Masked Ball

It's THAT time of year again ...

that mysterious time when we

slip behind a mask and become

~ just for a night ~

someone else.

Who would you be?

There's something so magical

about dressing up for a masquerade ball.

Perhaps you've been invited to a

Halloween dinner ... maybe one not

quite as elaborate as a ball,

but so much fun, just the same ...

I'm not attending a Halloween party this year

but I have found enough time to go out to buy

enough candy for the 200-400 ghouls and goblins

that I've been told by our new neighbors

that I should expect come October 31!

Are you dressing up for Halloween?

I'd love to hear what you

chose as your costume!

~ A TALE OF TWO PARTIES ~

I believe I may have mentioned before

two Halloween parties

we gave several years ago for the

neighborhood that we lived in at the time.

Come with me ...

~ The First Party ~

For the first Halloween party,

as the fifty guests began to enter the house

they were greeted with music, candlelight

and scariness at every turn.

After each guest had their photo taken for the album

and were handed a cocktail, they

joined the growing crowd gathering in the living room

 for hors doeuvres and treats.

Once all the guests had arrived,

my husband and I trotted upstairs

and stood on the upper stairway balcony that was

overlooking the living area below, looking

down on the guests as they had a good time.

That's when we made the announcement ...

that a BUS would be arriving soon to take us all to an

unknown destination!

On the half-hour ride to the city,

scary stories were told on the darkened bus.

When we arrived at the city, we divided the party

into teams and each team was given a camera

and a typed page that contained rhymed clues to ten things

to look for in the city.

Each group was to set off to discipher each clue

and when they found each destination,

snap a photo of themselves in front of it.

All of the members of the

first team to make it back to the bus

would win prizes.

It was a blast.  After the teams all made it back,

we boarded the bus to go back to the house

to a waiting bonfire and s'mores.

I not only had the photos of everyone

in costume that I took at the beginning of the party,

but also had the photos of the groups

in front of the destinations

that all went into that year's

Halloween Party photo album.

Well, that party was a huge hit, so the next year

there were 70+ people that attended.

~ The Second Party ~

The next year, everyone wondered

what we had in store for the second party.

On this invitation, everyone was instructed to

bring a carved pumpkin to light outside the house

and that we'd take votes for best pumpkin.

We had the beginning of the party much the same ...

darkness, music, candles, cocktails, food ...

then when we crept up to the upstairs balcony again

and called out to the crowd, they knew something was up!

For this second party, we turned our garage

into a scary FRANKENSTEIN lab.

Everyone grabbed a beverage and headed to the garage.

It was dark, lit by candelabras, scary music.

We had divided the garage up into four "labs,"

separating each one with white sheets hung from wire.

Everyone was divided into four teams

and taken to one of the four labs.

Each lab had a lab table and lying there on each table

was a wood structure we had made in the shape of a skeleton.

The arms and legs of the wood skeletons could move.

In each lab there was also a big box of

"monster making materials" ...

masks, stuffing, clothing, wigs, eyeballs, blood,

gloves, shoes, everything.

Each team was to create their own "monster"

by applying the monster materials to the

wood skeleton.

You never heard a crowd of adults laugh so much

in their own little Frankenstein lab.

They all thought that the best monster

would win the prize.

But, noooooooooo .... we had another plan.

Once the monsters were created,

what pulled up outside but ...

ANOTHER BUS!

Everyone was to bring their monster onto the bus ...

the bus was packed, standing room only.

There was so much laughter and everyone felt like a kid again,

heading off to a destination unknown.

We went to the same city for this adventure  ...

this time, each team was given a camcorder.

They were given instructions that each team was to

make up a movie scenario starring their monster and

that they could film their movie anywhere

 they wanted in the city.

They were told to meet us

back at the bus at a specified time.

HILARIOUS!!!!

After everyone laughingly returned to the bus,

we again were taken back to our house.

Now, our garage had been turned into a

movie theatre, where each of the monster movies

would be shown to the whole party.

The team that made the best "movie"

won the prizes!

I have to tell you the movies were fabulous and hilarious.

To see these teams filming themselves taking their

"monsters" into restaurants and coffeehouses,

talking to people on the street, dancing with others,

it was just the most fun.

Even a few local celebrities happened to be in the city

and actually stopped and shook hands with one team's monster!

Everyone was dying of laughter watching what the other teams

had filmed. And at the end, EVERYONE won a prize.

The party ended with a best pumpkin vote

and the bonfire.

Another Halloween album was made.

I still have the videos to this day.

In closing, if you can't get enough of
Halloween fun and
feel like attending a fantasy

Halloween party,

you may want to go to

last year's Halloween post
and relive it.

Have a wonderful week,
lovelies! 

Ooh La Frou Frou
is the blog of illustrator
SANDY M.
If you're interested in inquiring
about a custom illustration,
contact Sandy here.

Image sources via:
Photos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7