For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved hosting parties – and especially girls nights! But once I started working in the party industry for a living, it’s surprising how crazy difficult it became to keep hosting them “just for fun”.

The addition of a couple of kids to my life *probablyyyy* had something to do with that increased difficulty too… but at this time last year I was really, really, REALLY missing that “throw a party just for the love of it and without a client to please” feeling that I used to know so well. So……..

A Day of the Dead Inspired Party

Between the gorgeous previews for the movie Coco and the super colorful Diá de los Muertos inspired decor that was popping up all around, I became seriously determined to make one of those just-for-the-fun-of-it nights happen in all its rainbow-filled glory. And that’s exactly what you’re looking at here. ;)

If YOU are craving a fun girls night this October/November and need a little nudge to make it happen… well, here you go! Break out the wine, bright colors, and sugar skulls and invite some friends to come over and Sip, Sip, Olé!

Giant Tissue Paper Flower Decor

The floral arch pictured above was definitely my favorite detail from this party. I bought the tissue paper flowers online at Luna Bazaar, and wish I could’ve covered every single doorway in them! Even though they aren’t expensive individually, they do start to add up – plus they’re a little time consuming to “fluff open” – so I settled on just the one doorway where they’d have the most impact on our space. This would be a beautiful way to greet your guests at the front door though, too!

Speaking of greeting guests… I carried the theme outside in a simple way too, by adding faux flowers to a couple sets of Halloween skeleton yard flamingos and to a cute paper skeleton stuck to the door.

I had every intention of making a big “CHEERS” sign and a paper wine glass for the door skeleton to hold. Wouldn’t that be cute?! I can still see it right there in my head…If only the clock would freeze on command once in a while so we could actually fit in all of our fun ideas. ;)

Wine Tasting Activity

My friend is a rep for ONEHOPE Wine, which is a company that I’ve loved for a long time, both in regards to their mission and the taste of their wines, so I asked her to come and do her thing. It also seemed like good timing to have the option to order wine in bulk, with the holiday party and gifting season upon us.

We had disposable cups with sparkling brut lined up and pre-filled so that guests could enjoy that right when they arrived. For the main tasting though, everyone grabbed a stemless wine glasses adorned with a glittery gold heart… I mean, this was a GIRLS NIGHT after all. ;) #welikesparklythings

I always like to separate food, drinks, and activities into various stations so there’s less chance of waiting and “traffic jams”. We had the rosé and white wines together in one room, and all the reds together in another.

The colorful statue below is the very first piece of new decor that I bought, and kind of set the tone for the color palette of the party. Faux flowers were hot glued and glue dotted to skeletons, frames, etc for an instant “festive” vibe.

I designed a few pieces of signage for the wine and wine glass stations. You can download them at the bottom of this post. :)

It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the bottle stoppers on the table below are glass skulls, too! I found them at Total Wine, but I’m sure you can find various skull stoppers online as well.

“Heavy Lifter” Skeleton Stands

The metal skeleton stands/holders (pictured above and below) were another favorite find for this party! I picked them up at Ross for a fantastic price, and spray painted one of them gold. The other 2 were left silver and used to hold rainbow desserts:

Party Drinks

In addition to the wine, we enjoyed a couple non-alcoholic punches: Mexican Punch served in a glass skull dispenser, and Yummy Apple Cider Punch served from a glass barrel dispenser. Note: These drinks also taste great “punched up” with a big splash of sparkling wine!

Last but not least, here’s one more close-up peek at my “Day of the Dead inspired yard flamingos”, which are just skeleton flamingos accented with faux flowers from the craft store. Super easy and definitely a detail that seemed to make people smile. ;)  Don’t forget to grab your free printables below!