and the winner is...

Here is our prize table filled with fun goodies. The small little round trophy at the front of the table is an award that our last party won. I am a member of some haunt communities - people who love Halloween and take it to the extreme. We entered our Halloween party in the Haunters Choice Awards and got 2nd place (runner-up) I put it out so that our guests could see the award.

The headless, solid gold :), skellie trophies came from our local party store. I added a tag stating the prize category and awarded these to the costume contest winners along with one of the chocolate skulls you see next to the trophies. The skulls came from Target.

The glass container filled with little white envelopes help Golden Spoon certificates, good for one free frozen yogurt. Each guest that came in costume (which was all of them) got a certificate. I like that everyone is able to go home with a prize.

The big bottles of sparkling cider went with gift cards good for 2 movies and a tub of popcorn at our local movie theater. These prizes went to the winner of our game. The game turned out great - I will have to devote a post to it so you can see what a great job Derek did in putting it together.

more details

More of my favorite spider webs, that are actually beef netting - who knew?!?! Want some of your own? They can be found at Trenton Mills.

Our fireplace mantel. Love these gargoyles. Got them at Big Lots. Do not under estimate stores like Big Lots, 99 cent store, etc. Some of my best decor items have come from these discount stores.
I had these chandeliers hanging from our patio cover. These were a great find at Ikea. I couldn't believe I found such great lighting for $17.00 Again, my plug for going with what you can afford...these obviously aren't historically correct but they lend themselves to the look and you can't beat the price. If you have an Ikea by you and are planning a party - get yourself there. I happen to think that Ikea is a party planners heaven.
Some shots from inside. The party was held outside but of course we needed a bathroom. Don't over look the areas that people will be in even if they are not the general party area. We blocked off our kitchen and living room using pipe and drape that we rented so that people couldn't see all the busyness and mess going on in those rooms but to get to the bathroom people had to go through my dining room and family room. These shelves are in my dining room so we decked them out a bit. Once all the candles were on these shelves and lit it looked great. The framed pictures are the kind that change as you walk by them. I borrowed these small ones from a friend but have purchased similar ones from Ghoulish Gallery Tim, the owner is a way nice guy and his products are outstanding.

I originally intended to have a silhouette artist come to the party and do silhouettes for the guests as a take home favor. I decided against it because I wasn't sure how many people would want a silhouette of themselves as Frankenstein, a mountain man or a bunny. I still wanted to use silhouettes somewhere in the party. I happened to run across some silhouette dingbats while searching for fonts on the internet - score!! The four you see below are simply dingbats printed in black on white printer paper and framed. Super cheap and turned out great! In this shot you can also see the curtains I made for the party, I found the fabric at a local fabric store and used cheap Ikea curtain rods. No hemming needed because it is a run down old mansion and was supposed to look ratty. We also covered our furniture with white sheets to give it an older feeling.

place setting details

One of my personal favorites from the party was the place settings. The final look included a black cloth napkin that was folded on top of the plate with the Gourley Manor candy box sitting atop it. The best part of the place settings...the silverware - one of my favorite things!

I scoured ebay, antiques stores and asked friends just so I could find enough place settings of old silverware for 80 people. It was not easy but boy was it worth it. The mis- matched tarnished silverware added such a cool look to the tables. The designs on the silverware were amazing. The fork below is one of my favorites. I googled "eating with tarnished silverware" to make sure I wasn't killing anyone off and found out we were good to go. I can't say enough about how much I loved this. I like the mis-matched look so much I am polishing up some of the pieces to use for Thanksgiving and Christmas - I figure tarnished is good for Halloween but not the other holidays. Then the silverware will have a couple years to tarnish itself back up for the next Victorian Halloween.
I found a how-to for these candy boxes in Paper Crafts magazine. I typed Gourley manor (the name we used for our home) in word and added it to the pattern from the mag. I printed enough of these out, one for each person and then the fun began...cutting them out. My friends and husband who work as hard as I do to make this party come together helped with all the cutting and folding. I inked all the edges and my girls, Megan and Emily filled them with candy and tied them all up. This were definitely a group effort.

did i mention....

that i love these candelabras?!?!

rounding the corner to the backyard

This is what the backyard looked like. We ended up fitting nine long tables in the back and if we needed to we probably could have fit a couple more. This was the first time we had the Halloween party since our yard had been redone so I was a bit nervous about how it would all fit but it ended up working really well.

