First Boo Bash at Haven Haunt

We are hosting our first ever Boo Bash at Haven Haunt and I am so excited!

I am a Christmas nut, but have never really been into Halloween other than decorating in a non-scary kind of way with lots of pumpkins and fall decor. However, this year, I decided that I wanted to start a new tradition and enjoy the haunting season with a Boo Bash. I picked up the name of the BB from my friends at Magical Holiday Home, which is one of my favorite online communities of Christmas enthusiasts. Gingerbug, the site administrator, holds a Boo Bash every year and the event has spread to more and more members during the past few years.

My cyber friends Cathymac and Luludou also hold Boo Bashes and their plans are underway. I have read the planning of these events for years and have shared in the excitement as the big BB day arrives, and finally decided that I didn't want to be left out again.

I live on a street called Haven Circle and so, the name Haven Haunt seemed perfect for this blog to share my plans and track the progress of the Boo Bash including photos of the event this year and in the future.

Admittedly, I have never been one to get into the ghoul and more Halloweeney side of this holiday, but for some reason, all of sudden this appeals to me. Call it a mid-life crisis, or just finally coming to my senses... Whatever the reason, I have been in full planning mode for the first BB at Haven Haunt for several weeks. Those of you who know me realize that I don't do anything in half measures, so the hunt has been on to find appropriate themes for EACH room in the house and the props to go with them without spending major bucks!

I pride myself on being a thrifty shopper and so I started out shopping early at my favorite thrift stores. As of last week, one of our area Goodwills has not even put out Halloween items and neither has the Salvation Army Family Store or another one of my thrift store haunts. (see I really am perfect for this because haunts are truly what the thrift stores have become for me in recent years!) I find the most amazing and cheap things in my weekly visits.

A pleasant surprise to me was finding lots and lots of goodies at the Resale Barn in a neighboring town. I go there often to purchase novels and I usually donate all my items to this particular store since it is so supportive of the local community. I have found the most amazing props, masks, costumes and all kinds of decor and serving items there during the past few weeks. I will get some photos of them uploaded during the next few days.

In the meantime I will share some of my journey in the planning of this event. I started out by working on my Halloween notebook. Actually, I had tentatively decided to hold a Boo Bash back in February when I downloaded the divider pages for my Halloween notebook. I am ashamed to say that the planning ended with the printed pages. They have remained in a folder until recently when I decided that I needed to forge forward. Notebooks and organized planning is something that I do using the original plans of CEO at www.organizedchristmas.com. These plans came forward with the two splinter groups of Christmas enthusiasts several years ago when CEO closed the message forums on her site. At that time the Magical Holiday Home and Our Home for the Holidays were both born. I remain an active member of both forums. Although they are primarily Christmas based forums, both include sections for all major holidays and the planning that is needed for each one. Each group has members that overlap like myself, but each also has its own unique membership and sections of the boards. I find that it is great to have the reinforcement of both sets of cyber friends and we have all truly become FRIENDS.

It is from my friends at MHH who have inspired me to hold the Boo Bash. The last day of each month is devoted to Halloween and is called the Great Pumpkin Day. That allows at least 12 days a year to be devoted to planning for the holiday. The third Thursday of each month is likewise spent planning and preparing for Thanksgiving and the 25th of each month is designated as Rudolph (or Rudy) Day and is in preparation for Christmas. It is truly a magical way to move through each month. I shop and plan all year for Christmas and so there is no made dash or big financial crunch during the holidays.

Since I procrastinated and didn't get my Boo Bash plans moving back in February, I have had to devote a lot of time and energy during the past few weeks to this event. Fortunately, I am diligent and lucky to have known about the Resale Barn. So, this Boo Bash is really shaping up and I am proud to say that the decor and food items will be great even with only a small time to work on it.

I decided that I wanted to decorate the entire house. At first I was going to only use my scarecrows, pumpkins, fall leaves, and the assorted ceramic Halloween items that I have collected over the years. That would have sufficed for the first Boo Bash, but that is not my style. So, I have been on a planning frenzy.

Things are still not completely finalized as to room themes, but at the moment I have plans for thr front yard, front porch area, entryway, main living area, dining area, kitchen, master bedroom, master bath, hallway, hall bath, two bedrooms, screened porch and the backyard! Let me tell you that is a lot of ground to decorated!!!