All Saints Day Party Ideas [a Classic Paper Dali post]

Editor's Note: I thought I'd run a classic Paper Dali post in preparation of All Saints Day. It's still a few weeks away, but you might want to start preparing today!

Planning an All Saints Day party? Or just need an excuse to dress up like your favorite heavenly peeps and eat yummy treats? Me, too!

So, here's my Paper Dali guide to a fabulously fun and sweet All Saints Day Party. This post is packed with game ideas, ways to give Halloween candy a Catholic flavor, and ideas for using Paper Dali printables for a party.

Invitations

Pick pictures from the Saints archives, color them up, paste them to construction paper, and you've an inexpensive but creative invitation to send to friends.

You can also use the saints printables to make your own stationery, invitations, or signs.

Game Ideas
For the past few years, friends and family have gotten together to celebrate All Saints Day with a party. We meet at the park, and each family sponsors a "booth" (a table or just an area set aside for a game). Every family volunteers to facilitate a game and also bring prizes for participants. (Please note: We picked up these ideas through our reading of various online sites and books, so I'm not sure where credit is due. But thanks to the brilliant moms who came up with these ideas.)

• St. Peter Fishing Booth
  Each child tosses a mini play fishing pole and hooks a toy. You can use a kiddie pool for this. We've had a sibling hide on the opposite side of the booth and pin fun things to the hooks.
• 7 Deadly Sins Bowling Pins Game
  Use a child's play bowling set, label each pin with a deadly sin, get a plastic ball and label it "grace" and then knock down as many sins as you can.
• St. Therese Flower Toss
  Display a photo of St. Therese of Lisieux. Each participant receives a rose (real, paper or otherwise) to toss to the picture. Whoever's rose is closest wins the prize.
• Pin the Halo on the Archangel
  A sweeter version of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey," participants get to pin a halo on an archangel. (Feel free to use my St. Michael the Archangel drawing for this game!)
• St. Isadore Pumpkin Roll
  Each participant rolls a pumpkin from a designated starting point to a designated finishing line. Whoever gets there first, wins.
• St. Christopher Relay Race
  Participants race from a designated starting point to a basket filled with baby dolls (i.e. "baby Jesus") then have to hurry back to the finishing line while carrying the baby doll on their shoulders.
• Follow the Straight Path Race
  Use some wooden blocks or beams for a fast-paced balancing game. Participants race across the straight path to get to the finishing line first. You can also do an alternate version and use a stopwatch to see which child has the best time across the beam.

Party Food

You can get good ideas from Catholic Cuisine. The gals there do a fab job of creating yummy eats for liturgical feasts. Any post for a saint will do in a pinch for an All Saints Day party.

Also, the St. Nicholas Center features fun ideas for St. Nicholas, including cookies.

We've bought a St. Lucia crown from Hemslojd, a Scandinavian-themed shop, which has a lot of other Saint Lucia-related items (including cookies).

Catholic Candy Ideas

Take your regular Halloween candy and give them a Catholic flavor!

Here are some ideas:

• Creepy Peeper Mix = St. Lucy Cupcakes
  Our local dollar store had chocolate eyeballs for sale. I had to have them! They were the perfect cupcake toppers ... and we just called them "St. Lucy Cupcakes."
•  Gummy Snakes = St. Patrick
• Hershey's Kisses = Blessed Miguel Pro (Miguel Pro loved Mexican chocolate, so you can use any chocolate and Blessed Miguel would be the perfect patron saint for it!)
• Candy Rings & Necklaces = Any Catholic king or queen (Think St. Wenceslaus, St. Margaret of Scotland, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, etc.)
• Candy Pumpkins = St. Isidore the Farmer
• Candy Fangs = St. Appolonia (the patron saint of dentists)
• Sweethearts (or any Valentine's Day candy) = St. Valentine
• Swedish Fish = St. Peter

Pumpkin Carvings

After reading this devotion for pumpkin carving (yes, really), I thought it was cute enough that it made me want to carve a pumpkin ... and talk about good things while doing so. You can find some Christian-themed pumpkin carving patterns at:

Catholic Cuisine's Saint o' Lanterns 

Squidoo's Christian Pumpkin Carving Page

Ways to Use My Paper Dali Printables

In addition to just printing out my saints paper dolls and coloring pages for, well, coloring, you can also use them for different All Saints Day party decorations and activities. Print them out to:

• Create invitations, signs and table settings.
• Wrap candy bars with them.
• Decorate paper bags for trick or treating.
• Cupcake toppers.
• Holy cards.
• Prizes (Just tape some candy to the picture!)

Saints Crafts from Paper Dali

I also have a few saints-related crafts for you, too:

• Color and print my Mother Teresa quotes print out and share them. Just add a slit and slide a lollipop through it. Or candy.  
• Make a St. Valentine matchbox craft.
• Make a St. Teresa of Avila bookmark.
• Print out a St. Patrick's Day note card. (Hey, All Saints Day is his celebration.)
• Make a St. Joseph peg doll.
• Make a St. Lucia peg doll with felt.

Hope your All Saints Day celebration is glittery fun and yummy with dashes of the holy, too!