Yes, people here know what Halloween is, and the kids even learn about some Halloween traditions in school, but the unique spirit and practice of the holiday is completely absent. There are no jack-o-laterns on porches, no corn mazes or haunted houses, very few decorations can be found in stores, no annual Halloween parties, and no kids dressed up in costumes going trick-or-treating (full disclosure: There is a holiday in February where kids dress up and sing for candy at shops, but I was here for it this year and it's NOT the same).
So you can imagine how delighted I was when R wanted to throw a party this year for her friends. Since no one had ever hosted a Halloween party before, I became the official expert in residence. Creating a Halloween party with almost no pre-made resources? Challenge accepted.
Sugar cookie "witch fingers"? Check. (Also served, various worm and intestine-like gummy candy, chips, and mummy hotdogs.)
Cauldron of "bile and hearts" complete with dry ice (not pictured)? Check.
Gross pumpkin puking homemade edible worms (which I made without any Jello or directions in english, I'll have you know)? Check.
Spooky cobweb chandelier made with something unlike small squares of cheese cloth and some spooky silhouette cutouts in the window? Check and check.
Paper bats hung from the ceiling? Garbage bag spider webs? Paper jack-o-laterns? All the tall candlestick holders I could find in the house? Creepy halloween music playing in the background? Check, check, check, check, check.
A bunch of happy ghosts, mummies, witches, devils, and skeletons? CHECK!
After dinner the girls watched The Addams Family (we couldn't find my personal favorite, Hocus Pocus) and were eager to upload photos and videos of the night to Instagram. That counts as a success right? Even the parents were excited to see all the decorations as they picked up their girls at the end of the night. I don't know, but I think my party might have been good enough to start a revolution here in Iceland.
This is unbelievably cute! Halloween has to be my favourite holiday, ever. Amazing job ;) x
ReplyDeleteYea Germans don't really celebrate Halloween, but the younger generation does go around the American neighborhoods because they know they give out free candy, so they've been doing this. They have Fasching which is in February I think and they wear costumes, It;s prbly similar to what you were talking about with Iceland. Either way, weird treats, costumes and Hocus Pocus sounds like a success to me!
ReplyDelete