Our Couples Halloween Party

We hosted a Halloween party for the first time this year. That means we had to start from scratch with decorations. And now I think we will probably be hosting from now on...now that we've got the goods.

 This part was the most fun for me. I used a sparkly red decorators gel and just squeezed it out of the tube onto the rims. Let it dry and you can pour your drink over it without it smearing. I decorated the inside of the glasses, but the outside of the punch bowl. This stuff is sticky so I only did half of the glasses so guests wouldn't end up eating it.

This is my favorite section of our halloween party! We used cheesecloth dyed in tea to make my jewelry mannequin a mummy. And these cobwebs are fantastic. They are really improved upon them since I was a kid. This is just one long continuous piece. The chandelier I got from hobby lobby for everyday decor in the bedroom. And the branches are part of our winter decor.

 I found this snowman's tophat at Michael's and was inspired to give our pumpkin a dashing makeover. Just paint.

Got this little tree uber-discounted at Michael's.

We had to kind of decorate two rooms. Here's our mantle. These candlesticks I got from Pottery Barn years ago on clearance from their Halloween section. I still love them.

This mummy was inspired by a recipe in Phyllis Hoffman Celebrate which I found on Hostess with the Mostess. I used my own recipe creation for this using cream cheese, goat cheese and spinach. It was better than I thought it would be for a made-up recipe! It was great!

Happy Halloween Everybody!

Happy Halloween! Here's our doxie Elroy posing in his devil costume this year. He's sooo bored. He has better things to do.

Later today I'll share pics from our first ever Halloween party. It was a very DIY affair of course!

How to make mini treat pennants

To show my love of pennants, I created this simple DIY for mini ribbon pennants to stick in brownies, cupcakes and other party treats. Here's what you'll need: toothpicks, 1/2" wide ribbon, tissue paper, tape and glue.

How To:
1. Cut your tissue paper into 1" by 2" rectangles. 
2. Fold it in half, then half again, then half again. Cut along the seam and well as down the center. Don't cut all the way through, you want to leave a little bottom strip to wrap around the toothpick.
3. Open it up and cut the middle any strips that you didn't get. There should only be one or two. You should have little fringey strips.
4. Wrap the bottom of the strip around the toothpick and secure with a little bit of tape.
5. Take your ribbon and cut a 3" strip.
6. Fold in half and cut a "V" through both ends at once to make a pennant shape.
7. Stick your toothpick in the center fold of the ribbon and glue.

Ta-da! You have a simple cute little pennant for your treats.

I made these brownies from the recipe in March's Food Network Magazine's chocolate issue. You can find them in their 50 Brownies special mini mag or online. They are toffee brownies.

And you can't have a treat party without a troll doll. I actually have two. But, the other one didn't bother to rsvp.