PopBetty

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Halloween Week: Witch Party Concept

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

Vintage Witch PhotoThe 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:

Halloween Week: Witch Party

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.

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Halloween Week: Dexter Party Concept

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Inspiration & Concept

Inspiration: Amy Lau's Dexter Party

When I first saw Amy Lau’s incredible Dexter-themed dining room a few years ago, I knew it had dinner party potential. Hence the name of this party concept, although it doesn’t have to be for Dexter; the ideas here would work for a generic serial killer or (with tweaks) a mad doctor party.

What I like about this concept, aside from the stark beauty of the red and white color scheme, is that it can be quite cheap to produce. Furniture & floors can be covered with white sheets, tarps, or tableclothes, and most of the accent items are inexpensive (washable fake blood spatter (recipe below), red yarn, red taper candles, cheap red vases, white candlesticks, & test tubes).

Washable fake blood recipe

200 ml water
5 tbsps corn starch
2 tsps cream
5 tsps red food coloring

Mix water + corn starch first, then mix in the other ingredients. Add some green food coloring or chocolate syrup if you’d like your fake blood to have a more realistic color. Be sure to do a test patch on all surfaces you intend to cover (I’d recommend sticking with glass surfaces and bleachable fabrics). Apply with spray bottles, hands (for bloody handprints), and old paintbrushes.

The Food

Dexter Party Food

What’s for dinner? Dismembered body parts and blood (red wine or red punch), of course:

Not pictured (but awesome): bloody jello shot-filled syringes; frozen eyeballs; meatloaf hand; ogre eyes hot cocoa; ladies’ fingers and men’s toes.

The Decorations

Dexter Party Decorations

Again, decorations should be simple, mostly white with a few red accents. You also only need to decorate the dining area and maybe the bathroom. Other areas can be cordoned off with crime scene tape (example).

  1. Halloween splatter nails by Never Too Much Glitter. Also: imitate Dexter’s blood-spattered look.
  2. Blomster white candle holders (set of 3), $14.99 from Ikea.
  3. Midnight Massacre desk lamp from Living Dead Creations.
  4. Spine candles by Daniel Tyrkiel.
  5. 10″ red taper candles from Dollar Tree. Or these bleeding taper candles.
  6. Bloody hand towels from Heather Hutchinson/Pinterest.
  7. Salong red vase, $7.99 from Ikea.
  8. 60 plastic test tubes with rack, $25.99 at Amazon.
  9. Bloody window treatment from Muse Lodge.
  10. Bloody shower from Justinsomnia.
  11. Bloody bath mat from Perpetual Kid.
  12. Antonio Murado Salome 14-piece set (sold out) from the New Museum/via Haute Macabre.

Not pictured: red flatware; more blood-themed housewares.

Hope you found this concept helpful! Up next: Halloween Week 2011: Witch Party Concept.

Halloween Week: Arachnophobia Party Concept

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The Concept

When I saw this cocooned man (also below), I knew I had to do a spider-themed Halloween post. I’ve titled it the Arachnophobia party concept, in honor of the Jeff Daniels movie (I’ll never forget those pulsing larval sacs), but it could easily be a Black Widow party, or for the nerdy, a Shelob’s Lair or Aragog’s Nest party. Repetition is key here: you need a volume of webs, fake spiders, and ensnared victims to get visitors’ skin tingling.

The Host

Spider Party

Simple costumes are better if you’re hosting. Just dress in all black and add some of the following spidery touches:

Other ideas include drawing a spider on your mouth to go with the eye webs, gluing fake spiders onto your face and neck with eyelash glue, and creating a black widow-infested beehive per the urban legend. Martha Stewart also has a spiderweb shawl, a sock spider costume for babies, and a black widow spider costume for Fido.

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Halloween Week: Autumnal Options

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Not everyone wants spooky, Halloween-specific decorations. People who consider Halloween a one-day holiday and people with conflicting religious beliefs may prefer more neutral seasonal options. The following decoration ideas are dual purpose: suitable for Halloween without being restricted to it. They’re also not scary, a bonus for households with small children and easily unnerved adults (ghastlier options will follow, of course).

Note: Almost of all of these are D.I.Y., and if you click on the link you’ll get a recipe or tutorial.

Bronze & Gold Decorations

Bronze gold autumnal

My favorite type of autumnal decoration uses and mixes warmer metallics, like bronze, gold, deep orange, even purple. It’s a rich and elegant look. Credits row by row, from left:

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