I love planning parties; but unfortunately, I often don't have the room in my budget to host one. And seeing as times are tough for everyone, now, I thought it might be useful to share some of my ideas on $100-budget parties for those spooky hosts who want to stretch each dime further!
The theme I play with the most in my head is the idea of dark elegance met with classic Halloween charm. To illustrate my ideas, I'll include photos found throughout the web with sources linked for convenience. Most of these links can also be found on my Halloween board! Here are a couple of photos to give you an idea of the over all feel I'm looking to find for this theme:
To reach a good, classy level of elegance, I chose my base color as black and then will accent it with my choice of spooky color! My natural choice in this theme will be purple/violet, as it's my favorite color. The theme above gives a sample of this idea with the accent color/s in various hues of orange.
Here's the spooky aspect! A Halloween party isn't complete without a few crows, skulls, and candy! I would keep these decor items at a minimum, embracing simplicity and following nature (kind of--who finds a crow actually posing next to a skull in real life?!).
While shopping for my party decor, I am most likely to head to the store with the lowest prices first. I've separated my $100 party budget 60/40: $60 will go to the food and $40 will go to decor. If you already have the decor you need, you can always move money where you prefer. With this theme, I'm assuming that most people won't have at least half of what they need, just to be safe in my assumptions with budgeting. Also, I would be more likely to dedicate more of the budget to food if this is a sit-down dinner. I like a party with more natural flow, so I'm choosing simple hors d'oeuvres that can be self-served onto small plates and walked around with.
The store with the cheapest prices around here (Utah, USA) is Dollar Tree, so I've gone to their website to get an understanding of what they sell in regards to disposable plates, cups, etc. I'm not going too fancy on the plates, since they're just going to get thrown away. This is why I want them to be black--even paper can seem classy in a cloak of black! Here is my shopping list for Dollar Tree:
Plates, Black, 18 ct., 2 packages, $2
Cups, 1 Purple & 2 Black, 12 ct., 3 packages, $3
Napkins, Purple, 24 ct., 2 packages, $2
Table cover, Black, $1
Dollar Tree Total: $8
I would then move on to Zurchers, which is a (fairly) local discount party outlet. Comparable prices may be found at your local party stores. I'm heading to Zurchers for the higher quality and/or specialized items on my list. They sell packages of clear, elegant cocktail forks that would be perfect for the food items that aren't quite meant for fingers. Also, while wandering and brainstorming throughout their site, I got the idea to use Krinkle Shred in purple and black as an interesting texture to sprinkle around plates of food and decorations. It's typically meant for gift wrapping, which is why it's found on that aisle in the store; but I love the fun little shapes the thin strips of crinkled paper makes. My Zurchers shopping list is as follows:
Mini Cocktail Forks, Clear, 20 ct., $3.77
Krinkle Shred, 1 Purple & 1 Black, 2 oz. ea., $3.54
Zurchers Total: $7.31
At this point, I'm set on food decor items at $15. 31, which means the remaining $24.69 will be dedicated to aesthetics!
First, I'm focusing on the stuff that will create a backdrop for the more flashy decorations. I'll want creepy cloth and black spiderwebs to get some depth and a variety of texture. Creepy cloth is surprisingly pricey at most places (seriously? It's just a bunch of tangled up threads...oh well, I guess); however I did find a kind of cheap price for it through this link. I would also suggest making your own with old sheets, as well, as 5 feet of creepy cloth for $2 is a bit ridiculous in my opinion. Regardless, if I was feeling lazy that day, I would go out and buy it--about 3-5 packages (so, I'm spending $6-$10).
On that same site, I found equally cheap (and I say cheap, this time, because it's actually a great price for webbing) brown spiderweb. I know I initially mentioned that I would be going for black; but when I've found such a good price and I plan on the room being dark, anyway, it's a go for the brown! These are also $2 each, and I would grab 3 of them. So, I'm looking at spending between $12 and $16 on the straight-from-the-store stuff, which will leave my budget at around $8-$12--just enough for a fun, at-home project!
When it comes to choosing the more flashy decor for creating ambience, I've found that hand making decor can be much more fun and efficient for Halloween parties because most store bought Halloween decor will need doctoring, anyway. I also like to have full control of the quality and design of my more eye-catching decorations. This gives me the opportunity to put my personality and the personalities of those attending the party into the decor, which is a neat touch to a party, I think.
Because these items are hand made, I can't suggest too heavily what to make and how to make it; but I can give you an idea of what I would make:
These candlesticks are pretty sweet and could potentially be a very cheap project. This is something that can easily be found at either garage sales or thrift stores. Any tall candle holder works as long as the surface texture allows for paint or at least sanding. I would also look for beat up-looking dining room chairs--use the legs for candle holders and find a clever use for the seat and back parts.
Instead of the orbs on top, I would like to add platforms so I can set decor and/or tea lights on them. I initially liked the idea of pillar candles atop these lovely stands; but after a bit of research, I learned that pillar candles are crazy expensive. So, I got creative and realized that tea lights (tea lights on sale and fancy tea lights) would create a better ambient lighting, anyway! Be sure to place anything flammable a good enough distance from the flames of the tea lights (we want terror at this party but not that much terror). Flammable items include but aren't limited to cobweb, creepy fabric, any banners, model crows, and your friend's afro wig.
By this time, I'd say my decor budget is pretty much spent! I'll be moving onto the food budget over the next couple of days, which I will be sharing once it's figured out! Stay tuned, dear friends; and we'll see where the conclusion of the Ele-Gaunt party theme will lead us!
Thanks for reading!
STAY SPOOKY