We went with long tables instead of round because I thought they lent themselves to more of a mansion type, family dining feeling. I used white tableclothes with black lace overlays that I shredded up a bit. My friend Max found the lace in LA for a $1.00 a yard - tell me that's not a great deal?!?!


I rented the chairs from a local rental business and was so pleased with how they looked. I am not a hug fan of plastic chairs but the design on the backs of these particular chairs helped to create more of a Victorian feel. One of the things about parties is being able to go with the flow and your budget. Would I have loved ornate wooden chairs - you bet, but my budget wouldn't allow it so I went with the best thing that I could afford and I think I still got a great look.

So my big splurge was these candelabras. Is it wrong to be in love with an object? I love these beauties. I found them at Z Gallerie and knew I had to have them. I rationalized this purchase by telling myself that our plan is to do this Victorian theme every other year so I will get plenty of use out of them. I may even use them for Christmas because I love them that much.
Keep in mind that all these shots were taken during set up so if you see missing silverware or whatever it's because we were not done. Also, I need to make a plug for lighting. It was dark when guests arrived and the party took on a whole different look when candles were lit on the tables and surrounding areas and other lights were glowing. Never forget lighting when planning a party.

moving on to the side gate

This was the area that I was most disappointed with. These pictures were taken before the entrance was complete and some things got taken away or added but it still never worked for me. The entrance to a party should have some WOW going for it and this entrance did not. I just didn't have any great ideas for it. I also kept comparing it to our last Halloween party and the entrance we had for it (see next 3 pictures)
Once it got dark and candles were lit it was ok but next year I'm working harder on this area.

Every person or couple had a bag with their names(s) on it. The bags contained drink tags (to keep track of their glass all night), costume contest ballot and pencils. Again, I loved the last party so much better with the burlap bags I made but I guess I should just get over it - the party is done.

let's get this party started...

We're starting in the front yard for our party extravaganza tour. I wanted to have a little grave keeper guy and was thrilled when I found this old man head at the Halloween store. Derek and I made a pvc body for him and our friend Tom bulked him up with chicken wire and clothes.




I found this skellie dog at Target and love him. He moves and talks and his eyes light up. Eventually I want to hack him and get rid of the talking and have him whimper like he is scared.

Our little guy looked great at night standing amongst the tombstones with his lantern aglow and his faithful little dog. Also in the front of the house was a sign pointing to our side gate that said "please join us in the garden"

they're coming

Pictures from the party should be up today. Some pictures have already been posted but they have been mostly costumes (there are more of those to post too) but today I am putting up the pictures I really love - pictures of the decorations, the details.

My friend Rona took the best shots for me and I am so thankful. I never have good shots of my parties because I am just running around way too much. Not only did Rona get me the shots but she took the exact pictures I would have taken if I had the time. She got all the details that I would want and took super cute and creative shots. I love having talented friends.

So keep an eye out - I should have them up soon (if Luke doesn't move from the sofa - I think the flu is prepping itself to hit our house and it's starting with Luke)

carpet angels, cheerleaders and raising the bar

As part of our farewell to family night we went out to dinner but before we left we had some fun. We made carpet angels.

Found our inner cheerleader and made pyramids

and attempted our own Cingular "raising the bar" ok, so I realize I should have been standing over them to get the full effect but cut me some slack - the house was empty - no ladders or chairs to help get the perfect picture.

na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, good bye....

Last night we went to visit my family and say good-bye as they prepared to leave today for Utah. We are so excited for them and their new adventures in Utah but we are still sad to see them go.

Now we just need to convince them to start a blog so we can know what is going on with them.


a parting shot of my old room (although my brother Garin is the most recent occupant) When it was my room it was painted in everyones favorite 80's color combination - peach and green. Quit laughing you all know that was a hot combination.

play me a song, you're the piano girl

Saturday was Megan's piano recital. It is usually in San Diego so we were thrilled when we learned this recital would be at the library, just 10 minutes from home - oh, happy day - no long drive.

Megan did really well. I love hearing the piano in our home, although I must admit by recital time I am ready to hear new songs. The week or so before the recital I am ready to pull my hair out hearing the same two songs over and over.

