Halloween Party

Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful Halloween weekend! I know that Halloween has passed, but I wanted to share with you some highlights from our party on Saturday night. The food was delicious (if I do say so myself), and the decór was a lot of fun. The fiancé and I worked our butts off all day Saturday, but it was worth it. I think everyone had a great time, and I know I did!

Halloween Luminary

Boo! Door Sign

We greeted our guests with some cute Halloween decorations outside: homemade luminaries along the walkway and a festive "Boo!" garland on the front door. For the luminaries, I drew halloween shapes on to white paper bags with a sharpie marker. Then, I filled the bottom with sand and placed a tea light candle inside. We had seven total luminaries, four on the walkway and three on the porch. For the "Boo!" sign, I bought glittery letters that were made for scrapbooking, and pasted them on to construction paper circles. I used a white grease pen (aka China Marker) to make the polka dots around the outside. Then I attached them to a string of black beads and attached the whole thing to the front door.

The bar, nicknamed "Lethal Libations"

The mantle with gourds, pumpkins, and spiderwebs

Creepy pictures in the photo frames

"Bloody" Candles

Inside the house, we decorated with colorful fabrics, gourds, spiderwebs, and red roses. Using images from the Graphics Fairy, I replaced all of our photos with spooky vintage drawings and etchings. I also made "bloody" candles and placed them throughout the house. I didn't have any taper candle holders, so I used old wine bottles instead. I think they added a more gothic feel to the table and mantle. To make the candles look "bloody," I lit a red candle and let the wax drip on to the white ones. Super simple!

And now for the FOOD! Which is going to make this post pass for a Vegan MoFo post, right? Right.

Maniacal Stuffed Mushrooms

Sinister Sandwiches

Autumn Latkes with Horseradish "Sour Cream"

Savory Pumpkin Puffs

For appetizers and finger food, we made a nice variety of dishes from some of my favorite cookbooks. The first, the "Maniacal Stuffed Mushrooms," are better known as the Panko Stuffed Mushrooms from Veganomicon. Next were mini "egg" salad sandwiches, from the Tassajara Cookbook. The Autumn Latkes with Horseradish Sour Cream also came from Veganomicon, and were an unexpected surprise. I hadn't made them before, but they went over really well. Also, the beets in them made them reddish and spooky looking! Finally, I veganized a Martha Stewart recipe for Savory Pumpkin Puffs by using vegan puff pastry, Earth Balance, and Daiya cheese. I also added more paprika to the "butter"spread on top to make them a little more orange. They were delicious, and looked adorable!

Spiced Pumpkin Pecan Cookies

Halloween Cupcakes

A clearer shot of the cupcakes

For dessert, we had my Spiced Pumpkin Pecan Cookies, as well as vanilla and chocolate Halloween-themed cupcakes. Both were a big hit! To display the cupcakes, I put together a festive two-tiered cake stand using some dishes and black fabric. It was a little dark, so I also threw in a picture of the cupcakes right after we frosted them. I think they're quite adorable. 

I think the party was a huge success. Almost everyone dressed up, and they looked great. We had a Raggedy Ann and Andy, Magenta from Rocky Horror Picture Show, Leela from Futurama, a homemade superhero, an adorable black cat, a nerd, and Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's. Fiancé squeezed himself into a child-size purple crayon costume, which was hilarious. I capitalized on my ridiculous new braces and went as a nerd child. The food was devoured, and so was the wine. That, to me, is the sign of a very good party. Success! 

What did you do for Halloween this year?