Every year we have a Halloween party (well for at least the past 5 years)...when we were actually official Haunted House owners (previously), we didn't have the time to do much around our house or for our kids at all (one of the many reasons for our Hiatus in the haunted industry biz)...but we are definitely enjoying that time of year with our kids and family friends now. The only thing we are having a difficult time doing is housing everybody! It's also very hard to narrow it down like we have to. I think we need to figure out how we can make this thing global next year, LOL. Until then, here are some pics of our fun night. Allan and the missionaries in our area scared the kiddies with the backyard haunt....
They also worked the touch and feel table, LOL. When looking at the pictures of kids screaming by a table, it was when they touched the "witches hand" and were greeted by a moving, grabbing hand...very funny stuff! Some other things they got to feel: "Cat's Eyes", "Dried Maggots", "Cockroaches", "Bat Bones", "Monster Flesh", "Ghostly Gas", "Ghoul Guts", "Werewolf fur" and more! If you think you know what they were ACTUALLY feeling, comment below and I'll tell ya if you are right! :)
We played lots of games like the "Hand Toss" where they actually threw fake hands of all types in a witches cauldron,
Pin the eye on the Monster, Count the candy, sort the candy, musical gift exchange and Halloween Pictionary! I set up a spot in my in-home Photography Studio to take spooky Halloween Portraits of everyone in their costumes for the year. Much cooler than school photos each year, LOL....Below are the ones of my family.
I think my favorite portrait of the night was Justin's (a family friend). Not sure if it is because I have always been a "Freddy" fan, or if it is the way the light spills just so across his face and glove. Either way, I think about this one first when I think of all the portraits I took that night. :)
For those of you wanting to know how I got the spooky, dramatic lighting for these, I just used 2 studio lights in my in-home studio, a black backdrop and an diffusion umbrella. The umbrella was placed to the subject left side to allow the light to "spill" across one side of the subject. The other light was placed just behind them...to give them the rim light they needed as to not blend in with the background (especially the all black costumes such as Logan..the Grim Reaper). Just let me know if you need more details or maybe a pull back shot for these :).
The Grab bags were loads of fun as witches broomsticks that I made from sticks around the yard and brown paper lunch bags (I love me some Martha {Stewart} and thanks so much for the idea...but this one can be handmade {DIY} and the kits just are not a necessity).
Comment below if you have any questions on how to make them or anything else regarding the party...(Touch and Feel table, spooky portraits, recipes and how we manage the games with 28 kids in our house ;)...we are getting close to mastering the flow ;). Hope everyone had a GREAT Halloween and THANK YOU to those who came and enjoyed the festivities with us. We Heart U! To view the complete gallery of images taken that day, go here.
