Last weekend was our 13th annual Witches' Gathering! This year we went with a bat theme. Here are the batty invitations:
In keeping with the bat theme, I gave the pumpkins glittery masks. This is one of the pumpkins you watched grow previously. How exciting to see it fully formed and dressed up!
I made some paper hanging bats for outside.
They cast a spooky shadow under the lanterns at night. There will be more night photos later on. I just wanted to show you the day/night bat comparison.
We managed to find some batty treat bags. I propped one up against the new jack-o-lantern, which came from Pick 'N Save of all places. It looks cute next to its big brother.
Here's what the guests found in their treat bags. We were happy to find those Necco Batwing wafers. They're better than regular Necco wafers because they're cinnamon flavored and shaped like little bats.
We made hanging bat place cards this year. The bats are from Dollar Tree. I hot glued some ribbon to their wings and hot glued the name tags to their feet. As you can see, we did the Halloween versions of people's names again. We were inspired by the credits in the Simpson's Halloween Specials.
Here they are flying from the chandelier.
The bats were glamorized with a little nail polish. I painted their upper wings, ears and faces with different metallic colors.
I even painted their little toe nails!
We made the triple chocolate Devils Food cupcakes again and then added chocolate chips to the batter. That makes them even better! I folded some bats out of construction paper and hot glued them to floral wire. Then they could fly from the cupcakes.
I also folded some bats for decorating the drinking glasses. I got into major bat creation mode once I figured out how to do this. I cut a slit in the bat's body so it would fit on the glass.
Aren't these mini orange roses pretty? More paper bats were glittered and inserted into the roses. Some bats are also springing from the arrangement on floral wire.
Here's the dinner table all set and decorated for the party.
I ran across a super quick recipe for tortilla bats by googling "tortilla bats". Here's my search result: Tortilla Bat How-to. Sometimes I'm surprised to google some random thing and actually find a result! These could really be tortilla anything - whatever shape you have a cookie cutter of. I plan to make a bunch of different Halloween shaped tortillas for Halloween.
Making the tortilla bats was pretty simple. I just cut into a tortilla with the cookie cutter. Tortillas are fairly tough, so make sure you have a sharp cookie cutter. Then I covered the bats in olive oil and lots of salt and popped them into the oven. They baked at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Fun, easy, and they got a lot of compliments!
Each guest had a tortilla bat garnishing their chilli.
After the chilli dinner we had the cupcakes and a flavor of ice cream that was new to me - Creamsicle! We chose it in part because it's orange. I didn't see a whole lot of Halloween ice cream flavors available this year. Come to think of it, I didn't even see pumpkin ice cream! The Creamsicle ice cream was a hit. It comes with little chunks of candy-like stuff in it.
Each guest got a little solar bobblehead pumpkin man. We were thrilled to find these at Dollar Tree. The bobbleheads get bought up pretty fast. At least at our local Dollar Tree, you better scoop them up the day they arrive or you won't get one. I love these little pumpkin men! I think they have a vintage look.
Mom and me in our witch outfits:
Me with the bat cupcakes:
You can see a bit of my earrings in that picture. They're a whopping four-and-a-half inches in length! I like big, dramatic earrings and these really fit with the bat theme.
Remember those mini bottles I witchified this year? Here they are with the larger vintage bottles. Every one of these bottles is an estate sale find. This picture might be a little confusing because it was taken against a mirror.
Part of the electric pumpkin patch:
I like how this picture turned out. It's so warm and bright.
This spooky tree was a lucky Michaels find this year! Every little glass container holds a candle, as does a space behind the tree's face.
I think this tree has such personality!
As the party went on, the moon creeped out. This is kind of a fuzzy picture, because it was kind of a fuzzy night. We had the perfect mysterious sky for the night of a Halloween party.
I set a few candles outside along with some vintage bat images I found online.
If you'd like to access that same collection of Halloween images, here's their source:
The 50+ Best Free Vintage Halloween Images from The Graphics Fairy
The images are nicely categorized, so I could go straight to the "batty costumed ladies"!
There's that baby pumpkin and his big brother again. I had some spooky noises playing from behind them.
The guests were nice enough to bring these hostess gifts: A big pumpkin spice candle, fuzzy silhouette candle holders, mango slices, little silhouette plaques, seed packets, and this sassy witch kitchen towel.
Here are those candle holders all lit up. I like how it looks like there's a sun or moon shining behind each of the images.
If you'd like to see photos from Witch Parties past, here are a few blog posts:
Welcome to the Witch Party 2012
Welcome to the Witch Party 2011
P.S. ~ My Halloween blog party is this Friday, the 25th. If you'd like to participate, please send me your costumed photo!
In keeping with the bat theme, I gave the pumpkins glittery masks. This is one of the pumpkins you watched grow previously. How exciting to see it fully formed and dressed up!
I made some paper hanging bats for outside.
They cast a spooky shadow under the lanterns at night. There will be more night photos later on. I just wanted to show you the day/night bat comparison.
We managed to find some batty treat bags. I propped one up against the new jack-o-lantern, which came from Pick 'N Save of all places. It looks cute next to its big brother.
