Another Haunted Halloween Party at Skull Valley Graveyard!

It’s never too early to start thinking about your Haunted Graveyard party!  It is a little early but you could start planning your props and even start making them.  Especially if you want to go all out like I do!  Every year I decorate my yard as a haunted graveyard called Skull Valley Graveyard.  Then I hold a party for friends and family in the caretaker house at Skull Valley Graveyard.  This is the invitation I send out every year.

 

This is the graveyard before I totally redid it for 2015. 

The fence is made out of ½” pvc pipes cut in various lengths with 1x2s used as the side rails.  I cut holes in the rails and inserted the pvc pieces, then I glued them in place in 8’ long sections.  Once the glue was dried I spray painted the sections with black paint to make it look like metal.  I found tiny skulls at Walmart very cheap and glued them on the tops of the pvc pipes to be the fence finials. 

I made gates the same way only I cut 1” wide pvc pieces from an 8” diameter pvc pipe and glued them in between the ½” pvc pieces.  The gates were screwed to the gate posts which were made from 2x2s framed with luan ¼” thick boards screwed outside of them.  Then I painted them with spray paint that made them look like stone.  I put lamp post lights on the tops and wired them so they lit up at night.

 

I made many gravestones out of 2” rigid foam board which can be purchased at Lowe’s or Home Depot.  It comes in 4’ x 8’ sheets and I cut it into various sizes for different gravestones.  Some were 2’ x 2’, some 2’ x 3’ etc. since in real graveyards all the gravestones are different.  I engraved some of them with a soldering gun which gets very hot and then it melts and engraves the foam board (do this in a well-ventilated area).  Then I engraved some with a dremel.  The engraved letters were painted with black paint and the rest of the gravestone were painted with different shades of gray and tan to simulate stone.  I had green spot lights set up to shine on the graveyard at night to give it a spooky glow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My most popular attraction in my graveyard is my Grim Reaper who is 6’ tall.  To make it you need to create a PVC pipe frame then put chicken wire over the PVC pipe frame.  Then you use burlap coated with “monster mud” and hang it on the frame.  Monster mud is drywall compound with black outdoor latex paint mixed in with it.  Once the monster mud coated burlap dried I spray painted it with spray black and gray rubber paint also purchased at Home Depot.  This makes it waterproof and more durable.

 I made a coffin out of 2” foam board and painted it with brown spray paint.

 

For the party itself the biggest hit is the candy hunt in the graveyard for the kids.  It like an Easter egg hunt only it’s tiny treat bags with candy, toys and stickers in them.  The tiny treat bags I bought at Dollar Tree which were 40 for $1.  I bought many stickers and tiny toys very cheap off of Oriental Trading Company which is an internet company.  I also buy a Halloween piñata which the kids love from Party City.  One year I had a witch on a broom and another year it was a large pumpkin.  I’ve had a bob for apples contest and a Halloween costume contest too.

 

 

 

 

 

The inside of the house is also decorated.  This is the haunted fireplace mantel.

Here's the stairway rail all decorated.  This kids love the big spider!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The food is all Halloween themed.  I serve Ghoulash, deviled eggs with black spiders made out of black olives on them, barbeque monster eyeballs (meatballs in bbq sauce), I make a brain jello with watermelon jello (the color looks like a real brain) using a brain jello mold I purchased online, I found real looking gummy worms on Oriental Trading Company which I put around the brain jello.  We make fruit spears on wooden spears and stick them in a carved out pumpkin to look like his hair.  Then I had made graveyard Halloween cupcakes and cookies.

 

I have all the adults and kids dress up in Halloween costumes which is a hit with the kids, after all how many times do they get to see adults act like kids?

 

 

 

My annual Halloween parties are a huge hit.  The kids look forward to them and the games.  The adults have fun too!  It’s a great way to get together and a safe environment for the kids at Halloween. 
 http://bit.ly/1UjkEaZ

It's Cheeseburger in Paradise party time

Everyone loves tropical Hawaiian themed parties.  Jimmy Buffet’s music goes right along with the tropical theme.  Combine the two and hold a “Cheeseburger in Paradise” Party!  I hold one every summer and they are always a big hit.  First you need to create a tropical atmosphere.  I hold mine on my back patio where my pondless waterfall, I designed and built, is located.  During the party I have Jimmy Buffet and other tropical music playing (I have wireless speakers which I hang from the pergola outside).

 

My patio is the perfect tropical setting for a tropical themed party, with the sound of the waterfall.  There’s also zebra tropical grass and hibiscus bushes growing all around the patio.  I have bamboo tiki torches around the perimeter of the patio for evening time.  In addition, I have two tiki totem pole statues which I have attached to two poles of my pergola.
 

                                    I also have a tiki totem pole statue by the waterfall.

 

I made a bamboo tiki counter with a couple of tiki masks on the front for putting food on. 

 

 

I also made a tiki grill shelter made out of bamboo poles with thatch     roofing.

 

 

 

 

Then I made a sign to put at my drive way which I copied from a similar sign I saw in Key West.

 

 

 

I purchased a tiki side table with an online company called Design Toscano which is very different.  I hang paper lanterns from my pergola which I purchased from an online company called The Paper Lantern Company they are very cheap to buy and give a tropical look. 

 

I put plastic table cloths in tropical blue and green on the tables set up for people to eat at and also on the tables with the food.  I purchase tropical plates and napkins from Party City along with tropical colored plastic silverware to match.  All of my plastic serving bowls, plates etc. are all color coordinated in tropical blues and greens.

  I also purchase leis in various colors from Dollar Tree  
  for $1 each for each guest to wear.  I found some
  tropical straw hats with an online company called
  Shindigz for guests to wear too.  It was funny how the
  guests come up with different ways to wear them!  I
  also tell the guests to dress in tropical clothes.      

 

 

  

 

I always have some games for the kids and adults to play.  I made a regulation size corn hole game, I also have lawn jarts, I set up a volleyball net and other lawn games.  I get some bubbles from Dollar Tree for the younger kids to play with, I have a small kid size pool and water table for them.  For the bigger kids I have one of those Intex pools which they love to play in.  I made a limbo set with some bamboo poles I purchased online and there is a limbo contest.

  

 I make the food to go along with the tropical theme.  Since it is a Cheeseburger in Paradise theme party there are cheeseburgers and brats cooked on the grill.  Sides include potato salad, pasta salad, tropical colored jello, chips and of course Key Lime pie.  I always make a tropical punch and have other drinks including frozen margaritas and frozen pina coladas which are a hit especially if it’s very hot out.

 

When the sun goes down, the tiki torches are lit, the paper lantern lights hanging from the pergola turn on and the party continues.  I have a fire pit made out of landscape blocks on my patio and we light the fire and have smores and roast marshmellows.  What a great way to end a fun filled day!

http://bit.ly/1O0tMtM