Hello my pretties! It's time for this year's annual Halloween party and this year's was a doozy and the best yet! Held at a historic Cemetery Lodge the atmosphere was pure electric- from the wild thunderstorms above to the spooky 13 items to the party guests that dressed like it was the last hurrah! And check out some of these easy, last minute Halloween food ideas for the big day tomorrow!
Halloween Recipe Quicklinks
Click here for Tarantula Cheese Ball Recipe
Click here for Voodoo doll hand pies
Click here for Werewolf cupcakes_
Click here for Ouija Board Cake
Click here for Frog spawn drink_
Click here for Face pie
Click here for Scared tacos_
Click here for Skull sandwiches
Click here for Brain chocolate peanut butter truffles
Click here for Marzipan teeth
For the last 10 years worth of Halloween parties, it has never rained for my Halloween party - ever. But this year the rain would prove to be my nemesis as well as a blessing. If you were in Sydney at the time, chances were you were drenched in the rain or at least hiding from the flash foods and lightning.
It was all happening at Cemetery Lodge where I was holed up decorating and putting out food. There was a fire that blocked up the main street, the royal visit had closed off the harbour tunnel and the thunder grumbled outside the spooky little cottage.
"What if everyone cancels?" I said to Mr NQN. My phone buzzed constantly. Friends giving me weather updates-I'm sure trying to be helpful but only adding to the stress because I had been checking the forecast every 10 minutes myself.
The messages read:
"Looks like rain...And thunder"
"We are running really late and Garth just dropped all the beers on the kitchen floor so now he has to clean it up"
"Headed your way! Had a bit of costume issue"
"I can't eat anything as I'm on an elimination diet" (that was an Elliott ;) )
I pictured myself sitting in my outfit with Mr NQN at my side, just the two of us waiting for guests for an hour. But then people started arriving - early no less!
Guests marvelled at lovely little cottage attached to cemetery. It was built in 1848 and was where the cemetery worker and his family lived-the side door is even where the bodies would be wheeled in to his office!
It has now been transformed into a cosy home by the lovely tenants and it is warm and full of colours. There's a community garden to the side and chickens that lay eggs as well as the world's oldest bunny.
It has a kooky charm to it and I was honoured to have my party there. I transformed the space to become spooky with decorations from The Party People, my favourite party shop because their Halloween selection is incredible!
Food-wise, because I was warned that the oven was a bit dodgy, I kept to things that could be made ahead of time and didn't need to be heated.
I get so excited every year to make Halloween food that I have a little draft of items that I add to throughout the year. I've already got 3 Halloween food ideas for next year!
This was my costume this year. I decided to match with an item that I had made and came as a voodoo doll. The added bonus is that the makeup was super quick to do and required just 5 minutes with eyeliner and eyeshadow. I drew on stitches with the eyeliner and made one button eye and I was done!
The first to arrive were the Day of the Dead family with Viggo, Louise and baby Henry. He was born on Halloween last year so we dubbed him Halloween Henry!
Then came Araluen and her daughter Aura who came as Miss Havisham and Estella. Araluen loves dress up and had most of the outfit already-the skirt she found at the local Vinnies shop!
Tuulikki arrived with them (by the way they caught a bus dressed like this and she reported no odd looks). She came as an eccentric witch. She, like her son Mr NQN hates photos and liked being behind a mask!
Oh and here is Mr NQN! He was a bit worried that nobody would recognise his costume. Can you guess who he is? Here's a quote to help you, "Oh hi Mark!"
My sometime vegetarian friend Laura came as a Day of the Dead skeleton and brought me some gorgeous dark red roses. She knows the way to my heart!
And then Ivy and Ryan arrived. I thought that they might come as Donald and Melania (because terrifying!) but she came as Carrie and he came as Pennywise with an absolutely terrifying mask that freaked out a lot of people. What is it about clowns?
Then JY and Ben arrived as Crazy Rich Asians-how inspired and current pop culture!
Then we had not one but two Egyptians arrive. The first was Tania who came as a regal Nefertiti. And then I got a message from Queen Viv. Now cemetery lodge isn't the easiest to find so I gave everyone a map and everyone found it just fine but you know who is going to be the person that gets lost finding it? Yup our dear Queen Viv.
"Lorraine, where are you?" she said worriedly on her voicemail. She entered wearing her home made mummy outfit that she made using strips of painting sheet. Hers was the outfit that everyone wanted to own and when she told people that she was taking it to the Salvos afterwards there was a mini stampede for who would get it.
One of the most spectacular entrances was Amaya, Laporello and their kids Jett and Finn who came as Star Wars characters. They always make such an effort for Halloween and I was so impressed at how much effort they had gone to. Finn's RED2 even had light up buttons and sound!
Nina and Garth were not too far behind. She came as a Evil Countess and he came as the Joker-because she loves anything Batman related and I think she liked the costume more than he did!
The last to arrive were Girl Next Door and Baz who came as Instagram hashtags. There were some notable absences-Miss America has started a new job doing shift work and he was upset that he couldn't make it because he was even more prepared with this costume than ever.
Others like Julie and Lou and her family couldn't come due to health reasons but I was so excited to have my nearest and dearest and most fun friends and family with me on the night.
Time really flew-it was as though it was going at warp speed. People devoured the food and talked-there is one common element to this Halloween party and that is everyone is so much fun and easy going and friendly. People that come alone still have a great time because everyone is so welcoming.
It then came time for Halloween charades, a tradition at these parties. We split into two groups and wrote our list of terrifying things which was a mix of horror films, current affairs and scary people (eg shirtless Putin riding on horseback). It was so much fun that JY started to get an asthma attack from laughing so much but Laura had a ventolin inhaler on her so that fixed it up straight away! Phew!
The Finn piped up. Could he have a go at charades? I think we might have a little ghoul in the making here!
Then the last hardcore people all adjourned to the nearby cemetery. It was perfectly still, traces of the earlier thunderstorm gone. It was deathly and surprisingly quiet given that busy King Street was just a couple of streets away. Laura took out star shaped sparklers and Tania told us stories about the first fleet graves that lay here.
It was almost midnight when Queen Viv said "I must disappear back into my crypt!" And with that we bid her and each of the party guests goodbye only to learn later that some of my gruesome party guests had to escape the cemetery by climbing over the walls (a sight which I would have loved to have seen!). Queen Viv reported the next day: "Passersby barely interested. So Newtown!"
And without further ado here are the recipes below!
So tell me Dear Reader, are you terrified of clowns? And could you guess Mr NQN's costume? And would you be scared if you saw someone scary climbing over a cemetery wall?
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