'Tis the season to be gory! Where has the year gone? I swear it was only a few months since last year's Halloween party. This year's Halloween party was going to be a fun collaboration between my friend Valentina and I! Take a peek into our fun, gory and deeelicious Stranger Things Halloween party!
Halloween Recipe Quicklinks
Click here for Owl Chocolate Dipped Apples Recipe
Click here for Rotting Ogre's Teeth Recipe
Click here for Day of the Dead Cupcake Recipe
Click here for Pumpkin Spice Eggos Waffles Recipe
Click here for Witches Finger Chicken Pot Pie Recipe
Click here for Rotten Raspberry Pie with Edible Flies_
It all started out as a conversation between Valentina and I about our mutual love of the 80's inspired show Stranger Things. We had planned to hold a Stranger Things party together in November but we decided to pool our efforts to do Halloween together with an 80's Stranger Things theme.
Valentina was a dream to collaborate with. She is a very visual and artistic person (she's an artist) so she did things I had no idea how to. Plus she is super easy going too because when I start planning things, I get a bit crazy.
I really am my own worst enemy. I think at this stage in my life I have to examine my need to excel and be "extra". Even three weeks before the Hallowe'en party I was so utterly exhausted from travelling. Quite honestly I've been less than delightful to be around. I get stressed and try and take on a bit too much.
It all started with my big cake. Every year I try and make something big. This year I decided that I would try my hand at doing two new things: a rice krispies cake and using modelling chocolate, both entirely new concepts to me. Those more sensible or risk averse would already hear the scary music but not I. With a confidence that exceeded my skills I set out to make a 3D Demogorgon head!
I was this old when I realised it's just too warm and humid in Sydney to do rice krispies cakes so this drooped like a demon (appropriate). It's all a matter of temperature: rice krispies and modelling chocolate set nice and hard in the fridge but once you cover them with fondant then it becomes a problem as you can't put fondant in the fridge. But you need fondant to colour and decorate it so let's just chalk this up to a horribly stressful experience that I don't care to repeat and won't give you instructions for because then you'll just kill me if you ever make it.
My nerves were already on tenterhooks after finishing the Demogorgon cake so when I showed Mr NQN my rotting ogre's teeth made of chocolate chip cookies, chocolate and toasted mini marshmallow teeth and Mr NQN called it "cute", I responded with an outraged, "Cute? CUTE?? HOW DARE YOU!!".
My madness also extended to my family. "Do you have a basket like one where you would find a cobra?" I asked my parents. I'm pretty sure they still have no idea what I do for a living and if anyone had asked them they'd say, "She makes cobras."
Mercifully I did have a couple of good days in the kitchen and I made a super easy "Witch's finger pie" after asking the woman at the butcher's to give me "The prettiest, most witch like chicken's feet". I order strange things all the time from them so she didn't bat an eyelid and searched through the pile for the ones with the best nails.
A few days before the party Valentina and her lovely daughter Katie (an event planner!) joined Mr NQN and I at The Party People in Drummoyne where we always get our props because they have the absolute best range of Halloween decor (and Melbourne peeps, they've got a new pop up this year at Westfield Knox!). I literally had 15 minutes before they closed to buy my costume so I quickly changed in and out.
Valentina, her husband Peter and Katie helped out my stress levels by decorating their house and on the day we were ready early! The bathroom is always one of my favourite rooms because there is so much scope for creepiness!
We felt like we were 10 year old kids waiting for our friends to show up for our birthday party. There was so much excitement in the air that we could have harnessed electricity.
This was the only costume that I liked (I was hoping that there would be a Robyn Scoops Troop outfit) so I did my make up Day of the Dead style and that was it! The scary thing is that my makeup is only about 30% different from what it normally looks like LOL.
In terms of the cast of Hawkins, Indiana we had three Elevens: Valentina, Julie and Ivy who each came as Eleven during a different season. Valentina came as Eleven in Season 1 and Peter was one of the demogorgons.
We counted three demogorgons including one junior demogorgon. We had three members of the Scoops Troop, one Sheriff Hopper, one Joyce as well as one Max and one Dustin.
Daniela and Lutz came as Steve and Robyn with hand made costumes! I actually thought his black eye was real but it's make up.
Miss America came as Donald Trump (and he was not the only one)!
Queen Viv was the Queen of the South! I thought she was Melania at first but then she pointed out the fake gun in her bra.
Did you know that Mrs Wheeler and Sheriff Hopper have a thing going on?
Julie came as Eleven from Season 2 (and brought along a pineapple hedgehog).
Monica came as Villanelle from Killing Eve while Marco was Walter White from Breaking Bad. Dream TV crossover anyone?
Tina came as a witch complete with cat! Tina was at first a bit reluctant to dress up but Valentina told her that she needed to because honestly the people that feel the most awkward are the ones that don't dress up!
Ivy came as Eleven in Season 3 and she brought all the fixin's for S'mores. Ryan was travelling but she borrowed his lederhosen so he was represented.
Garth (who came without Nina as she was in Tasmania with her mother) even did a quick costume change during the night!
Mr NQN came as Steve "The Hair" Harrington from the Scoops Troop. I told him that he couldn't cut his hair because it was a serious role!
Valentina's son Will and his girlfriend Caitlin were there. Valentina tried to get him to dress up as Billy from Stranger Things but that was a firm no. She did however convince him to put up Wanted pics for her around their street!
JY came as Kim Jong Un and Sash came as Donald Trump-the most bizarre bromance of the year!
Annette arrived as the Eggo's girl with Eggos stuck to her dress!
Mr NQN's mother, sister and kids arrived 2 hours late-they have a very casual relationship with time! They came, ate fruit, put out hummus and Finn Crisp and then left. Very Elliott.
Everyone brought their favourite 80's food-there were three French onion dips and they were DELICIOUS! Can we revive French onion dip? There was also an untold amount of cob loaves and food on skewers and pineapples.
So many toothpicks!
Valentina's meatballs with flag toothpicks she made
Valentina also handed out lucky door prizes of Stranger Things mugs and t-shirts!! Every year I think that we can't possibly have more fun and yet we manage to. I've included the recipes for the food below so please let me know if you make any of the dishes and tag me on your Halloween creations on social media!
So tell me Dear Reader, will you be celebrating Halloween this year? Do you have a problem being extra all the time?
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