Halloween Week: Witch Party Concept

Sorry for the delay–the work is catching up with me! I may have to post a few things this weekend instead.

The Concept

During my Halloween Week research, I read about a “Which Witch?” party, where all the participants dress up as famous witches. It sounded like fun, and as I kept finding great witch-related ideas, a witch party concept seemed obvious.

The Host/Guests

Literature & film are packed with witches for costume inspiration. For starters: Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service, Bellatrix Lestrange (or any Harry Potter witch), Elphaba or Glinda from Wicked, Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle, Chocolat from Sugar Sugar Rune, Jadis the White Witch from Chronicles of Narnia, Baba Yaga, Circe, the witches from Hocus Pocus, Ursula from The Little Mermaid, and on and on. The blog Sexy Witch has tons more historical inspiration, and below are a few more ideas:

Row by row, from left:

• Both runway images are from Luella Bartley AW08, photos from Vogue.co.uk.
• Middle image from “Dark Light Shining” article in Rue Magazine Issue 4 (pg 145). Stylist Jesi Haack has behind-the-scene photos & the full credits here.
• Professor McGonagall’s hat, $16.30 from Amazon.
• Borrow the hairstyle of this witch from Donkey Skin (fun fact: she spits toads when she talks).
• A large rubber toad glued or sewed to the shoulder of an outfit will give it instant witchy flair (and give you a familiar). Here’s a vintage example of a vermin-covered witch costume, and here’s a hair mice tutorial from Martha Stewart.

Row by row, from left:

• Black cat lips by Paige Thompson.
• A very cute Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service at Tomorobi.net.
• CG portrait “Coldblue” by Olivier Ponsonnet.
• Glam witch from Latin America Vogue, Sept. 2010 issue {via Lovely Clusters}.
• Striped tights.
• Leg crawlers idea from Martha Stewart.

The Food

Darkly Elegant Cake

A potential centerpiece: a lovely gothic cake. From left:

• The Beautiful & the Damned whisky & dark chocolate cake by Poires au Chocolat.
• Devil’s food cake by Cenk Sönmezsoy at Design*Sponge.

Drinks

Drinks in sickly shades of green or with sly embellishments like onion eyeballs or skull-n-crossbones ice cubes add a festive touch:

• Witch’s wicked punch from Woman’s Day.
• Acid green martinis from Better Homes & Gardens (sadly, no recipe).
• Eyeball martini idea from the 2010 Halloween season at Pottery Barn.
• Bone Chillers ice cube tray, $4.95 at Amazon.

Treats

The Decorations

Sign & Brooms

Have a combination of a tongue-in-cheek sign and brooms at the door to make guests feel welcome:

• Disturbed sign (another one discovered by numerous aggregator sites, so that Google Image Search can’t help source it. If you know who to credit, please let me know).
• Brooms and toad sign instructions at Better Homes & Gardens.
• Broom door garland from Martha Stewart.
• “Well Behaved Children” sign from Marion’s Pie Shop.

The Cauldron

All witch parties need a cauldron:

• D.I.Y. witch’s cauldron from Martha Stewart.
• Witch’s cauldron tutorial from Make It Do.
• Budget-friendly fog chiller/witch’s cauldron from z7q2.

Poisoned Apples & Spellbook

A few poisoned apples and a spellbook can’t hurt:

• Poison apple centerpiece by michellelouise22 at HGTV.
• Candy apples recipe from Woman’s Day.
• D.I.Y. witch’s spellbook by Through My Looking Glass (this is amazing!).

Black Cats

And of course, every witch loves a black cat:

• Dancing black cat silhouettes from Martha Stewart (template here; 13 other cat silhouettes here).
• Black cat pumpkin lanterns from Sunset Magazine {via Hostess with the Mostess}.
• Black cat nails from Beauty by Kayla Shevonne.
• Black cat pumpkin from All You.
• Lovely black cats by…and another credit fail. I do know it was posted to CG Hub at one time. Again, if anyone knows who to credit, please let me know.

Plus A Few More Witchy Ideas

Row by row, from left:

• Witch table from the Los Angeles County Fair tablecase showroom, photo by Bubblegum & Duct Tape. One of my favorite finds.
• Witch’s hands serving tray (sold out, witch hand vase still available) at Grandin Road.
• Broom place holders from HGTV.
• Black glitter chandeliers, $14.99 from Martha Stewart.
• Black candles in candy corn by Nikki Green Peterson.

Not pictured: A witch crash site; a witch under a table (scroll down); and a dancing witch’s broom (so cool).

Hope you enjoyed this concept! Up next: Halloween Week 2011: Costumes That Don’t Require a Bikini Wax.