Spooky Second Birthday
the party:
Who: Jameson turned 2 on October 1st, 2018! Much to my surprise and delight, this year he started wanting to watch Halloween music videos and became super obsessed with pumpkins.
What: As we neared his second birthday and he continued to be infatuated with anything Halloween related, I decided to do a “Spooky Second” birthday theme that encompassed everything fun and cute about Halloween. I did not want to go the scary route; instead I focused on things like funny ghosts, silly haunted houses, bats, and pumpkins.
Where: I like to host parties in my own home because I enjoy the challenge of transforming my space. For this party we spread many things out, had food inside, and had seating and activities outside.
When: The party took place on a beautiful early October Sunday between 12pm-3pm.
design notes:
I kept the colors bright and exciting with oranges, greens, and purples. The backyard was transformed into a Spooky Shindig. I wanted the party to encompass everything fun about Halloween.
The main attraction was a big inflatable “spooky” bounce house and slide combo. I rented this from a local party inflatable company. I do like to splurge on one big item that I would otherwise be spending on a rental if I had the party elsewhere.
A bounce house is a great way to keep kids preoccupied for hours.
I used existing seating outside with my two wooden picnic tables and patio furniture. I also borrowed a couple of high top tables and put black linen over top.
I embellished the tables with DIY centerpieces made of multi-colored pipe cleaners in funky shapes stuck inside a small pot. Each centerpiece was surrounded by pumpkin motifs.
Menu Notes:
The food and beverage was all Halloween themed. I created a “Boo Bar” with a nonalcoholic “Green Eyeball” punch, “Poison” (which was water), kids juice boxes called “Little Monster Fuel”, various sodas called “Toxins, and seasonal fall beers for the parents.
I made two different food stations inside, one for kids and one for adults. The “Monster Buffet” was for the kids and had things like “Grilled Fingers” (hotdogs), “Mummy Pouches” (vegetable squeeze packages), “Tator Tot Toes”, and a fruit platter of “Ghosts and Pumpkins”.
The adult buffet was a simple chili bar, which is one of my absolute favorite stations to make for parties because it is so easy and so good! People like being able to customize their food.
I went ahead and made my own cake for this party. It was not as pretty as some of the quotes and designs I got from other bakers, but it worked.
I got a blue cake mix and topped it off with green icing. I somehow managed to draw a spider web on there too!
the little details:
Steph’s favorite little details from this party include…
The fun haunted house backdrop from Amazon that helped created a themed seating area.
Decorating the backyard shed with big spiders and cobweb for an unexpected decor element.
Bottle label stickers from Party City for all of the sodas.
vendors & partners
Planning & Design – Stephanie White @events_fullcircle
Printables – Events Full Circle
Decor - Party City
Bounce House - Backyard Amusements
For more Fall and Halloween inspo, check out the Halloween Mega Blog I created. Halloween and Fall is my favorite time of year, so I rounded up TONS of ideas for you!
Things for kids, family, just for mama, friends, and even trick-or-treat alternatives.
And as always, if you need help planning a gathering, party, or holiday - check out Events Full Circle’s Signature Party Planning Service. A super easy way to have a party planned for you without the high price tag.
