Carnival of Souls!

Halloween Party 2007! I can say with certainty - this year's party was the best so far. Our 5th Annual bash was a total smash hit! Before I dish on the evening, I must give praise to my friends. I love our friends. Everyone came in costume and brought a spooky dish to share - it is such a compliment that they go all out each year! So thank you everyone - you truly make my year. Now! Without further ado, allow me to delve right into the details...

Here is our invitation - our spooky carnival ticket! My sister and I came up with them when I went down to visit her in September. How rad are they?
Beings that I had a quasi-carnival theme, I wanted my house to have that 'circus' feel. Lots of stripes and odd touches. Here is some of my decor. The flash from the camera sort of takes away from the whole atmosphere we had going - but in order to document my genius, a flash was necessary (on my camera, anyway).

Our spooky raven kept an eye on things...

A few fotos of party central

For our treats, Cody and I made caramel apples using his family's famous caramel recipe - truly the most delicious caramel on the planet.
We also made cotton candy! You can't have a carnival without cotton candy!
We also filled metal buckets with ice and bottled sodas to refresh our frightening guests! We had a downright smorgasbord of delicious food - there was an array of cakes, monster cupcakes, caramel dip for apples, salad, shrimp platter, relish tray, chili cheese dip, tomato poppers and little smokies (a party must, in my book). Thanks to everyone for bringing the goods!

Just look at that spread...

Now - what does one wear to such an occasion? Here are the costumes!


Sadly, I wasn't able to get pictures of Jim and Heather or Adam and Ann in their costumes. Adam was a white trash dude - so hilarious! Ann came as a cat, quite the nimble little feline. Jim and Heather's costume took home one of the two prizes for 'Best Costume'! Jim wore regular clothes with a lobster bip, Heather wore an apron and oven mits, and their baby girl Stella was placed on a tray with green tissue paper and lemons for garnish...wearing a lobster costume! Oh my gosh, I died - it was the cutest thing ever. Heather promised to send me a picture, so when I get it I will post it! The 'Best Costume' prize was a huge bedazzled lollipop.

Jon and Britt as Deb and Napoleon - our other 'Best Costume' winners! Two years in a row!!

Grady and Shari - Hulk Hogan and Santa's Little Helper!

Mike and Joni - Pirates! Don't they look great? It was Mike's first year at our party...hopefully he doesn't think we're all crazy and will come again next year.

Trent and Angie - a Frog and the Wicked Witch. Yes...those are his lovely legs on display.

And finally...

How cool do we look? We were going for Lt. Dangle and Deputy Clementine Johnson from Reno 911. We've actually never seen the show, but we thought it would be funny - and it WAS!

Cody looked so awesome, he rocked that faux mustache.

After much mingling and filling our bellies with treats, we settled in to watch the music videos that we challenged our guests to make. Grady and Shari were the only ones who complied (aside from Cody and I), but their video ROCKED! It was so hilarious, they filmed a music video to "I wear my sun glasses at night" and it was quite possibly the funniest thing I have ever seen - we were all laughing our heads off and we gave them a huge round of applause! Naturally, they took home the prize.
Later we heard some ghost stories from Jon (he is the best storyteller) followed by some more eating and mingling until we finally called it a night around midnight. Whew! A fabulous night, I truly had the best time. And dare I say it, I'm already getting ideas for next year, so watch out! Happy Halloween!