Final Word on Retro Zombie Ball

The final word about the Retro Zombie Party is FRIENDS!!

Helpers!

WORKERS

FAMILY

Just really great people.

 They were awesome

and we all had fun!!

It was an act of love <3

Part Two of the Retro Zombie Ball.......

The food was amazing and sooooo creepy.  Why yes that is guacamole in the skull head.  What else could it be?

The benches looked great although we weren't allowed to use the fog machine.  Something about setting off alarms and fire dept.

The cupcake stand worked!!!  With a few modifications of course.  The chains just added to the vibe even more.

Everyone loved the dip heads, although I now have them staring at me while I type this.

The centerpiece was easy, moss mat from dollar store with little skulls and vase and glitter skull.

The mini coffins were a sacrifice of extreme love.  Both me and my husband was up past midnight folding and taping together.  Just so I could put gummi brains in them.  And various other candy body parts.

I was hoping to have more dead roses in the vases but I only had an hour to set everything up and a lot of teenagers helping me.  Yeah, so I am happy that it got done.

Party dippers.  :)

We did have security to restrain any stray zombie but then it became fun.  And they found reasons to attack and restrain.

The melon brains were too good.  No one knew they were edible until I ripped one open.  Now there could be brain feasting.

The stand held up so well.  It also now sits here staring at me next to the dip heads.  With these words emanating "now whatcha gonna do?"  To which I sigh "I don't know".  Can't throw you away, and don't know who wants you.

Part One of the Retro Zombie Ball

There was dancing!

There was socializing.

There was laughter

Even old school follow the lyrics dancing.Not quite a hundred but it was fun.  I will post more pictures when I get them. A fabulous friend of mine took pictures for me and I am waiting for those.  So until then......

update:  more dancing shots

ok maybe it's not actually dancing but more or a standing in a herd thing.

What can I say they are teenagers.

Security Shirts

Wow had to shake some serious cobwebs off my brain.  I decided I was going to make special security shirts for the Retro Zombie Ball, that is my son's birthday.  I would find some bright colored t-shirts and silkscreen them.  I learned how to do this back in high school.  Yeah, a few decades ago.  So I find some supplies in a thrift store and came up with my design.  So far it's a piece of cake.  I get out the drawing fluid and I'm like hmmmmmmm never used this.  We had to hand cut or use the machine in high school.
That's ok I can fake my way through.  It's a little lumpy but I'll work with it.  I followed the directions (which is a rarity for me) and then apply the screen filler after the other was completely dry.

So I rinse it and what was suppose to be the drawing fluid is suppose to come off.  In theory it worked but not so much with my reality.  So I started scrubbing a little to help it.  Then more than I wanted, started to come off.  This simple project is going south.  So I stop and figure, "well I'll just hand paint the gaps".  I am now on day two of this project and the party is Sunday!  Ok I remained calm and I carried on.

Unbelievable the amount of information I have forgotten.  I finally finished them and now they hang drying and still I am not done.  I still have to heat set them and wash them.  To find out if it really worked.  So I post a picture of them now just in case they dissolve and I burst into tears.

My husband wanted to put a teenager target thingy on it.  I gently reminded him we were not out to get the teenagers, that it was a party for them.  He is the head of the security and needed as there will be over a hundred teenagers there. 

It's funny about 15 years ago I use to bar tend and bounce in a heavy metal bar, that had live music every night.  I am applying all my knowledge into this event.  Just without the alcohol.

Almost finished Cementary Benches

Why oh why do I wait?  When will I learn?  I fear the answer is never.  Oh well, maybe one day I will have extra help or extra money to buy some help.  Until that day I will press on and pillage the free pile.

Ok so I had my son cut some butt size strips from this wood siding I had pillaged from an house being built in our neighborhood.  The told me I could take as much as I wanted of their scrap pile.  I was as giddy as a school girl back in the 1800's.  I knew this stuff would come in handy.  I had already made a shed from it.  So I stapled a few old pillows I didn't have the heart to get rid of but were just too flat to be of use.  But they will be great for the graves.

.I had bought some astro turf a few month ago and used it to cover the pillows and stapled it underneath.

The creepy hand made their way out of a box and onto the grave.  I drilled two holes and used chopsticks to shove into the hand and then into the holes.I drilled more holes for the grass as well.  I also glued on some fake flies I found at the Dollar Tree Store.  I then staples some black plastic for the skirt and proceeded to rip holes in it.I still need to make the slipcovers look more like a headstone and am working on that tomorrow.  At the party there will be three of these around the dance floor.  Underneath will be red lights and fog (dry ice and fog machine).  This is a 3 chair bench and it looks funny right now because it's only has 2 chairs.  I can't wait for the party to be able to show ya'll the stuff in it's environment.  It kinda looses the feel with all my background clutter.  My house is not big enough to be able to really show something.  At least not the way I see so many blogs stage their photos.  Some of those pics are amazing and make me feel so unworthy. 

