I had my 3rd Annual Murder Mystery Party a few weeks ago and this year's theme was "Once Upon a Time." The first 2 parties were in August for my birthday but I wanted to put it off a little bit until after the time change so that it would be dark outside by the time the "murder" happened and a little cooler outside. It worked out great - the weather was wonderful and made for a lovely outdoor dinner.
I had a wonderful time getting all the decorations for the party put together and the theme was so much fun to work with. Everyone was dressed for their parts and were so awesome (big thanks to everyone for playing along)!
The entry way was made into a draw bridge with the use of some "stone towers" that I borrowed from church (VBS this past summer was Kingdom Rock), chains made out of cardstock and "wooden bridge" made out of a roll of packing paper. Not sure if you can tell but the window has "stained glass" on it - diamond shaped tissue paper glued together. It looked pretty cool in the dark but it was hard to get a picture of that.
Everyone came in and had their picture taken here. Again, the use of stone pillars from church and a stone backdrop from Oriental Trading.
John was initially going to be Rumpelstilzkin - but some last minute casting changes called for him to step into the shoes of Prince Charming. So, we had to put together a last minute costume. I went to Goodwill and Hobby Lobby Saturday morning and got a few items - got home, worked with Mom and we were able to put this outfit together in an hour! Thought it turned out pretty good (even though the jacket was huge on him).
I made a stone fireplace out of foam board - cut to frame the fireplace (covered the wood) and painted to look like stones. This was super easy! I also made the banner above the fireplace (and the ones over the windows) - these were super easy too - just felt on felt. I've learned that you don't have to be an artist to do this stuff. All you really need is to get the effect of it but not necessarily be really intricate with each project.
One of my favorite things was my awesome chandelier! It was made out of a hula-hoop, spray painted black, plastic cups glued on with hot glue, battery powered tealights, black yarn and paper chains to hang it from the fan. Turned out great and looked really cool with the lights out. I didn't even put this together until Friday (the day before the party) and it was so easy. I get these ideas in my head and just hope that they work the way I think it will - this time, it did and turned out great.
This was my Royal Feast table - turkey, ham, casseroles, potatoes, vegetables, mac & cheese and rolls. Lots of food to feed everyone! It would have been better if I had a double oven to cook everything, but we were able to time it pretty well so that the food was ready and still warm by the time we were ready to eat. I liked my Cinderella silhouette - cardboard frame, spray-painted gold, red poster board and paper silhouette printed off the internet and cut out. Worked out great!
Our dinner setting was outside and I had 2 tables set up - one under a tent and on under the porch. There were candles on the tables and lights wrapped around the tent. THe lights gave great ambience, although that was hard to capture in the pictures. I did assigned seating. They are hard to see but on the big table are 2 white pumpkins that I made to look like carriages - thought they turned out cute.
Everyone ate off of paper plates for easy clean up - but I used gold charges to set the table and make it look "royal."
Everyone did an awesome job getting into character and this year (unlike last year) we had several people actually solve the murder! It was so much fun. Can't wait until next year....I'm thinking of a western/saloon theme. Let the planning begin!
