Pumpkin Patch Halloween Graveyard

Pumpkin Patch Halloween Graveyard 

One of these years I'll buy so many pumpkins that I'll have a pumpkin patch in my backyard. Than I'll of course throw a party and invite all my friends and we'll take a bunch of pics in the Fizzy Pumpkin Patch.  I better start saving now. Pumpkins are pretty inexpensive but to really make a cool pumpkin patch, I'm going to need A LOT of pumpkins. 

Create your own backyard graveyard

Set up some Styrofoam tombstones, throw down some plastic bones and add some pumpkins. The tombstones and plastic bones you can get from craft stores and online.  You could make your own tombstones if you want certain sayings on them.  But if you don't care what's written on the tombstone, save yourself some time and just buy the pre-made ones. 

The dry grass from not watering it over the summer really adds to the graveyard look. It's been pretty warm here in Portland so the leaves haven't really fallen yet.  The graveyard would look even spookier with fallen leaves and dried dead leaves. 

I need more pumpkins. And maybe some hands coming up out of the ground. Zombify the graveyard. 

This year I went out to Kruger's Farms on Sauvie Island and got my pumpkins.  I also picked up some delicious caramel apples. 

Do you create a graveyard a your house for Halloween? 

Halloween Party- Black Cats and Pumpkins

For this years Halloween party I went with a black cats and pumpkin treats theme.  It was a small party with just a few friends so I didn't go all out.  I didn't even create a backdrop! I chose the theme because we adopted two black cats this summer and I love pumpkin treats. 

Fill the table with pumpkin treats- 

Pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin salsa, pumpkin popcorn and little chocolate pumpkin cakellets. It's pumpkin over load!! 

The Poplandia Pumpkin Spice popcorn is delicious. It's the taste of the season in your mouth. 

Halloween Party Inspiration

As seen on Afternoon Live. Watch it

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays to host parties.  There's so many themes to choose from.  You can get really creative with your décor. 

Depending on where you live you probably won't be setting up your dessert table outside.  But it was such a gorgeous day here in Portland and the lighting is so much better outside than in our house.  I couldn't resist setting up outside.  And our little graveyard adds to the overall look.

Caramel apples and candy corn. Must haves on a Halloween dessert table. 

You can attempt to make your own caramel apples or, you can pick them up at a pumpkin patch like I did.  They make them so much better than I ever have.  And pick up a couple of pumpkins while you're there.  Candy corn doesn't have to just be in a bowl on the table.  You can use it as part of the décor.  You know your friends will nibble on it every time they walk by the table. Even if it's part of the décor like how I used it here on the table.

The witches head is super easy to make.  Pick up a Styrofoam head at your craft store, some paint and a Halloween pick you can find in the floral or seasonal section of the craft store.  With a pencil, draw the lip line and hair line.  Paint the lips, eyebrows, hair line and add eye lashes if you want.  You can paint the skin green like I did or any colour that matches your party theme. Stick the Halloween pick in the head and you're done.

The only problem with caramel apples is, it's hard not to eat it before the party begins.

Desserts 

For me, no dessert table is complete without cupcakes.  And I can't have naked cupcakes so I topped these with Candyfetti and tulle poms that I made.  Normally I make my own cupcakes because I love to bake cupcakes but these are store bought.  If you're short on time or don't like to bake, pick up cupcakes at the store or bakery.

I like to have a variety of desserts on the table. A little something to please every one's taste buds.  I did make the chocolate covered Oreo's with edible glitter spiders. See below for how to make the chocolate covered Oreo's.

Cupcake toppers 

You can make your own tulle poms or order them in my shop until December 31, 2018.   Dress up store bought cupcakes with candy sprinkles, toppers and using liners that match the colours of your party.

How to make chocolate covered Oreo's 

I used an Oreo mold that had the spiders on it.  I melted black chocolate discs, painted the bottom of the mold and put it in the refrigerator to harden.  Once the chocolate was hardened I put the Oreo in the mold, painted more chocolate on top the Oreo and put back in the refrigerator to harden.  Once the chocolate was hardened I let them rest upside down until they fell out.  You might have to give them a little push but don't push too hard or you'll separate the chocolate top from the bottom.  I than took a small paint brush and painted edible glitter on the spider. 

Cookies 

Sugar cookies is one thing I always order for my parties.  I don't even attempt to make them.  There is so many great cookie artists out there.  It would take me forever to decorate sugar cookies and they wouldn't look nearly as pretty as when cookie crafters decorate them.

