Sara du Jour

November 10th, 2014

Halloween Cocktail Party

Last Saturday night, I hosted a little Halloween cocktail party at my apartment for a few close friends. Halloween, both for kids and adults, is half about the junk food, and half about dressing up – so I had to make sure both elements were present at my party.

I asked everyone to dress in costume, and laid out a spread of sugar and other assorted junk food to celebrate the occasion. There were cookies, candies, chocolate, chips, popcorn, and more.


When you’re a kid, you have to go door-to-door to earn your stash of treats. One of the many joys of being a grown-up is that you can have as much as you want!

Another great difference between childhood Halloween and grown-up Halloween is there’s booze. I set up a little mini bar with a gin and tonic station for my guests.


For those rare birds who maybe didn’t want to leave my party with diabetes, I figured I should offer at least one healthy thing. I saw a cute idea on Pinterest to draw little jack-o-lantern faces on tangerines with a Sharpie, so that’s what I did.

Aren’t they cute?

I bought these frosted Halloween cookies at the supermarket two days before my party. While shopping, I was concerned they might go stale before the event, so I checked their expiration date. They wouldn’t have expired for another YEAR. Now that’s spooky!

To go with all the sweet things were some salty treats: freshly-popped microwave popcorn and three different flavours of chips – salt and vinegar, BBQ, and original Ruffles.



And of course, what Halloween would be complete without candy corn? For those of you who don’t have candy corn where you live, you must try them if ever you get the chance, they’re the best.

Candy pumpkins, as I discovered, taste exactly the same!

The last thing I served were these “monster bites” I put together. They’re Granny Smith apple slices for lips smeared with Nutella for gums, and white chocolate-covered raisins for teeth. Scaaaaarily delicious, though a bit messy to eat.

Shoutout to Pinterest for giving me the inspiration to make these, as well. (Though the ones I saw online were made with peanut butter instead of Nutella, and I’m-not-sure-what for the teeth.)

I skipped the traditional Halloween decorations, like fake cobwebs, spiders, and ghosts, and went with a simple Halloween greeting on my gold framed chalkboard instead.

As a final touch before my guests arrived, I lit a few autumn-scented candles, like this delicious Cranberry Woods one from Bath & Body Works. (The vase is from the Nate Berkus Target collection, and while the gold has sold out, a similar white one is available here.)

Not only does it fill the house with a wonderful scent, the flickering light looks beautiful in a room, too.

Monica was first to arrive, dressed as the cutest Little Red Riding Hood I’ve ever seen. I was so happy to see that my guests has obliged me and really gone all out with their costumes!

Angelika did a fantastic job dressed up as Lisbeth Salander, from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. So much so that it took me a second to recognize her when I opened the door!

She even temporarily coloured her hair, added short bangs, and put some fake facial piercings on. That’s the kind of detail I appreciate! (If you want to see my Lara Croft costume, go here.)

Wendy and Daniel did a cute DIY couples costume they called “Struck by Lightning”.

Despite being electrocuted, they managed to reconcile their differences and hug it out.

Nik and Jennifer did a very original (and very science-y) couples costume too. From what the rest of us could gather, they went as Pluto before and after it was reinstated as a planet. Way to go, Pluto.



Theo dressed up as a very dashing Prince Charming, and Cindy came as Misty from Pokemon.

She did a perfect job, and even arrived with her own little stuffed Pokemon in tow.

…Until she found a real-live Pokemon to snuggle with instead.

Nikola brought a Frankensteinian creation of his own: a mix of tequila and pumpkin juice. We all had a taste, and the reactions were not favourable.

They ranged from what I called “thoughtful dissatisfaction” to utter disgust.



^ There’s that “thoughtful dissatisfaction” face again.

Once we had all confirmed it was disgusting, we served up the remainder in a miniature pumpkin to use as punishment in a game that required intense concentration.

There was never such a good incentive not to screw up and lose the game.






Yeah…losing really wasn’t fun.

After we finished that game (and the last of the awful concoction), we transitioned to several different card games, which occupied us for the rest of the night.


I hope you all had a fantastic Halloween, too. Let me know what you dressed up as this year in the comments! xx

– Sara

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