Here's what the guests found in their treat bags. We were happy to find those Necco Batwing wafers. They're better than regular Necco wafers because they're cinnamon flavored and shaped like little bats.
We made hanging bat place cards this year. The bats are from Dollar Tree. I hot glued some ribbon to their wings and hot glued the name tags to their feet. As you can see, we did the Halloween versions of people's names again. We were inspired by the credits in the Simpson's Halloween Specials.
Here they are flying from the chandelier.
The bats were glamorized with a little nail polish. I painted their upper wings, ears and faces with different metallic colors.
I even painted their little toe nails!
We made the triple chocolate Devils Food cupcakes again and then added chocolate chips to the batter. That makes them even better! I folded some bats out of construction paper and hot glued them to floral wire. Then they could fly from the cupcakes.
I also folded some bats for decorating the drinking glasses. I got into major bat creation mode once I figured out how to do this. I cut a slit in the bat's body so it would fit on the glass.
Aren't these mini orange roses pretty? More paper bats were glittered and inserted into the roses. Some bats are also springing from the arrangement on floral wire.
Here's the dinner table all set and decorated for the party.
Making the tortilla bats was pretty simple. I just cut into a tortilla with the cookie cutter. Tortillas are fairly tough, so make sure you have a sharp cookie cutter. Then I covered the bats in olive oil and lots of salt and popped them into the oven. They baked at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Fun, easy, and they got a lot of compliments!
Each guest had a tortilla bat garnishing their chilli.
After the chilli dinner we had the cupcakes and a flavor of ice cream that was new to me - Creamsicle! We chose it in part because it's orange. I didn't see a whole lot of Halloween ice cream flavors available this year. Come to think of it, I didn't even see pumpkin ice cream! The Creamsicle ice cream was a hit. It comes with little chunks of candy-like stuff in it.
Each guest got a little solar bobblehead pumpkin man. We were thrilled to find these at Dollar Tree. The bobbleheads get bought up pretty fast. At least at our local Dollar Tree, you better scoop them up the day they arrive or you won't get one. I love these little pumpkin men! I think they have a vintage look.
Mom and me in our witch outfits:
Me with the bat cupcakes:
You can see a bit of my earrings in that picture. They're a whopping four-and-a-half inches in length! I like big, dramatic earrings and these really fit with the bat theme.
Remember those mini bottles I witchified this year? Here they are with the larger vintage bottles. Every one of these bottles is an estate sale find. This picture might be a little confusing because it was taken against a mirror.
Part of the electric pumpkin patch:
I like how this picture turned out. It's so warm and bright.
This spooky tree was a lucky Michaels find this year! Every little glass container holds a candle, as does a space behind the tree's face.
I think this tree has such personality!
As the party went on, the moon creeped out. This is kind of a fuzzy picture, because it was kind of a fuzzy night. We had the perfect mysterious sky for the night of a Halloween party.
I set a few candles outside along with some vintage bat images I found online.
If you'd like to access that same collection of Halloween images, here's their source:
The 50+ Best Free Vintage Halloween Images from The Graphics Fairy
The images are nicely categorized, so I could go straight to the "batty costumed ladies"!
There's that baby pumpkin and his big brother again. I had some spooky noises playing from behind them.
The guests were nice enough to bring these hostess gifts: A big pumpkin spice candle, fuzzy silhouette candle holders, mango slices, little silhouette plaques, seed packets, and this sassy witch kitchen towel.
Here are those candle holders all lit up. I like how it looks like there's a sun or moon shining behind each of the images.
If you'd like to see photos from Witch Parties past, here are a few blog posts:
Welcome to the Witch Party 2012
Welcome to the Witch Party 2011
P.S. ~ My Halloween blog party is this Friday, the 25th. If you'd like to participate, please send me your costumed photo!
Everything looks so amazing!
ReplyDeleteAlexandriaweb ~ Thank you! :)
DeleteI really dig your tablescape. Especially the leaves in the chandelier! Well done!
ReplyDeletewicKED ~ Thanks! We have fun thinking about the details of the tablescape each year. I was pleased to find so many bat pieces to work into the table decorations. I enjoy the chandelier leaves. I like how the light glows through them.
DeleteYou throw the kind of parties I wish I could put on, or at least attend! Everything looks magical!
ReplyDeleteDex ~ Thanks so much! I'm glad the party looks magical. That's definitely what we're going for. :) I wish you guys could attend too. I know that the Halloween people I've met online would appreciate all the hard work that goes into preparing this party. Being able to share my party photos on here adds a lot to the party giving experience. I know you all get it! I think that's part of why I started having the Halloween blog parties. It's a way of being able to host a Halloween party for the Halloween loving people!
DeleteIt all looks amazing, Justine! What a great idea to use little orange roses for the centerpiece - it's fantastic with the bats! :)
ReplyDeleteInsomniac's Attic ~ Thank you! I was so happy to find those little orange roses. They were the only orange bouquet of roses left at the store. They're unusual because they're smaller than regular roses. I had fun placing those glittery bats in the arrangement. I remembered liking a similar look I did years back with larger roses and plastic spider rings. The ring part fits really well into the petals of a rose.
