The Big Beetlejuice Halloween Wrap-Up

John and I took an extra day off for his birthday yesterday, which was lovely and exactly the rest we needed, ahhhh. (We ate fancy take-out and played video games all day. Like adults.) So thanks for being patient while I shirked my bloggy duties, and for all the sweet birthday wishes!

And now I am BACK with a full report of our Beetlejuice Halloween shenanigans. Woot woot!

(If you missed them be sure to check out our Sandworm build and all the pretty reveal shots!)

 Halloween night was hectic, hilarious, stressful, so exhausting, and totally worth it.

First let me back up and show you a couple last-minute additions, because of course we kept crafting until the last second:

I covered a hardback book with brown craft paper, waxed the paper to darken it, printed the image, and cut & transferred the title with our Cricut. This was a great prop for photos, and honestly it'll be fun to have lying around the house later.

We also made the "Now Serving" sign - which lights up! - and some number strips for people waiting:

The sign is made of Dollar Tree foam board and posterboard, with two LED puck lights behind the numbers to make them glow.

We hung this on the garage door behind our chairs and coffee table - a make-shift "waiting room."

Our friends Traci, Arielle, and Karen all came in costume, so we had increasingly silly photo-shoots as the night went on. There were also several impromptu dance parties, as we kept the soundtrack blaring.

In fact, here are some video snippets of the silliness:

Another look at the house set-up:



  With Tim the Thestral off to the side:

There was a big storm the day before, so we had to install everything Halloween afternoon. Then we had to remove it all that night, since nothing is weather-proof. We started around 4pm, wrapped by 10, and spent nearly the whole time on our feet. Woof.

I didn't know how many trick-or-treaters to expect, since the past 2 Halloweens we went from 60 to 300(!!). Thankfully we "only" had about a hundred, so for once I didn't run out of candy!

The Sandworm candy slide was hit or miss, literally. We hid the tube so well that no one could tell where to hold their bags! Ha! We finally taped a mark on the driveway and had them set their bags down, which helped a lot.

As much as it pained me to see so many candy misses, all the wide-eyes and shouts of delight made it worth it. Some of the littles were so shocked you'd think it was a magic trick!

Cool action shot from our friend Warren.

We get a huge amount of older teenage trick-or-treaters - easily 50/50 with the younger kids - which makes me happy. Even if they're in minimal-to-no costumes, I'm always in favor of people having fun and being a little ridiculous at any age. I tried to greet the teens out of costume especially - the ones looking hesitant and keeping their heads down - so they'd know they were welcome. (Also, oof, my heart.)  I joked with one pack of boys,

"Ok, tell me the truth: have you seen a better house than ours tonight?"

"No way!"

"That's the correct answer! Extra candy for you!"

:D

I fixed the Maitland's silhouettes, by the way - thanks to those of you who pointed out they needed longer torsos:

Lydia with the Maitlands in their designer sheets:

And can't forget Side-Eye Herman over there:



 The best quote of the night was from an exasperated mom trying to get her 8-year-old daughter to stand next to Herman for a photo:

"So he has a tiny head! Mitzy" [I'm guessing their cat?] "has a tiny head and big body and you're not scared of her!"

There was a huge crowd around at the time and EVERYONE started laughing. So good.


Here's the finished sand worm, complete with her teeth, tongue, and fin:

Kids would get their candy and then exit this way through the worm body arches:

  We had cars parked on the lawn to keep the driveway clear.


Setup was extra stressful that afternoon thanks to gusting winds which kept toppling the arches and our Beetlejuice standee. After much panicking and running around, John reinforced everything with more lines and weights. After that, naturally, the wind died completely and the night was perfectly still.

::deadpan stare into camera::

 Oh, hey, I almost forgot! Can you guess what John's and my costumes are?

"Beetle... drink? Beetle breakfast?"

Beetle juice?

:D

I live for punny costumes, so this made me so happy, y'all. Especially since none of my friends could keep a straight face when I put on the bug antenna, haha.

In the chaos of the night I neglected to get a good photo with John in costume, but here's a group shot with friends to give you the general idea:

 We did try a few night shots of just me and John, but I really don't like my face in them, so I've been struggling through that yucky headspace this week. It's tough when you're caught up in something you're excited about, and then you see a photo of yourself that just... deflates the moment. You know? It doesn't hurt as much as it used to, so I know I've made progress in my self-hate journey, but it still stings. So while I'm here to share the silliness and fun with y'all, I also want you to know I'm still fighting my monsters, and it's OK if you are, too.

Forever grateful for a main squeeze who shows me my worth is in so much more than my appearance:

Oh yeah. He juicy.

Since I first wrote this I asked John for a re-shoot in our costumes, since I really wanted a good one. (I just love this couple's costume so stinkin' much, ha.) John very sweetly agreed, and my favorite shot is the one where's he's dancing around behind me in the backyard trying to make me laugh:

Our relationship in a nutshell. Or an OJ carton.

And finally, more photos of our fabulously talented friends:

 

Halloween is so much better with friends, so I'm extra grateful for these amazing people. I invited everyone we knew around Orlando to stop by and see us that night, so we had a steady stream of people and friends coming through. On top of that, some of the trick-or-treaters remembered us from our Ghostbusters year! Hearing strangers rave about our decorations from 2 years ago made me all glowy inside. Can't wait to bring Ghostbusters back next year.

Sorry this post has been all over the place; that's what I get for writing stream-of-conscious style, oops. I hope you had fun seeing the fruit of our Beetlejuicy labors, though, and that you're feeling inspired to do something a little extra, a little silly. Even when it takes you out of your comfort zone and makes you ::gasp:: talk to strangers, I promise, it's worth it.

Now, let's announce some Squeegineer winners!

The Squeegineer give-away is my monthly drawing where I give away fun stuff from my office closet: various nerdy treasures, toys, and jewelry. You can enter for free by e-mail, or anyone who donates any amount via Paypal is automatically entered. (More details here.)

I'm delighted to announce our winners for October are Peter S., June Marie H., & Allegra H.! Congrats, you three, and please check your inboxes for a message from John to choose your prizes.