Ethan's Spooky Boo-tique GRAND OPENING

Phew! What a crazy busy last couple of days, but well worth every second spent. Today, we celebrated my son's fifth birthday with a bunch of his friends right here at home.  Previously I have led up to the making of the bootique and now I can finally reviel it to you! After seeing the sweet shoppe that was designed by Linnette over at Paperglitter and checking out her photos she posted I was able to draft Ethan's very own store front... BUT in Halloween decor to compliment his costume party.

So, here it is... a REAL party, with bootique toppling surprises {just once, and by my son!} The stand survived to be the highlight of the party. 

As per usual, I was really gung-ho on making the treats for the dessert buffet following guidelines drawn by the kids as what to have and what not to have.

There were...franken-mallows...

 iced sugar spookies...

rainbow spider jell-o...

 monster mouths...

 chocolate crunchy eyeball pops, shock-a-lot cupcakes...oh yeah, and Frankenstien cake {vanilla with a twist}. 

Instead of the traditional white cake {because that is SUPER blah-blah boring!} we spiced it up and made it marblized orange and purple! Look at his smug little grin, as if he's planning something clever for halloween tomorrow night :)    The backdrop was those giant sugar cookie lollipops I posted about previously too. I rigged them up using a chunk of waste 2 x 4 I found in our basement, drilled some holes just slightly larger than required to allow for the pops to be anchored for standing. Good an' sturdy, worked like a cheap charm!  After the construction episode I wrapped it up in black left over paper to match the decor and now I have a board ready to use for any other party we do! 

All these sweets...we need a little something to wash it all down with. Well, how about a glass of Spider Sludge, Kitty Cola, Vamp Blood or Boogie Juice clevery disguised Kool-aid in some upcycled wine bottles and discount labels from our local Michaels craft store.

Enough about the treats, this party was planned as an interactive event!  The participants played games {like pin the patch on the pirate, candy corn toss}, listened to spooky stories, completed arts and crafts and in return earned monster money to spend at Ethan's Spooky Bootique!  Up for grabs was all the loot for the goody bags hand picked by each child.

and who knew? Gumballs make great votive candle accents!

I can't wait to plan again, I've a bit of a break {at least for my kids} before I'll need to dream up the next concept, but after today I think I may get a request or two to assist fellow classmates parents at planning their kids parties :)  Next up, The Christmas Craft Sale Season...I think tomorrow may be a different kind of baking.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!

Until Then,

Oh yeah and one more note...throughout the planning process I had set a budget for myself. I CAME IN UNDER BUDGET!!!! {my budget, not my husbands}  This WHOLE party {and I mean EVERYTHING} was done for $125.00, roughly $10.50 per child.  I thought this was pretty good!