DeleteLovely decorations! You thought of everything! I'm sure the invitees were *charmed*! And the roses are gorgeous! I've never seen orange roses before.
ReplyDeleteJeanne ~ Thank you! "Charmed" :) We were happy to find the last of those roses! It's interesting that I mostly see orange roses for sale in the summer, but when fall comes I have a hard time finding them. Maybe everyone wants the orange roses around Halloween! We found these roses at the grocery store of all places. So you could always try the floral section at your local supermarket.
DeleteIt all looks really good! A lot of great artwork there! Bats have always been a big favorite of mine, I love drawing their wings. I thought the hanging bat was really cool because in the dark it’ll look like a silhouette which will look potentially like a real bat. Painting the rubber bats was a good idea. And I love your bat earrings. I especially liked your witches costume, that coal black type is my favorite. Anyway, Happy Halloween!
ReplyDeleteMatt ~ Thanks! Yeah, I think one of the coolest Halloween shapes is that of a bat. I like their wings too. I've been watching a lot of reruns of the old Batman TV show lately, and I think that might have inspired me. I took a look at that bat mask on the pumpkin and thought to myself "Hmm... this looks familiar". :) Yup! You got what I was going for with the hanging bat. I really like how those look at night. Thanks for your comments on my costume! I was glad to have a chance to wear those earrings. They're fun but 4.5" bat earrings don't fit with every occasion. :) Happy Halloween to you too!
DeleteYay! I was waiting for this post! I love your annual Halloween parties. What a cute idea with the bats! I'm very impressed with the attention to detail. :)
ReplyDeleteMarisa ~ Cool! I'm glad you're enjoying this tradition. I like doing the annual blog posts. It's fun for me to look back and see the same events throughout the years. Even though the parties are always witchy, I've been enjoying adding an extra theme. Bats seem to be a pretty popular Halloween theme, so that helped with finding ideas online. Thanks! Adding the little details is one of my favorite parts in planning the parties.
DeleteI want to come next year! I love everything about this party and all the ideas. You went to a lot of work with the theming. I really enjoyed all the pictures, they gave me that wonderful nostalgic feel of Halloween. Your bat earrings are cool. I could never wear those without a costume! Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMidnyte Reader ~ Thank you! :) Yeah, it is a lot of work but it's fun to watch all the parts come together on party night. I felt nostalgic looking at a few of these pictures too. I think it's that classic orange and black theme, especially on the little pumpkin bobblehead man. There was something old fashioned about the close-up of the glowing jack-o-lanterns too, but maybe that's just because I've looked at them for so many Halloweens. :)
DeleteI'd love to wear those bat earrings more often. They give some great movement and are surprisingly light! I often wear bold jewelry. Two to two-and-a-half inch earrings are no problem. When you're wearing the four-and-a-half inch ones, they start fighting with the collar of your shirt or jacket. So these bat earrings would be a pain to wear with some things.
Glad you enjoyed the photos! See you at the blog party tomorrow. :)
Superb Justine. What an absolutely wonderful looking Halloween spread. The detail is amazing. As the saying goes, "wish I could be here!" Bravo Justine and Mom. :-))>
ReplyDeleteEric ~ Thank you! I'll pass that "Bravo" on to my Mom! We have fun with all those little details. I wish you could be here to enjoy this party too! At least you all get to attend the party virtually. :)
DeleteOh my! What a wickedly good party! I am always so envious of your yearly witches gathering, it looks like so much fun, attending and preparing! I love the bat theme you went for this year, you used them in so many creative ways, I especially love the bat hanging under the outside lamp and the bats hovering over the cupcakes! I'm going to be doing a lot of baking over the next few days, including Halloweeny cupcakes (if they turn out well then I'll definitely show them on my blog!) My favourite decoration of all has to be that vintage looking cat wearing the witches hat.. I just adore it!!! Lastly I'd like to add that your witches outfit is gorgeous, the earrings and the top are so pretty, you look beautiful!
ReplyDeleteSandy ~ Wow! Thanks for all your kind words! That cat on the pumpkin is so fun. It's one of those Annalee fabric animals. I'm not sure how well you can see the cat's face, but it's hand painted on the fabric.
DeleteI had fun with the bat theme! There turned out to be more bat accessories and ideas out there than I'd imagined. I was glad that some of those ideas popped into my head before the party. :) I think the bats outside looked pretty cool at night. They cast a bit of a shadow and move around when there's a breeze.
I'd like to see the Halloween cupcakes you have planned. I probably won't be doing much more baking, but I do plan to make a candy corn colored parfait I saw. Isn't this cute?
Healthy Candy Corn Fruit Cups
I'm not much for actual candy corn, but I do like the yellow/orange/white color combination a lot!
Thank you so much for the compliments on my costume! It's fun each year to put together all my fancy dark clothing and jewelry. Not that I don't wear some of this stuff year round, it's just that the really good stuff comes out around Halloween. I'm sure you're the same way. :)