2009

A Little Something Besides Halloween: Martha Stewart, Johanna Parker, Bethany Lowe Holiday

We're trying a limited amount of Bethany Lowe, Johanna Parker, and Martha Stewart Crafts Holiday and Christmas items in our Christmas/Holiday Shop at The Vintage Party. Check out these items--they're spectacular!







Jenn:)

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Bethany Lowe's Folk Art Halloween

Recommended Reading: Bethany Lowe's Folk Art Halloween is a cute little book on crafting with vintage style imagery. There are all kinds of craft projects from paper projects, to decoupage, to sewing projects. Some feature popular Bethany Lowe products and how to reproduce your own.

In the back there is a great section of vintage Halloween clip art and templates you can use.

Jenn:)

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

More Halloween Displays

Richard sent in more photos of his finds! His display updated and this hard to find diecut below:

Send in pictures of your collection or displays this Halloween! I was inspired after seeing a special display made for Martha Stewart for her collection of rolling pins to start planning some kind of display for my noisemaker collections.

Jenn:)

Monday, October 19, 2009

The Invitation: Make it Spooktacular!

Bogie Book Image

As taken from our Party Ideas page at our website:

The Invitation:

Invitations should be bold and have an air of mystery to set a haunting mood and entice your guests.

Suggestions include: handmade paper invites or computer printed invites with magical wording.

Use images with vintage flair or copies of old images from vintage postcards and other paper ephemera.

Some examples of old-time invitation wording:

"Won't you come and
Sport with fate
on Hallowe'en
at -------- o'clock"

Whe-ee - Who-oo!
We-want-you oo
At this number:_____
On this street_______
Hallowe'en's the time
We meet

If on a broomstick you can't fly
Some other way of traveling try,
But come you must, at _____o'clock
to _____________St.

Come to our
Hallowe'en "Hoop-te-dee"
Scare-crows -
'n everything
on a Spree!

Other invitation suggestions include delivering jack o' lanterns to your invitees, asking guests to bring a jack o' lantern as their ticket of entry, and creating a box filled with trinkets and favors along with the RSVP information.

Need some ideas on invitations or want something in a hurry already put together, check our our website shop!

Jenn:)

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Bewitching Bracelets

Just added a few more bracelets to the shop with those old-time inspired lanterns and put others on sale! Enjoy :)

Jenn:)