Blood, Parchment and Coffins

Our theme for 2010 was The Count's castle and we did our best to set the mood 

with decorations and food, but that information is for another post, on another day. 

Today I'd like to talk to you about our invitations.  

They needed to fit perfectly with our vampire theme.  I wanted them to be playful but

authentic, as if they were made by the Count himself.  I scoured the web looking for 

something that might catch my eye.  Finally, after hours of searching I found it.

I found this awesome website and it had just what I needed ... Coffin Boxes!

These mini coffin boxes were free to download and print, so I did :)

Then, I needed the actual invite.

My idea was to make it seem like this was an actual invitation from The Count, so I needed to make it look like it was written on old parchment paper with a fine quill pen.

I found a free paper texture online (sorry, I can't remember the website), opened up

Photoshop, and got to work.  

I wanted to keep it fun, so I added a little humor, found a font that was as elegant as The Count, and included some blood spots, because you can't be a vampire without blood.

The letters were then folded up nicely and placed in the coffins and delivered to the proper victims ... er, I mean guests.  Everyone loved it and it set the tone perfectly for our Halloween party.

The Von Spüken Hotel, The Front Desk

The Front Desk ... 

Welcome to the Von Spüken Hotel ... 
I'm sure you'll have a hauntingly good time.

This is our front desk, complete with sign-in ledger, feather pen, shelf and bell.

We got this buffet table and valence at a Thrift store, it was perfect :)

This is a vintage-looking bell that I got on Amazon.com

and I got this pair of happy metal pumpkins at Ross.

Here's our shelf to hold room keys and mail.

My mom made it our of cardboard and we spray painted it brown.

I love how she made it look old.

Valence with the Von Spüken Hotel logo.

To the left of the front desk we have our elevator

which will "take" our guests to the party.

Visit all our rooms
The Haunted Elevator
The Sitting Room
The Game Room

The Von Spüken Hotel, The Elevator

The Haunted Elevator!
Welcome ... will you be joining the party on the 9th floor?

With the door open

The inside

Here, you see the elevator buttons

and a moving brick wall through the window.

The elevator floor vibrates giving the feeling that it's actually moving.

MANY THANKS to my brother Joseph for rigging this up!

This is the view from the elevator before the door closes

and you're "taken" to the 9th floor for the party.

And this is the view from the elevator after the door closes

you arrive at your destination.  We really worked hard to

give our guests the feeling that they were actually moving to another floor.

This is the view from the Front Desk after you're taken to the 9th floor.

Visit all our rooms
The Front Desk
The Game Room
The Sitting Room

The Von Spüken Hotel, The Sitting Room

The Sitting Room ... 

a room of memories since forgotten.

Once you exit the elevator, you enter the sitting room.

Complete with a fireplace, old pictures, phonograph ...

a dusty piano ... 

and a game of chess.  

I bought this "haunted portrait" at Target, used an old

lamp shade, vintage looking record player, 

and cane with air-dry clay to create the phonograph.

We used an economy size of baking soda to create the dust.

The mantle is adorned with candelabras I bought several

years ago at Target, the Von Spüken Hotel logo and a portrait of Mr. Von Spüken himself.

I followed a project tutorial found in the Better Homes and Gardens

Halloween special.  It was titled "Mount a ghoulish stairway exhibit".

Of course I modified it to suit my needs and taste.

Visit all our rooms
The Front Desk
The Haunted Elevator
The Game Room