Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Candy and fun whistles for the older kids and little treat sacks and skull eggs with candy and toys for the younger ones. A couple shots of the skeletons outside at night. Hope you all had a spooky night :)

Now, just 365 days until 2016 Halloween! Time to get planning ;-)

 

 

Countdown to Halloween - Oct. 31st: Legend of Sleepy Hollow Party

Sat. Oct. 30
Nancy Drew Halloween Party

This year, for our Halloween decorations and the annual Nancy Drew Halloween party that I throw, we decided to go with 2 mixed themes. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and the classic Nancy Drew book #15, The Haunted Bridge.

The setting for Haunted Bridge is at a mountain resort with a haunted bridge in the woods and this meshed well with the setting for Sleepy Hollow and the frightful ride of Ichabod Crane being chased by the Headless Horseman across the bridge.

I created a 2 page story booklet for the guests with a tale I wrote combining the characters from Haunted Bridge and those of Sleepy Hollow where Nancy Drew and her chums attend a masquerade party with Nancy masquerading as Katrina Van Tassel, her boyfriend Ned Nickerson as Brom Bones, and the pest from Haunted Bridge, Mortimer Bartescue, as Ichabod Crane--and the same fateful ride befell Mortimer as it once did Ichabod.

I took the cover of Haunted Bridge and superimposed the Headless Horseman silhouette where the usual "ghost" haunting the bridge is. I set the scene with spooky tree silhouettes on the walls of the porch and a few pumpkins including my Nancy Drew silhouette pumpkins.

A larger scene of trees going up to columns on the edge of the porch and the "haunted bridge" complete with a ghost haunting it at the end.

Spooky Ghost. Brown artist paper was used to make the wood planks, buckets filled with sand held wooden fence posts and rope was stapled between planks.

Mortimer Bartescue/Ichabod Crane's hat and the smashed pumpkin found on the ground near the bridge...

Setting the scene at night--much more spooky!

The Headless Horseman Silhouette

Sleepy Hollow Sign

The gang on the "haunted bridge."

Short Story to Set the Scene

Goody Bags For All

Pumpkins filled with treats

Tootsie Pop Ghost Suckers

Nancy Drew Cupcake Picks

Costumed in front of the Nancy Drew Collection

The story of Nancy Drew and The Haunted
Bridge of the Headless Horseman

The Mystery To Solve

Treats...

Tricks...

The Gift Exchange Table

& Gift Exchange Gifts:

Sherry Picked First--Nancy Drew Decoupaged Book

Book with Treats inside

Nancy Drew Haunted House

Nancy Drew Tin

Nancy Drew Journal

Old Attic Journal

Nancy Drew Trunk

Nancy Drew Basket - The Cat Caper

Nancy Drew Treat Jar

More treats!

The Whole Gang

Goody Bags for the Trick or Treaters
On Halloween

On Halloween, we had 140 trick or treaters--a bit down from last year. We gave out goody bags to the kids with treats and toys. I loved getting goody bags as a kid so I like to do that each year for the kids. Everyone loved the decorations and the parents took pictures from time to time.

Jenn:)

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:)