Annual Homeschool Halloween Costume Dance Party

Every year, one of my BFFs, Christi, organizes a fantastic costume party for kids and this year was bigger than ever!

So many kids!  

So many fantastic costumes!! 

There was even a band this year!

So there was lots of fun dancing.

Hers's my daughter, Emily, cosplaying Morrigan from Dragon Age posing with my friend, Christi, dressed as the white witch from The Chronicles of Narnia and her fav little bunny is dressed as Prince Caspian.

My Emily posing with Christi's daughters, Sydney & Erin.  

Sydney cosplaying Assassin's Creed and 

Erin is Lady Rainicorn from Adventure Time.

I like to decorate the gym with spooky lights and set up the food tables

All the moms send in fun snacks like cookies, decorated cupcakes, even Vampire Krispy Kremes.

I like to bring in some dry ice for it's spooky fun effect and mix up a batch of Toxic Waste Punch.  

Let me know if you want the secret recipe!

I'm a novice when it comes to taking photos and low light with fast moving kids is a challenge but I kinda like the spooky ghost effect.

 A few more crowd shots that show some of the best costumes.

What a fun night!

Just one more photo, even though it's kinda blurry, 

of this kid in a Spock costume who was kind enough to give the Vulcan salute, 

Live Long & Prosper!

My Favorite Halloween Decorations

I absolutely Love decorating for Halloween!

We have been collecting vintage and other spooky cool pieces for years.  Such nifty doodads make great Birthday and Christmas gifts.  I enjoy to arranging our collections in interesting new ways.

Vintage blow molds glow on this shelf in the dining room along with some of our vintage collection of plastic Rosbro candy containers displayed in the soda crate.

Recently, I created this sweet & spooky vignette using my collection of vintage Halloween collectibles for a dear couple for their Halloween themed Wedding.

Our foyer mantle is decorated with a mix of spooky and vintage Halloween paper mache lanterns and Rosbro plastic candy containers.

The bannister looks so nice adorned with a seasonal garland of silk sunflowers, colored leaves, berries, acorns, even candy corn colored lights.

A silly sinister shelf in the kitchen

The full moon casts an eerie glow over Grimsly Manor from Department 56 sitting on the parlor mantle surrounded by twisty trees and creepy moss.

Bar setup on vintage buffet with a Wicked Halloween touch.

Don't forget to decorate outside your house.

Here's a photo of my house and yard circa 2010 decked out in full Halloween decorations.

All the photos were either taken by me, my awesome sister, Mary Ann 

or my Lovely daughter, Sarah. 

Visit her blog, Lostvestige for more of her fabulous photos.

Emily's Sweet 16 Costume Party

My youngest was turning 16 and we wanted to celebrate her 

Big Day 

like never before, really make it special. 

Sweet 16 calls for sweets, cupcakes and yummy things!

She Loves Cosplay so we decided a costume party theme would be fun for her & our guests to dress up for.  Then she got busy making her costume, 

Princess Elsa, from the Disney movie Frozen.

This is one of my favorite photos of Emily dressed up in her handmade Elsa costume.  

She looks so Lovely & beautiful!  

She worked for weeks, not only cutting and sewing but 

she made her own sequins for the bodice.  

Isn't she clever?

Invitations went out via Facebook as well as mailed through the Post Office to our special guests using these little sparkling darlings I designed and crafted using cardstock and a cupcake shaped paper punch from Stampin' Up.  Even family was coming from out of town for the occasion!

Sweet 16 Party Treats

Our Dining room table was moved against the wall with the vintage stained glass window to make way for the guests and to use as the Sweets Buffet. 

We adorn the ceiling with lots of paper lanterns, 

place twinkling lights and play swing music for a festive party atmosphere.  

Then I collected all my pretty glassware and all the bags of cute candy I've bought for the party. 

I have a small obsession with dazzling cute candy in Lovely glass jars, jadeite, vintage compotes and dishes.  It looks so inticingly tempting!  

Almost too beautiful to gobble up.

Guests could help themselves to all of the yummy treats and were encouraged to fill up a paper favor bag to take some home.

Bubble gum, Smarties, Candy necklaces, gummi worms, M&Ms, white chocolate covered pretzels, Ring pops & pretty marshmallows - All of Emily's favorites!

Easy DIY marshmallows dipped in chocolate & sprinkles

Tiny marshmallow Ice cream cones with cute sprinkles

Cotton Candy is adorable!

Festive bags of Popcorn & Kettlecorn displayed in a vintage soda crate. 

Candy fruit skewers to garnish the milkshake punch cups

Sarah, my gorgeous older daughter and party photographer, dressed as a 1960's Housewife complete with red lipstick, pearls and a beehive my mom styled for her.

Another glimpse of the fantastic party lanterns & decorations.  The Ice cream cone shaped honeycomb is a recent purchase from Target.

Scrumptious Gigi's Cupcakes minis in tempting flavors such as Pink Lemonade, Hot Fudge Sundae & Banana Split were arranged on cake stands.

16 candles on Lemon Buttercream

Time to make a wish and blow out the candles!

Singing Happy Birthday to youuuu

Some photos of all the kids in their costumes.

Looking sensational!

 Do you want to build a snowman?

Just one more of Emily.  

I think she will remember this birthday forever!

All these marvelous photos were taken by Sarah Albertson, 

check out her delightful blog, 

Lostvestige 

to see more of her outstanding photographs!!

Alex & Matt Miller's Wedding

Recently, my daughter's BFF, Alex, got married at Tanglewood Park, Clemmons, NC.  Isn't she gorgeous?

I had the honor of helping make her day special by decorating, as well as attending.

The Happy Couple, Alex & Matt.

Isn't this photo fun?

If you are looking for a fantastic photographer in NC, contact Ali, of

Ali Albertson photography  

She's an absolute DoLL & I highly recommend her


♥

I created this display of stacked refurbished vintage suitcases paired with a new one from Michael's.  Looks retro sweet and serves as a repository to hold all the cards the new couple received from their guests.




I Love the way pink green look together, my absolute favorite color combination.




The Bride wanted these pretty cupcakes displayed on cake stands to double as part of the table centerpiece decor as well as tempting the guests to help themselves to a treat.

These IKEA lanterns were purchased last summer for my daughter's wedding table centerpieces.  

They are such a great price!  {$15 for the large 17" lanterns and $8 for the 12"}  

I wanted them to look different for Alex's wedding so I added pink organza ribbon tied in a bow around the LED pillar candles, silk flowers and ferns, butterflies and bird's nests for an enchanting spring look.

I used my Sizzix to cut/ emboss paper butterfly accents in blush pink, lavender, silver metallic and gray flourish print.

Here's a few photos of the venue, the Manor House at Tanglewood.

The stone fireplace is huge!

This nifty clock is in the entry hall and matches this incredible wallpaper.

This is a large room furnished with some vintage seating and a lovely huge antique secretary.

This is the other side of the same room.  We set up the tables for the favors, gifts with my display to hold the wedding cards.  It was a lot of fun!
Xo
Michelle