I've added new pics

Cheapie to Creeeeepy

So I was at the Dollar Tree because that's what I do.  I wonder around looking for deals.  They had just started putting out the Halloween decorations.  Not full blown, but a little area.  Now I had been keeping an eye out for hands to put on my cemetery benches (which I still have not completed yet).  I had looked at some sites that sell these things but they were either to expensive or just tooo dang creepy.  I'm not making a movie it doesn't have to be THAT real.  Can I just say ewwwww, especially the zombie babies chewing on an all too realistic hand.
Like I've said before we are aiming more toward campy than true terror.

Then, behold, I found plastic hands.  But they looked like plastic hands and only the right one.  There are a lot of left handed plastic dudes running around.

Yet, I was not satisfied with it, so I totally went all Phineas and Ferb on it.  I pulled out my sharpies and picked up a set of fake nails while still at the dollar store.

All I did was take my black sharpie and go along the lines that were already there.  I shaded it a little with black, then brown, and then finally red.  Added a few more black lines (by following the lines already there).  

I then colored the finger nails with the sharpies too. I also cut notches out of them like they had been broken trying to get out.  A little super glue and tada!!!   totally creepy without wanting to hurl.

So once again a Before and After

Zombie Cupcake Stand for under $5

So the zombie party is lurching forward and we have accomplished another cheap crafty item.  We needed a cupcake stand for 100 cupcakes.  Have you ever seen how much they are?!  So I knew I would be making one but the ones we saw were soooooo  BORING.  They may work great for the cultured, refined and proper parties but we are talking teen zombie here.  So it's gotta be big and over the top and most of all CHEAP!

I came across these items in my garage.  They are the end rolls from the local newspaper.  They love to give these things away and they are so solid and sturdy, I have many ideas on how to use them.  So I found one I already strip the paper off and then using my miter saw I cut slits half way through.  I then painted it black and pillaged my supply of cardboard.  You know the cardboard that comes from the packaging.  I had quite the few all the same size and strong enough to support weight.  I then thought how can I re-enforce these to make sure they don't fold over from the weight.  So I looked to my chopsticks and duct tape.  I covered the top with scrapbook paper and the bottom with chopsticks and duct tape.  I then covered the scrapbook paper with packing tape to be able to wipe it clean when necessary.

Then we headed to the Dollar Store to find embellishments.  The glitter skull, mini skulls and beware tape for a total of 3 dollars plus tax

This is it completed, think I might add glow sticks around the column for the party.  It's almost 3 feet high

Zombie Dip Heads revisited

So the time is approaching to finish up the needed props and decorations for my son's 18th birthday.  It is "Thriller" slash retro zombie.  So as to combine the 80's with zombies.......yeah.  Thanks to Michael Jackson it can be done.  So I finished the zombie dip heads.  Or are for the zombies?  It was relatively simple, find some mannequin (Styrofoam) and scoop out hole for bowl and paint ghoulishly.  I then found these platters at the Dollar Store that fit perfectly.  Hot glue them on and then I added some embellishments to make them more real.  Like glasses, earrings, hair clips and even skull candies (hahhaahha, I crack myself up).

I stacked them up just to be able to see them all at once.

     Ok on to the centerpieces, Dollar Store vases, covered in cut out scrapbook paper.  When the night comes I will put dead roses in them and a light up coaster or glowstick (depending on the remaining budget) on the bottom.
The next project I have to work on, at least when the rain stops, is the cemetery benches.

Party for teen son

Planning a party for my son, he's going to be 18. So what do you do to get a teen excited about it? My answer is "Retro Zombie Party" not extremely creepy, a little campy, and a whole lot of fun.
First prop I came up with are the dip heads. Based on the zombie desire to feast on brains. I searched for a way to have heads as my pedestals. Luckily I found these cheap foam heads online.  But you can also find them in any beauty supply for a pretty affordable price.

So we scooped them out to fit some bowls (we as me and my son) we got from WalMart four for a dollar.  We stuck with red and black for the colors.

Did a base coat and began to encourage the faces to appear. In different stages of decay.

I also picked up some dollar store platters and they fit perfectly. I think I will hot glue them to the platters.

I still have one more to finish, but was really excited how they came out. Actually one of them creeped me out. hahahah but my son loves them as well as his friends. I will be working on the props for the next few months. I have 6 more ideas to go, maybe more.

The party went well and with the added food it just was awesome.
 Gluing on the added accessories brought in the 3-D effect.

After the party I just popped out the bowls and popped off the trays and put them away for storage.

I think the salsa and guacamole were the favs but aside from brain munching the veggies were munched as well.