Halloween Movie Night

At the beginning of the fall season we celebrate by having an outdoor movie night. It began with friends as an adult get together but as the kids got older they wanted to join in on the fun as well.

In years past we've borrowed speakers and projectors and made make shift screens but now you can purchase blow up screens and projectors for about the cost it is to take the whole family to the movie theater and purchase popcorn and snacks (and sneak in drinks - you know you do it - don't deny it). We decided it was worth the investment and it was - we use it often and the kids love it. As requested - here are the links to both the screen and projector (I also included the orange lights, roku stick, extension cord, candles and black cloth - all items needed):

This year I decided to go a little bigger with a whole ambiance and treat table because all of my kids seem to be struggling in one way or another and I wanted to make our movie night extra special.

First I prepped the screen and made sure it was in the place I wanted. Then I added 3 strands of orange lights to a tree next to the blow up screen and brought my front porch full of pumpkins, flowers, and lanterns and placed them in the front of the screen near the side where the tree was. Next I brought over our outdoor furniture and pillows and grabbed a bunch of blankets from inside (it got cold!). You could certainly just throw out blankets and pillows rather than move around furniture. Then I got to work on the treat table.

I kept the treat table under our pavilion where we have lights so the kids could see to grab their treats throughout the movie. In years past we have done hot chocolate and donuts, soda bars with popcorn, witches brew with dry ice - the possibilities here are endless. This year I opted for apple cider, kettle corn, veggie bats and ghosts and cookies - all store bought (with the exception of the cider) because I wanted to keep it fairly simple. We've been wanting to try the viral chocolate chip sugar cookie - and they didn't disappoint.

Of course I wanted to make the treat table eye catching and cute and since it was under the pavilion I knew I could do some sort of fun banner so I ran to my local Zurchers Party Store and saw that they had My Minds Eye paper goods including little ghost hot cups - SO cute! (You can shop it online here). I dressed the table up with a black tablecloth and a My Minds Eye paper runner. The backdrop was black cloth, floating candles and the My Minds Eye ghost banner. It turned out adorable! I served the apple cider hot but you could serve it cold or warm or BOTH.

Unfortunately, my kids argued over what movie to watch so we gave them two choices - none of which they wanted - but with the new Hocus Pocus 2 movie coming out THIS Friday - don't give your kids a choice! Just watch that! (cue excitement!) However, I will say that once we started the movie all the frustrations melted away and we all really enjoyed our evening together. Including dad, who promptly fell asleep snuggling one of his boys.