Monster House Party - Pt. 2

Today was Monster House Party day.  I spent the entire morning running around the house baking, cleaning, finishing decorations and putting my costume together.  Mike did his job and kept the boys happy while I went on my tirade.  I think my favorite thing about having a Halloween party is that you don't have to worry about getting rid of cobwebs.  They fit the theme and add ambiance.  More importantly, this means I have one less thing to clean.  Score!


Thing 1 has been obsessed with his Superman costume.  He insisted on opening it the other night and FREAKED out when I took to off him to go to Gigi's house.  A juice box and his jacket bought me about 5 minutes.  Then the water works started again.  So you can imagine his delight today when I suggested he get dressed up again.  I was a little surprised Thing 1 didn't look at me any different after I got all Zombie-fied.  I must not have been as scary as I was hoping to be, but that's probably good considering how many kids were over.


The party was really fun!!  All the kids were dressed up, the food was yummy, and ghost bowling was a hit!  There were a few melt downs (all from my children, go figure), but in the end everyone was smiling. 

Here's our Monster House Party!

Thing 1 had a great time helping me make our Monster Door.

I watch The Chew.  Okay, I record The Chew and watch it during naptime.

I used their recipe for Fake Blood to make my shirt look a bit more authentic and gross.  On the plus side, I smelled like chocolate and that's never a bad thing.

Fake Blood

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

4 drops red food coloring

Mix everything together.  The mixture will look to dry, it's okay just keep stirring.

*To thin the blood for spreading, dip your fingers under some running water and go to town.  The water thins up the mixture just enough.

I love paper chain garland.  It's so fun and easy (and cheap!) to make.

I zig-zagged the garland all over the living room.

I found some really cute Halloween cut-outs on Pinterest and thought they would look great hanging from the garland.  It's fun to be right!

Superman is a kelpto.  :)

The Spread.

Complete with neon yellow brain.

I was going to make a Jell-O brain with worms coming out of it, but I didn't.

We had ghost bowling,

and a costume contest.  The pirates won after tie breaker against Dorothy Gale.

Did you know Luigi was really a vampire?

Bet ya didn't.

Mummies on a Stick & Pumpkin Brownies (I'm getting the recipe ASAP).

Last-Minute Candy Corn Cookies, Ghost Suckers & Toasted Pumpkin Seeds.

Make sure you roll your cookies into balls first, I forgot with the second batch and it makes a difference.

For the pumpkin seeds, I took one reviewer's advice and let the seeds soak over night.  They didn't splinter!

Toe Nails and Boiled Brains

I find that half the success of a theme party comes down to creatively naming your food.

Sure this is just Fritos and Velveeta Chili dip.  But call your chips Toe Nail (they really do look like old crusty nails) and your dip Boiled Brains...well sir you've got yourself a creepy menu item!

I carved Phineas and Ferb pumpkins for Thing 1 & Thing 2 this year.

I had to put in the cute cousins picture.

House Party's Music Suggestions:
Halloween Hit Factory - Munsters Theme

Danny Elfman - This is Halloween

Bobby "Boris" Pickett - Monster Mash

The Clovers - Love Potion #9

Disney's Haunted Mansion - Grim, Grinning Ghosts

Ray Parker Jr. - Ghostbusters

Sheb Wooleyy - Flying Purple People Eater

Sha Na Na - Witch Doctor

Rocky Horror Picture Show - The Time Warp

Arthur Sulit - Toccata & Fugu in D Minor

Michael Jackson - Thriller

Harry Belefonte - Jump in the Line

Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London

Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on You

The Doors - People are Strange

Oingo Boingo - Weird Science

Talking Heads - Psycho Killer

Santana - Black Magic Woman

Marilyn Manson - Sweet Dreams

Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me

John Carpenter - Halloween Theme

Charlie Daniels Band - Devil Went Down to Georgia

House Party was great!! They sent out everything I needed to get the party started.  In my party pack was a t-shirt for me, a code to make a free 8"x8" Shutterfly Photo Book of the party (so easy to use, I've made two books for the boys), and a deck of playing cards in the shape of a bone.  I used the cards as part of the costume contest prize.  For my guests, the magic box had 40 mini Rice Krispy Treat Squares, 18 monster temporary tattoos, 14 Halloween key chain flashlights, 14 neon green Monster House Party tote bags, 20 coupons for 20% off at Bed, Bath & Beyond, and 10 sets of decoders to enter the Monster House Party giveaway.   

All I did was hang a few decorations, make some cookies and dip, and have our friends over...House Party did the rest.  As a host I was also provided with downloads that included Halloween coloring pages, a Halloween word search, creepy welcome sign, and Halloween playlist suggestions.

All my friends couldn't believe how much House Party hooked me up.  If you want to apply to be a host for House Party and their affiliates go to HouseParty.com.  There are all kinds of different party to apply for.  Don't get down if you're not picked right away.  I applied for at least 10-15 parties before getting chosen to host a Monster House Party.

I hope you all have  Happy Halloween and have some new ideas for your own party!

All opinions about HouseParty.com are my own.  I was not compensated for giving these opinions or suggesting that others visit their website, but I was encouraged to do so.  I think it's cool to get hooked up for having your friends over.  I did receive host promotional items and guest gifts for hosting, but are not conditional on sharing about my House Party.