All October posts are part of the Countdown to Halloween!
Halloweenie Roast is just a few days away! And judging by the annual stress dreams that no one comes to my party (or I forget to set up entirely) and gnawing feeling that I’m overlooking some important detail, I am right on schedule.
Okay, okay, so maybe that’s over-dramatic. I’ve been doing this party for eight years now, and I think the slight stress I feel comes from it all coming together too easily these days. When you’ve got a party planning processed honed, it makes for a super simple prep!
(Want to learn my secrets? Check out Killer Halloween Party.)
As I finish up party plans, I thought I’d give you guys a little peek at some of the ideas and projects I’ve been working on over the last few months.
If you want a first look at this year’s party, be sure you’re following me on Instagram! This Saturday I’ll be sharing photos and other goodies on my account and in the stories feed as I get everything finalized for Saturday night!
Then for a complete tour of the party before it hits the site, make sure you’re on my email list! Email subscribers will get to see it before anyone else. (They also got to see most of this sneak peek all the way back in August!)
Sneak Peek: Halloweenie Roast 2016
As you probably know by now, all of my Halloween parties have a theme.
This year’s theme is Tim Burton.

(That was too cute to NOT include!)
Since last November, I’ve been busy collecting ideas for Tim Burton parties on Pinterest (see how I use Pinterest to plan parties), then deciding which ones are the best fit for my party. My goal for this year’s decor is to incorporate small elements from some of my own favorite Tim Burton films into the evening.
(By the way, I’ve already had a secret Pinterest board going for my 2017 theme since May.)
Here’s how I’m doing that:
Halloweentown Graveyard
Since I live in the heart of the city and have no outdoor space in my little 1920s walkup, my parents are kind enough to let me crash their house for a weekend to host my party. I’m planning to turn their backyard into the Halloweentown graveyard in “The Nightmare Before Christmas”.
And it begins with a grand entrance!
This photo was my inspiration for the cemetery gates I created – you may have seen it in your Instagram stories on and off over the past month.
Since I don’t need my cemetery gates to last more than one night (and, quite frankly, have nowhere to store it), I decided to make mine out of cardboard boxes. My dad helped me build it, and we finished it up in mid-October.
It’s pretty awesome if I do say so myself! I’m excited to put it up on Saturday and see everyone’s reactions.
By the way, I built the whole thing for under $15. Yes, really. I’ll be posting a DIY on how to make your own very soon.
Striped Trees
My main party colors will be black and white, with touches of purple for a little pop. To reinforce that in the decor (and since my party is mostly outdoors around a fire pit), I’m doing this on some of the trees:
Mine will be minus on giant spider, but I may drape some purple crepe paper or lights in the trees to make my cemetery feel like a Tim Burton wonderland!
This is also another DIY post that will be coming your way soon – I’m making this happen for less than $5!
Invitation
Seeing as how I’m modeling my party setting after “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, I decided it was only appropriate to keep the invitation within that theme.
I found this Jack Skellington invitation on Pinterest from a now defunct Etsy shop and made my own version:

- The thing that got me was the subtle coffin shape. So, so cool.
You can see my complete creation process here and learn how I made my custom black and white envelopes!
Bettlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!
I also found these flyers on Pinterest and fell in love with them. I printed off my own to tack up all over the fence and garage.
You know, just in case a friend needs a bio-exorcist for something! I’m nothing if not a helpful friend like that.
Witches’ Brew 2016
Here’s a special bonus just for blog readers that didn’t get included in the original email! I finally landed on a witches brew recipe for this year after finding this image on Pinterest:
Jennifer of showmetheyummy.com calls it a Devil’s Margarita. I’m using the red wine as inspiration, putting my own spin on the recipe and calling it a Beetlejuice Margarita. I think we’ll have a lot of fun with this one!
My Costume
And, of course, no Halloweentown cemetery party would be complete without Jack Skellington to host.
This year for Halloween, I’m going as Lady Skellington and using this dress as my inspiration:

Mine won’t look exactly like this, and I’m still keeping the final product under wraps…but it is AMAZING. My mom was generous enough to make it for me, and it is incredible. I can’t wait to wear it!
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All right – time to get back to party prep work! The custom Tim Burton playlist I’m working on won’t mix itself.
This is Halloween,








Kayla Mal
Love it all!!! I can’t wait to see your costume, the one you showed looks amazing!!!!
Miranda | Spooky Little Halloween
Thank you!! I didn’t go quite that Victorian-looking with mine, but it’s fun. :)
Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy
Obsessed with this! Hope you love the margarita! :)
Miranda | Spooky Little Halloween
It was amazing!! I ended up doing my own take on the margarita recipe, but your layering idea was brilliant.