Halloween Costume and Party Ideas - Mystery Inc.

Jinkies!

We had a GREAT time planning this party.   Our inspiration came from one of our little buddies, who at the time was a HUGE Scooby-Doo fan.   

We were most fortunate with only one trip to the thrift store to find the purple dress for Daphne and the sweater and skirt for Velma.    When I couldn't find the right shade of orange knee socks for Velma, a friend suggested soccer socks from a sporting goods store.   Great idea, and I still use them when I run in cool temps.    A couple of wigs and glasses from Walmart finished the girls' costumes.  The guys were a bit easier, with only having to fashion an ascot from a piece of red material.  Then there was Scooby, you know, the one that is hard to find a costume for?

We opted to just dress him in all brown and stick some black spots cut from felt on his back and make a mask.   His collar was made from ribbon and printout of Scooby's tag.  I found a clipart of Scooby's face on the internet and printed it off full size on a sheet of paper.   I cut that out, and traced it onto brown felt and onto foam board.   I attached the felt to the board and outlined the face with a black Sharpie and added the nose and eyebrows which were made from black felt.     Lastly, I borrowed some stretch cord from my crafty niece and stapled it onto each side.  Voila!  We had a Scooby Mask for a big ol' head.  

And not to be left out, we did have a beanie-sized Scooby in DH's pocket as Scrappy-Doo!

Menu:

We had the usual party foods, and added a few "scary named" items:

Mummy Dogs

Witches Brooms

Monster Eyes

Monster Mix

and of course, we had to have some Scooby Snacks with the Pumpkin Fluff Dip.

This was the first year that I actually put together a menu for the table.  And I made sure to get a photo of it so that I can remember what we had. 

 I just used a piece of Halloween-y scrapbook paper inside of a stand-alone plastic 8x10 frame from Walmart, and then write everything on the frame with a dry erase marker.   It makes last minute changes a breeze!

Activities:

We ran a Scooby-Doo DVD with several episodes on the TV for those who would actually sit still and watch.   Mostly, they just entertained themselves.

Decorations:

I really, really, REALLY wanted to deck out my in-laws' minivan as the Mystery Machine, but there was not enough time or resources.  Maybe next time.   We just kept it simple with our reusable pumpkins and a couple of door hangers.  I did add these jar lanterns outside with LED candles since our solar lights were not working well.

But wait - the Scooby cast only had 5 folks.  What happened to our 6th host?

Sticking with a book theme, she chose to channel her inner Katniss. 

 

 May the odds of a happy Halloween be ever in your favor.