Restrictions, restrictions, restrictions…as the year moves on and we are still waiting for vaccines to take us closer to normal living, most of us are doing whatever we can to make the best of our current situation – maybe even having fun in different ways than pre-pandemic…

Never before have I had a Halloween Party. Why not give it a go? With my local family ‘bubble’, we decided to move our traditional Sunday dinner to the holiday and go all out for a night we would all look forward to and remember for years to come…in this post I will share a few specifics that made it fun for all of us – from our 4yr old granddaughter Emily to my 88 year old dad. While Halloween is obviously behind us, some of these ideas might trigger some new traditions for your upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas…

1 – Set the tone with an invitation So what it’s just your family! It’s fun to receive an invitation and it gets the anticipation started…with a clever invite your guests will know that the event will be more than just eating, and there will be expectations to participate in the festivities…

With a simple poem and online art, I easily created a spooky invitation…the authentic burns were hubby’s idea…

Rather than mailing them, I rolled them up with some black spider webs, tied each with a ribbon, and handed them out individually…this immediately turned up the excitement! Ok, next tip:

2 – Plan activities For children and adults alike, any family gathering is much more interesting with structure and activities…a little bit of effort goes a long way to surprising your gang with fun…

Weeks before the party, Peter and I went to a craft store to be inspired…for about $2 each, we picked up several paper maché skulls which I spray painted white…nobody but us knew what we had planned…when it was time, we brought out the skulls along with glue guns, feathers, stick-on gems, markers, etc for everyone to decorate their own ‘Day of The Dead’ skull!

Let me tell you, with such focus on creativity you could hear a pin drop!

Keep in mind that doing crafts is not for everyone, so it’s a good idea to mix up the activities/games you play…below, a simple 3-round charades game with a spooky theme…Round one, use as many words as needed to describe the person, place or thing; Round two, use only one word; Round three, no words! Even 6 yr old Henry (aka Bowser) is good at it! 🙂

Other activities were more traditional such as bobbing for apples…

And sticking your hand in a cauldron of yuck to see what you come up with! 🙂

3 – Set a theme Yes, Halloween was about as easy as you can get for a theme, but once you choose an idea – even for Thanksgiving – you will be surprised with what you can come up with. Go all out, the bigger the better!

See the rat???

A guest room prepared for those who dare…

We even bought a fog machine to transform our home as much as possible, but after learning that it would set off our smoke detectors, we ended up using it outdoors instead…

The king and queen! Welcome to our castle! Let’s see who else showed up…

Count Dracula! Aka my 88 year old dad!

Medusa and a Pharaoh, aka my daughter and son-in-law…

Plague doctors! Aka my son and his girlfriend…(though Brad later changed into a second costume as Joe Exotic!)

Little Emily as a mermaid…

And last but not least, cat and dog! My sis and her boyfriend…:-)

Once the little ones were put to bed, the festivities continued with scarier games and plenty of spirits...our ‘feast’ was a yummy shepherds pie, lots of apps, and a chocolate graveyard cake…

Poor guy had too much tequila…;-)

Who’s afraid of a few extra calories??? Hahaha!

Halloween 2020 will not be forgotten in our family, and who knows, maybe this will become a new tradition…maybe next year we can invite more people! As for now, it’s time to plan Turkey Day…

• If you are the host, set a Thanksgiving theme! Maybe a 1950’s theme, a campground theme, or a Hollywood theme!
• Don’t forget to play games! It’s always nice on Thanksgiving to talk about what we are grateful for – with a bag of M&Ms, make a game out of it!

The Bottom Line:

This pandemic will not last forever! Whoever you are with during these holidays, have fun, be creative, and enjoy the NOW!