Vampire Parties are all the rage, thanks to books, TV shows, and
movies like "Twilight," "True Blood," and "Vampire Diaries." Whether
you're a fan of vampire Team Edward or werewolf Team Jacob, barmaid
Sookie Stackhouse and vampire Bill Compton, or good/evil vampire
brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore Salvatore, you can host a Night of
the Living Dead party to celebrate a birthday, Halloween, or the latest
vampire episode.
Invitations
There are lots of vampire-related party supplies available, but you
can easily make your own invitations and personalize them to your theme.
For a Coffin Invitation, fold a sheet of black construction paper in
half. Draw the shape of a coffin on the paper, making sure one side of
the coffin is on the fold. Cut out the coffin and write "Do not open
until midnight" or "Open at your own risk" on the front using a sparkly
pen. Or you can type it up on the computer using a spooky font, print
it, cut it out, and glue it to the front. Next find a picture of your
favorite vampire on the Internet or in a fan magazine and copy it for
each invitation. Open the coffin and glue the picture on the right-hand
side. On the opposite side, write the party details. For added fun, cut
out drops of "blood" from red paper and place them in the envelope. Or
add a set of vampire teeth.
Costumes
Ask your guests to come as their favorite vampire – or werewolf –
past or present. When they arrive, offer them face paints, vampire
teeth, and vials of fake blood to add to their costumes. Make simple
capes out of black fabric and hand them out to guests.
Decorations
Create a gothic atmosphere with helium-inflated black and red
balloons. Tie the balloons onto furniture, to backs of chairs, and float
them to the ceiling. Turn the lights down and light candles, or string
holiday lights around the room. Replace regular light bulbs with black
lights and red bulbs. Make a giant coffin using a large appliance box.
Paint it black, add a string of garlic or a wooden cross to the top, and
place it in the center of the room to use for setting out snacks. Place
vampire fangs, garlic, and plastic bats around the room or hang them
from the ceiling. Cover your mirrors and black out your windows. Set the
table with a black cloth and bright red paper products. Use vampire
teeth as napkin rings. Make a centerpiece using a glass bowl, fill it
with red tinted water, and float black candles. Make some personalized
tombstones from cardboard or foam, and write epitaphs on them for each
guest. Set them around the room. Play Clair de Lune, Muse, and Coldplay
music in the background.
Games and Activities
- Team Trivia.
Divide guests into two teams and have them answer trivia questions
about vampires and such from "Twilight," "True Blood," or "Vampire
Diaries."
- Quote the Vampire.
Write down quotes from the vampire books or shows and have guests try to identify the speaker.
- Vamping Vampires.
Write down scenes from your favorite vampire film, book, or show, and have guests act them out for one another to guess.
- Vampire Shirt.
Let guests make their own t-shirts with their favorite vampires or
sayings on them. Print pictures of vampires and sayings on iron-on paper
using the computer, and then let guests iron them on and decorate with
glitter glue, sequins, and other embellishments.
- Vampire Videos.
Watch videos of your favorite vampire films or TV shows. Don't
forget the originals, such as "Dracula," or the popular "Buffy the
Vampire Slayer."
Refreshments
Serve lots of red-colored food to satisfy that thirst for blood – red
licorice, sliced red peppers, strawberries, red apples, red salsa with
red tortilla chips, French fries with ketchup dip. Ask the bakery to
tint a loaf of bread red, then make sandwiches with red jam. Cut out
bat-shaped cookies, bake them, and spread with chocolate icing.
Offer a variety of red-colored drinks for the vampire guests, such as
tomato juice, cranberry juice cocktail, red punch, red sports drink,
etc. Freeze gummy worms in red water to make ice cubes for the drinks.
Make a coffin-shaped or tombstone-shaped red velvet cake, covered with chocolate icing.
Favors
Give the vampires plastic teeth, black capes, fake blood, posters of
hot vampires, face painting makeup, videos of the shows, or other
vampire related gifts-there are lots available!
Penny Warner has more than 25 years of experience as an author
and party planner. She has published more than 50 books, including 16
specific to parties. Additionally, Warner writes a weekly newspaper
column on family life, penned a column for Sesame Street Parents
magazine and has appeared on several regional and national TV morning
programs. Her latest book, HOW TO HOST A KILLER PARTY, debuted in
February 2010 from NAL/Penguin.
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