Hobbit Party Aftermath: Invaded By Hobbits & The Swedish Chef?!

Happy post-party Tuesday, potato friends! Last weekend was our big Hobbit Holiday: Second Christmas party, and it was everything John and I hoped for and more. EEEEEE so incredible. I'll get to some fun pics in a sec, but first, the "more" part:

We were heading for bed around 3AM the night before when our kitty Suki had some, shall we say, poop issues. Stuck poop issues. Which quickly required a 4AM emergency vet visit.

::Jack Nicholson Joker voice:: "THIS CAT NEEDS AN ENEMA."

Still cute even with stuck poop. That's my girl.

We were already exhausted and stressed, so this wasn't the best way to start Party Day, but it all came out OK in the end. (Eh? EH?) The hardest part was waiting a couple hours at the ER, then dealing with our other cat, Eva, hissing and running from Suki for the last 3 days. Suki herself is happy as a poop-free clam, though, and has been vigorously head-butting everything and everyone like a big cuddly floofball.

K, enough cat poop talk. Here comes the poop on the party!

I will never miss a chance to fangirl over my amazing friends, so let's start with a Hobbit fashion show. (The official House Tour & games report will be later.)

Starting with a bang:


Gand-ALF, y'all.

Gand-ALF WAS HERE. (The feet! Aaaa!)

Not many would bring TWO costumes to a party, but Richard went that extra mile. Here he is in comfier costume #2 with his date Autumn:


(@GrinningGeeks)

I've been featuring Autumn & Richard's cosplays for YEARS here on Epbot, btw. I finally stalked them long enough that they agreed to be our friends, so score one for internet stalking.

"Best Entrance Award" goes to our friend John, who put his own daughters in chains to be a (surprisingly festive) Black Rider, bahaha:



I took maybe 5 pictures all night, and this was one of them. I believe I chose wisely.

John also brought this:



Spoiler: it was mead.

This is (most of) our found family, btw, who we spend every major holiday with:


That's Anna and John in the back, Robyn & Christie in front. It's wild to me that we met because I took a photo of the sisters in MLP cosplay back in 2011. Just... wild.

Right, on with the fashion show!


(@MeridaAnn)


(@OneBradyLady)

(@ElliotsCosplay)

Dana makes and sells custom wands, so he crafted a teeny Hobbit pipe wand!



When Alexis here heard we were throwing a Hobbit party she screamed and fell to her knees in delight - which is absolutely how you get invited to a party.


Colt & Alexis run a small handmade tea company, btw, and they sell online! Check them out at Milk N Honey Tea.


(@GibsonGirlK)

(@Rasldazl)



(@StephanieKotkin)



(@RobinMcGrath)



(@ChristieCoxArt)

I'm missing a good dozen or so, but that's most of the Hobbit gang.

And finally, here's me and John!

HOBBITSES

Our costumes are cobbled from things in our closets and a few thrift finds. The only things we bought were fabric for John's cape and my tunic top, which we altered by adding eyelets & lacing:

Someone asked for a better view of my headpiece:

My bird necklace is hand-sculpted by Olha, a Ukranian artist I featured back when the war first started. (Better view of it in her shop here.) It is amazing and delicate and one of my favorite things.

The headpiece, however, is from this $6 Clearance lantern from Walmart:

I cut the spriggy wire ring, bent it open into a headband, and hot-glued on some leaves. Easiest headpiece ever! And I bet now you'll never look at a spriggy candle ring the same. :D

 Since I tried to be more in the moment this party I've been relying on our friends for photos and video. Here come a few more favorites:

So. Much. Laughter.


John just looks really cute in this one.


(@calpal910)

This is during our "White Oliphaunt" game, my favorite part of the whole night. More on that next time!

(Also I just realized Scout is channeling Egon Spengler in this photo and I love it).

John pickin' up women again.

We had a whole committee trying to pose us for this next shot, but the boys decided their arms looked awkward so they should hold hands and swing them around:

I am in pain and it shows.

Speaking of laughter, at some point Swedish Chef showed up, because why not:

Yes, that's Swedish Chef popping through a Hobbit Door under a sign that reads "The Back Side Of Water." Embrace the chaos.

Astoundingly, someone even caught the back view:

Many of our friends are professional puppeteers and even Muppeteers, so when I tell you those are famous hands, well, let's just say it's something to Crow about. Also, John and I made the Chef puppet! ... but we still don't know what to do with him, other than take him out at parties.

Don't think I'm done, though, because I still have so much more to show you.

We partied for a solid 7 hours, and I still have the official House Tour (where we packed in more surprises!), and Hobbit-themed food, games and even a treasure hunt. John and I are still compiling the video and photos for those, but here's a sneak peek:

Thanks for sticking around, friends! I hope your 2023 is off to a wonderful start, and I'll see you back here on Friday.

*****

P.S.

I came so close to buying this wall tapestry for the party, look how pretty:

 

Forest Tapestry

Even the smallest size is a whopping 5 feet tall, and only costs $10 Prime! This has over 7,000 rave reviews, and some folks are adding LED fairy lights to the branches, like this:

WHICH LOOKS SO MAGICAL.

Ultimately I figured it wouldn't show in the dark on our deck for the party - and I have zero wall space left in the house - so someone please use this in your space so I can decorate vicariously through you. :D