Look at that smooth icing job and spot on Halloween decorating skills. Yeah, mine wouldn't look anything like that.  I could learn how to decorate cookies like this. But I'd rather just support small cookie bakers.

Bubble bubble toil and trouble 

Bubbles, yes bubbles for adult parties. On a whim one party I had bubbles out. I mostly had them out for fun but my guests got so excited about them.  They all started blowing bubbles and we're having so much fun.  Little bottles of bubbles make great party favors, even for adult parties.

Check out the companion to this party- Witches Cocktail Party 

Shop this party-
Styled by Fizzy Party
Table Linen- Joanns 
Cake stands- Homegoods
Spell books, caramel apple trays, Styrofoam heads- Michaels 
Caramel apples- Krugers Farms
Oreo mold- Fancy Flours
Bubbles, lime green stands- Oriental Trading 
Cookies- Love Hope Cookies 

Witches Cocktail Hallowen Party

 Halloween parties are SO much easier when you have a theme. This Halloween, leave the men at home and host a witches only cocktail party.  

The rules of this party:

1. Women only. 
2. Witch costume required. 
3. Have fun. 

Etsy Shop is Closing

www.etsy.com/shop/fizzyparty

In 2013 I started a new venture and opened an etsy shop.  It all started with tulle wreaths I was creating for party bloggers to use in their parties.  I expanded the shop to include tulle poms, felt banners and glittery items.

I opened the shop because I like to craft, it's fun to see my items at peoples parties, you know  I love parties and it would be a way to make some money for Fizzy Party.

I've been fortunate that all my customers have been happy with items they've ordered and have received 5 star ratings from them all.

So why have I been struggling with the decision of whether to keep the shop open or close it?

• I've been told by other bloggers that it doesn't really fit and it's confusing because it doesn't match my blog. 
• The shop has been open for almost 5 years and I've made 77 sales. That's 15 sales a year. 
• The shop is the only place I make money for Fizzy Party and with just 15 sales a year, I'm not bringing in much money.  It covers my etsy fees and blog domain fees and that's about it. 
• In order to really have a successful shop you need to really work at it.  Pushing the shop consistently, adding new items weekly and having professional photos taken. 

I've been waffling back and forth between really focusing on the shop and pushing it hard, adding new items and re-doing all the photos or just closing it so I can focus on something else. If I keep the shop open I have to seriously push the shop which will eat into the time I have to bring you party inspiration.  If I close the shop I feel like it would open up space for new opportunities.  Is keeping the shop open holding me back from pursuing something I was meant to do with Fizzy Party?

I've been thinking this over for a year, longer than I should have.  I kept it open because all those 5 star ratings meant happy customers throwing fun parties and weddings.  I've decided to close the shop January 1, 2019.  I'm hoping to sell all my remaining inventory by years end.  So fair warning ;) you'll be seeing a lot more of my shop across social media until the shop closes.

Some of you may be wondering if I feel like I've failed with my etsy shop.  I really don't.  I know I didn't put as much effort into it as I should have to really make it a success.  I had fun crafting items for peoples parties and knowing lots of fun and memories were had at those parties.  I got to create things I enjoyed creating but it's time to close this door so another one can open.   And I'm not ruling out the possibility of opening the shop again with different items to offer.

Thank you to all the customers over the years.  I truly enjoyed making your items and was so thankful for every purchase made.

5 out of 5 sta

Halloween Party Treats

Halloween party treats shouldn't be hard to make. I'm here to show you some spooky cute treats for your Halloween dessert table that only look hard to make. 

To set a spooky Halloween dessert table use a dark table linen and cover that with gauze cloth.  On top of your table set out your easy Halloween treats.  Your guests will be impressed with your treats. Just don't tell them how easy they were to make. Pop over here for the witches cauldron popcorn.  

Serve up your drinks in beakers.  It adds an element of fun to your Halloween table.  I set the beakers on a tray to give it a bar element feel.  I filled my beakers with soda's and wine.  Alright, let's talk easy Halloween treats...

Now I know you've seen these white chocolate covered pretzel ghosts before.  I made these the super easy way though. Catch them and me on T.V. here.  When I've seen these ghost treats before people take pretzels, dip them in melted white chocolate and add eyes.  Oh no, make it so much easier on yourself.  

• Buy yogurt covered pretzels. 
• Dab a little frosting in the top holes of the pretzels
• Add some candy eyeballs on top of the frosting 
• Done

See how easy and time saving that was.  Layer some candy corn in a serving dish,  set the pretzel ghosts on top and serve. 

Look at that orange POP off the table. 

