Haunted Acre Woods Productions was started in 1997. My oldest daughter was a freshman in high school and decided she wanted a Halloween party. We copied patterns and recipes out of Family Circle and Woman's Day Magazines and went to work. We cut a witch, cat, bat and 'street sign' out of plywood. They were painted black and put up in various areas of the yard. The street sign pointed to the Haunted Acre Woods in the back yard. One prop that has been near and dear to my heart is the little troll we made. He has a scary face, overalls and Pooh slippers. He is the one prop that we find a place for every year. The kids seemed to have a great time and by the following September were asking Amy if there would be another party.
In 1998 we had four parties, one for each of the girls. That’s pretty much how we spent our Halloweens until 2001. That’s the year we decided to open up our yard to the few TOT’s we would have come to our house on Halloween night. It was also the year we started to build more of our own props and take more pictures.
Invitations, goodie bags and food were specialties. I don’t think we ever used store bought invitations. We always made our own. In 2001, for Amy’s party – now a freshman in college - we made cast fingers. We tied orange and black ribbon around them, put them into a miniature coffin with sphagnum moss and a note saying, ”Don’t forget Amy’s party”. They were a hit with all her friends. In 2003 Emily, my youngest, and I carved miniature tombstones out of foam for invitations.