I was video taping her playing so I don't have any pictures of her actual performance but I love these shots I got of the girls after the recital. What cute sisters - I love them!

rock the vote - hit a sour note

Nathan came home with the sad news - he lost the elections. A moms heart breaks when things like this happen. I feel bad for him but I am so proud of how he is handling it. He still says he was sure he was going to win but is ok that he didn't. He is even planning for next years election - you go Nate!

three cheers

First quarter grades are in and Megan and Emily did great! They both made the school honor roll as well as the superintendent's honor roll. We are proud of them both for working so hard.

An extra special shout out to Emily for getting straight A's her first quarter of middle school. She has adjusted well and is doing great work.

Hip hip horray, hip hip horray, hip hip horray!

banners

I am trying to learn how to make my own banners for the top of our blog and I am not the biggest computer whiz so if you see weird looking things - ignore it! I don't have a picture yet that I want to use so I am just using random pictures of my kids or other things. That's my disclaimer lest someone gets the impression that I favor some of my kids over others when they see a picture of just one or two kids.

adorable

How cute are these cupcake papers? I found them here and am now obsessing about them. I wish I had a reason to use them - Christmas, maybe? They would be cute for delivering cupcakes to folks.

rock the vote!

Nate is running for assistant photographer, the only student council position that 3rd graders can run for. He had to give a speech today in front of the whole school and according to him, he is totally going to win. I told him that I hope he does but to keep in mind that he might not to which he replied "I know Mom, I'm a winner even if I lose"

We made him the shirt above to wear during the day - it went along with his speech. He also had posters up this whole week at school. They turned out cute but where a real nightmare. I won't bore you with a long story about it so let's just say getting the posters done involved a 12:30 AM trip to the nearest Kinko's that could laminate (the closest one was 20 minutes away) and a 1:30 AM trip to the school to hang them up. I am sure that one of these days Derek and I will win some type of parent of the year award - that's at least what I had to tell myself as we were driving around at all hours of the morning
We'll keep you posted on the election results.

christmas lights next

Ok, I seriously married the best guy in the world.

Most husbands don't love getting on the roof to put up Christmas lights - Derek is no exception, yet he does it every year without complaint. That is saying something especially since he also gets up on the roof every Halloween to put up spider webs. We are not talking about the 89 cent bags of spider webs either. These are top dog spider webs that take some creative thinking. These need to be stretched and cut to perfection. I know Derek would probably rather do anything but put up these spider webs with me standing by, trying to direct him where to cut next. I am sure that having me watching makes this job a hundred times harder because, lets face it, I'm particular about my spider webs. Yet, he does it and smiles. After all his hard work I just had to share the pictures.

stitch in time

Our congregation at church was asked to make blankets for all the kids 5-18 years old that lost their homes in Poway because of the fires. I pulled the sewing machine out to make a blanket and that got me going on a few fun projects

blankets waiting to be tied and sent to children that lost their home

Megan and I decided to try our hand at making a softie, ugly doll, creature, whatever you want to call it. This one isn't quite done yet. We call him hippoBLOBamis
I saw a cute flowered pin cushion made out of felt and thought I'd give it a try. The flowers did nothing for me so I went with skulls. This was a really fun project and super simple - I want to make more of these.

it's not too far

Total Est. Time: 10 hours, 3 minutes

Total Est. Distance: 695.99 miles

So my family - parents and little brother Garin are moving to Utah. What's a ten hour trip among family?!?! We are sad to see them go but are so excited for all their new adventures. My kids can't wait to visit during the winter. Those poor California kids that dream of days playing in the snow.

My parents are looking for a home so if anyone has an opinion on the best places to live in Utah let me know. My brother is 13 and will be in High School soon so they want to be in a place with good schools. They are looking for a home around the $300,000 range. The sooner you pass on info the better - they are leaving Monday! They plan on renting until they find a place.

Thanks for the help!

another costume?!?!?

The Monday after Halloween Emily had "Walk Through the Ancient Worlds" at school. The kids had to wear costumes (who planned that for a few days after Halloween?) As you already know I had hit my costume making quota so it was back to Costume Castle (I should buy their stock) to get a Cleopatra costume.

Emily had a great time. She got to eat a lamb sandwich for lunch. While most kids were chucking theirs in the trash, she tried it and found out that she liked it. Good for her!