Here's why these Nutter Butter mummies are easy.  They don't look perfect and I don't care. When you see these all over the internet the wrappings are all thin and perfect looking. My wrappings are thicker. It adds character to them and honestly, you're guests are not going to notice that the mummies wrappings are not perfect. So dip your Nutter Butter's in the melted white chocolate and when you drizzle the melted chocolate over top for the wrappings, don't stress out if they come out thicker. And if you're guests think they look more like ghosts than mummies just go with it. 

When you make your Halloween treats are you going to:
A) Stress if they don't look perfect, point out all the flaws to your friends and not enjoy your party
Or
B) Are you going to just go with it, enjoy the compliments from your friends and have fun at the party? 

Graveyard Pudding

 Easy Graveyard Pudding Snack 

Don't serve up a boring dessert this Halloween. Make your pudding spooky this year with an easy graveyard pudding snack.  Perfect for when you're watching zombie movies. 

As you can see my Pinterest image is still not spot on. I'm working on it. If you have tips I'd love to hear them. 

I picked up this great serving piece at Target. It was one of those pieces that I almost didn't buy but I kept thinking about it. This is when my husband says, "oh would you just buy it." 😁  

This pudding is so easy to make and is especially fun for zombie movie night.  Make the pudding and set up a little graveyard scene before your friends come over. Your kids will think it's fun too.  Use some tombstones you can pick up at dollar stores for the backdrop, add a little moss you can get from craft stores or Halloween stores and nestle the pudding in it if you don't have a serving piece. 

For this pudding I made vanilla pudding mix and added Wilton Juniper Green icing color. The icing color comes in little pots and you can get them at craft stores. Add just a few drops of the icing color and mix it into the pudding mix. The icing color pots are concentrated so if you just put a bunch in and than mix it you might end up with a darker color than you wanted. 

After I mixed up the pudding I scooped it into plastic cups I got at a dollar store, topped it with whipped cream and than added the fun.  I put a Peeps tombstone, bloody bones from Target and eyeballs from Wilton on top the whipped cream. So easy and fun. 

I'm all about the little details when I set up a little party scene. If you noticed in the picture of the full scene I had a coffin, snakes and mice hidden in the moss. This adds to the graveyard theme and fun. 

What will you add to your Halloween pudding desserts?

Halloween Witches Brew Popcorn

Halloween Witches Brew Popcorn 

Did you catch my Halloween party tips? If you didn't I'll wait while you pop over and check them out. If you did, than you saw the popcorn on the table.  This popcorn is fun, easy and great for a Halloween movie night. Especially if the movie has a witch them. 

To give your table a more creepy look use a dark table linen and layer on top a gauze cloth found in the Halloween décor section of most stores. It comes with holes ripped in it already. 

Instead of serving the popcorn in a bowl, serve it in a cauldron.  You can find these inexpensively and when your party is over you can use it to pass out candy to trick-or-treaters. 

Place some smaller cauldrons in front of the larger one holding popcorn and fill it with candy.  Your guests can eat the candy separately or mix it into their popcorn.  Have you ever had candy corn with popcorn. Yum! The mix of salty and sweet is the perfect combination. Gummy frogs add to the witch theme and coconut Jelly Belly jelly beans look like spider eggs. 

Add some gummy brains and eyeballs to your cauldron full of popcorn for some spooky fun.  I picked these up at World Market.  

For more fun Halloween party tips watch my segment on Afternoon Live.

And be sure to come back this week because I have more easy Halloween treat tips. 

Halloween Movie Night Popcorn

Halloween Movie Night Popcorn Box Party 

#popcornboxparty2017

This year I'm taking party in Me and My Inklings popcorn box party.  I'm excited to see what everyone else came up with.

Popcorn and movies just go together and being Halloween, I like to invite friends over to watch some Halloween movies. 

I just love happy mail.  My popcorn box supplies arrived and it was filled with fun items from some companies I like to shop at.  Udderly Smooth provided some hand lotion, the softest recycled felt from the Kunin Group, World Market, Ellison, and Oriental Trading.  

I went with a spider theme for mine.  I cut out some Halloween spider themed paper in the shape of the popcorn box. Glued it to the box, added a spider egg's label and a few spider stickers.  

When I saw candy corn in our package of supplies I had to add it to the popcorn.  Have you ever tried this? It tastes really good. The combination of the salty and sweet. mmmm

It wouldn't be a Halloween party without a costume so I used the mask that was sent to us in our supplies and made it match the popcorn box. 

There are SO many creative boxes in this popcorn box party. Be sure to pop over and check them out.  Be sure to enter to win some great prizes. 

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