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pastel halloween party

Even though Halloween and trick-or-treating aren’t really a big thing in New Zealand, last year, we decided not to let that stop us from our usual fabulous, group costume-y, October 31st festivities.

Enter the most fabulous pastel Halloween party ever! Since we don’t really do scary or gory (which was 99% of the ‘halloween party decor’ available here), this party was heavy on the use-what-we-can-find elements.

Hence 300 pastel balloons and the honeycomb balls that have made appearances at more parties that I can count- ha!

(Sidenote- I’m sure y’all know about this by now, but if you don’t- BALLOON TAPE. Y’all, it makes balloon arches and installations about 3000% easier. For real- GAME CHANGER.)

super easy pastel halloween party

And, of course, all sorts of letterboards and light up signs and balloon letters. (“Scary as” is a twist on the popular kiwi phrase “sweet as.”)

Piper and I also made a rainbow of tassels and added eyes for ‘ghosts’…

… and some pom pom ‘pumpkins’ to use as treat toppers.

Add in a “Pick Your Poison” station with a variety of flavored waters (love love LOVING the Hearth & Home cart that I shipped to myself in our container… it will make every party from now on cuter).

We added ginger beer and Fanta to the lineup later in the evening (and Piper stood behind the cart and helped serve everyone so that it wasn’t a disaster of sugar-y mess) and the whole thing was a huge hit.

Adam was stateside a couple weeks before Halloween and brought back a suitcase filled with a variety of candy corns (Burke and Pi love the pumpkin shaped candy corns!) and Reese’s pumpkins (the best Halloween treat of all time) to add to a pile of orange candies I found here for Halloween treat grazing platters.

The kids also made trays of cute themed food (let’s take a minute to pause and be thankful for big kids that help with party food!?! I don’t know if I even knew to hope for this day, but Burke and Pi did SO MUCH to help with this little party)! I’ll put together a whole post with their awesome Halloween Party food ideas…

We added candy eyeballs to a variety of treats for a dessert table (ok, mostly Burke added candy eyeballs… not really “we” added candy eyeballs).

Our favorite? THE MOANA COSTUMES. And the cutest Bohden-Maui you ever did see. (I need to put together a whole post stat).

pastel halloween party

And also- introducing our kiwi friends to the glory of Halloween (and treats like Reese’s pumpkins and candy corns)! And having our home and back yard filled with friends was pretty great as well!

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DIY pumpkin vases

A couple years ago, (ok, I just looked at the date, and it was EIGHT years ago, y’all- how have we even been blogging that long!?!) we had an excess of pumpkins, and some fun hostessing to do, and we made a whole line of pumpkin vases! I have used the “pumpkin vase” trick almost […]

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how to make pumpkin juice (harry potter inspired)

There’s a day coming when I put together the Harry Potter Party post, y’all, and share all the pictures of all the festive HP goodness. That day is coming- I promise! But also, I realized that the Pumpkin Juice we served at said Harry Potter party is perfect for fall. (Or the spring weather we’ve […]

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family halloween costumes- easy wizard of oz costumes

Like most great family traditions, our Family Theme Halloween Costume tradition wasn’t really something we set out to do. When Burke and Pi were little, Burke would choose his costume, and then a costume for Piper to coordinate (he was a horse and she was his cowgirl, then he was a squid and she was […]

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iced pumpkin spice lattes for a crowd

In honor of fall in Texas (aka- the calendar reads “October” but we could still pool most days), this recipe must be shared. I actually drink iced coffee year round, so Pumpkin Spice Lattes over ice are right up my alley. But this recipe is especially fitting for my weird-fall-weather (and for anywhere else that […]

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easy star wars costumes (DIY and no sew!)

I love sewing Halloween costumes! But sometimes you just moved across the ocean and you sold your sewing machine in Saipan and you closed on your house on Halloween morning (like us, last year!) and all you need for Halloween costumes is EASY and NO SEW. These Starwars costumes are both. NO SEW LUKE SKYWALKER […]

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grace upon grace

I have two long running themes in my life (aka- lessons that I keep learning over and over and over again). The first is that God’s way is always better. And the second is that there is grace and redemption and blessing in every single season- on mountain tops and in valleys, in seasons of […]

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free printable thanksgiving leftover labels

Even though I can’t quite believe Thanksgiving is almost upon us (the tropical paradise weather isn’t helping me recalibrate), it is! And I love Thanksgiving! And I really love leftovers! Hence the need for some new Thanksgiving leftover labels. Truth be told, our Thanksgiving this year is going to be kind of funny- we’re spending […]

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how to put together a warm beverage station

Now I know I’ve already mentioned that you need to add a Pie Bar to your lineup for Thanksgiving greatness. And I know this is another thing. And it’s Thanksgiving (not exactly the lowest maintenance holiday in the world). But guys. You NEED this. And you can put it together in advance, with zero work […]