Halloween is one of my favourite holidays. Pretty much as soon as we bought our home in France, I knew I wanted to turn it into a haunted house and throw a big Halloween party.
Unlike in the US, celebrating Halloween isn’t commonplace in France. So I felt like I’d won the lottery when I discovered that, for the past couple of years, the Mums from Rosie’s school have organized a Halloween event for all the kids in the area. What are the chances that we’d end up somewhere that has such an active and enthusiastic community of parents? I’m counting my lucky stars, and so happy to be able to get involved and help out.
I love this Halloween display, with the hanging garlic and all the potions and magical herbs. It was created by a Mum, for a free Halloween event that we attended in a nearby village.
Trick or treating isn’t mainstream here either. In our village, for example, it has to be organized with everyone in the community. To get the ball rolling, my friend and I have distributed flyers to all the houses, suggesting that they put a pumpkin or ribbon on their letter box if they want to participate, and give out sweets to the children, on October 31st.
In order to make sure the kids knew what was happening, we asked the teachers at Rosie’s school if we could include an information flyer in every student’s backpack on the last day of school. We have invited all the local kids to meet us at the village town hall, in costume, for snacks and glow-in-the-dark tattoos (along with mulled wine for the parents), before heading out as a group to trick or treat. Afterwards, we have planned a party at our house.
We have no idea how many people will show up, but we’re excited to see what happens! These are some of the ideas we’re thinking about for the party...
The Buffet…
Even though I know it’s gross, I can’t get away from serving our guests a skeleton charcuterie board. How great are those skeleton rats nibbling on the cheese? I also love the simplicity of a cauldron of popcorn and, being in France, I think a few monster macaroons are a must.
Games…
We’re planning a spooky ‘Halloween Hunt’ outside, where the children will get clues that take them around the garden, collecting bones, until they discover the prize - a ghost pinata. Throughout the hunt, the kids will encounter glow in the dark spiders, homemade slime, gravestones, ghosts and ghouls. Fingers crossed it doesn’t rain!
Back in the house, we’ll have a spooky photo booth set up, along with a box of dress-up clothes and some gruesome costume accessories.
Our photo
Decorations…
In advance of the party we’re hosting a pumpkin carving evening, to get a head start on the decorations. My friend has also made some awesome Harry Potter style broomsticks, and I’ll be stringing up lots of bats and spiders.
Hilarious butternut squash, decorated for Halloween by some locals in a nearby village. I love the one with the ginger nose, that looks like a huge wart.
Costumes…
Justin is dressing up as an enormous inflatable pumpkin, Rosie is dressing up as a bunny, and I’m going to be a Day of the Dead bride.