You all know I love Halloween, but I do enjoy holidays and reasons to celebrate in general. And since Valentine’s is often a small, personal occasion, by the time St. Patrick’s day has rolled around, it’s been over 3 months since my last big party (New Year’s).
This year I decided to go all out for my St. Patrick’s Day party by taking a rather different approach. I’ll be throwing a Spooky St. Patty’s Party. Of course. Because once a year is not enough for Halloween to come around.
The first things that come to mind when it comes to March 17th are smiling leprachauns, the color green, and possibly raucous crowds over-indulging a bit much. I want to bring out the dark (but still fun) side of the holiday. Here’s how I plan to do it.
Theme
Since St. Patrick’s day is such a jovial holiday, I felt like “Scary St. Patty’s Party” might not offer enough direction for some of my guests. So when I sent out the invitations, I made a couple of things clear. First of all, this is a costume party. Guests are welcome to come dressed as their favorite spooky creature from Irish folklore. Just in case they had trouble thinking of some, I listed a few.
- Leprechauns-Those guys can be downright creepy tricksters if you think about it. In some myths, they use telekinesis to make people’s hearts explode!
- Dark Faeries- From the Fairy Queen to Mischievous Pixies, Faeries can offer a lot of spooky inspiration.
- Selkies- These part seal creatures can shed their skins to take on the form of beautiful humans. Though not particularly threatening, their beauty can be quite off-putting.
- Kelpies-Appearing as beautiful horses, Kelpies attract innocent children with the intention of drowning them. This could be a great costume for a couple!
- Banshees- Though Banshees do not kill, they appear before death, and so are creepy in much the same way as the grim reaper. They also utter an unearthly moaning that is worthy of any Halloween ghoul.
After arming my guests with these ideas, I encouraged them to dress up by offering a prize for best costume. It will just be a nice gift basket with some St. Patrick’s themed snacks and a copy of “Leprechaun” the cheesy-scary film from the 90s.
Snacks
Speaking of snacks, the food for my party will go a long way in establishing the theme. Though corned beef and cabbage can be scary, I’m going for a more literal approach. I have a Bailey’s crème chocolate cheesecake that I am decorating with a leprechaun stalking a pot of gold. I’m taking inspiration from the Kelpie and putting little lego figurines (sanitized, of course) in the bottom of my drink glasses.
I’m also utilizing the holiday granted color-scheme and adding some green food coloring to white chocolate for a salty-sweet popcorn snack. I may even try to shape the popcorn balls like clovers, but we’ll see how ambitious I get.
Decorations
My house will be dim for the event, with green accent lighting and forest décor. Irish folklore is all about the dangers of nature, so that is at the heart of my design. I have a few threatening-looking tree figurines that will be prominently displayed.
Activities
This will mostly be a social activity so that I can catch up with some friends who love celebrations as much as I do. Besides the costume contest, I will not have any planned “activities” for the night. I will be playing Celtic music in the background and have some of my Irish poetry and folklore sitting around so that people have something to thumb through during the night.
I’m hoping my take on a Spooky St. Patrick’s Day will be a success. Do you have any plans for this Irish Celebration? Do you ever try to mix holidays like I’m doing with this Halloween/St. Patty’s mash-up?
