Invitation: Must say I cheated a bit to make the background for this invitation. I found the background image with movie theater text on it, then used ChatGPT to take away all the writing and add the "you're invited" lights at the top. I downloaded the Stranger Things font to then Photoshop the rest of the invitation.
Decorations: I created a wall portal behind my dinner table. It was actually really easy and inexpensive. Didn't even take me long to put up. I found a small strand of mini red Christmas lights and used blue painter's tape to tape them in a spiral pattern in the center of my wall. I bought red and black plastic tablecloths from the dollar store to use for the rest. I folded the red tablecloth to thicken it and then taped it over the lights. I then folded a black tablecloth on each side of the red, taping it on inside to create the portal. I cut the last plastic tablecloth into strips, taped each strip on the underside of the portal and twisted them taping them sporadically to the wall as they fanned out. It looked really cool in the dark.
For my table centerpiece, I borrowed and created some items iconic in the series. I started by creating a table runner with tan butcher paper. I set out 80s style Christmas lights on it, and then painted a letter of the ABCs next each bulb like Joyce Byers does in the series to talk to Will in the Upside Down.
I plugged the lights into a cordless battery, and hid the rest of the lights inside the box they came in. I covered this box with plastic tablecloth leftover from my wall portal and printed an image of an old-school TV screen with static (another iconic item from the show) and the name of our dinner to put in the center of the table. Under the "TV" I placed a Dungeons and Dragons book.
Eleven in the series is obsessed with Eggo waffles, so I used empty Eggo waffles boxes as vases and added dark red fake flowers from the dollar store.
Adding even more to the centerpiece, I borrowed Scoop's Ahoy ice cream pints and a demogorgon mug from a friend, used a sailor's cap from my dress-up bin, and set out various cassette tapes to add to the table.
I love these paper napkins I folded to look like demogorgons! I looked up flower napkin folds online and found this one that was close to the demogorgon shape. After folding, I printed a scary looking open mouth to lightly glue to the center and used a white paint pen to draw lines for teeth.
For placecards, I used AI to create Dungeons and Dragons game cards for each guest (front and back). I gave AI a photo of each guest, a photo of what a real game card looks like, and some details about the guest's hobbies, then it did all the work and generate these super fun placecards!
A neighbor was giving away these three Stranger Things posters, so I grabbed those to hang up above a side table and added more of the twisted black tablecloth pieces. Borrowed Stranger Things funko pops, Polly Pocket walkie talkie and legos to add to my mantle too.
I created wine labels to match the theme as well calling my red wine Hellfire Club Red with the Hellfire Club's logo. I added that the wine was "bottled in Hawkins, IN" and that it was "Dark & Delicious" to further bring in the D&D reference. The white wine I named Mindflayer Melt Chardonnay. I added an image of the mindflayer from season two with glasses of chardonnay in it's arms. For added fun, I included that it was only available at Starcourt Mall, an iconic setting in season 3.
For wine charms, I printed images associated with the series: a Scoops Ahoy employee shirt, Dustin's cap, "Running Up that Hill" cassette tape, crushed coke can, Surfer Boy pizza van, a demogorgon, Eleven's eggo waffle, and the WSQK van.
Menu: For this dinner, I started with Demogorgonzola Pizza as an appetizer. I used pie pastry crust to shape into a demogorgon head. Then I spooned on grilled onions, gorgonzola cheese and cooked bacon before baking it in the oven. I served it right out of the oven. So yummy.
Next was Benny's Upside Down Burgers. Benny's is the burger restaurant from season 1. These were just normal hamburgers/cheeseburgers that were assembled upside down. I printed a small image I found online of Benny's Burgers logo to put on a toothpick and stick in the top. I had grilled onions and bacon for guests to add to their burger as well as lettuce and tomato.
French fries and burgers go together so of course we had fries, but I served waffle fries to tie in Eleven's love of eggo waffles. "Friends Don't Lie" is a popular line for the show, so I added "Friends Don't FRY" to my menu card for this one.
For dessert we had red velvet cupcakes with a white buttercream frosting. My friend offered to make these for me which was amazing. She added a mini eggo waffle to each cupcake, and then used M&Ms for lights, and piped on string and letters to represent the alphabet wall from season 1.
I also served a fudge swirl ice cream cup to go with the cupcake. I created a small circle to put on the top with the Scoops Ahoy logo.
Favor: For a party favor, I made cookies inspired by The Upside Down. I used a red velvet cake mix with 1/3 cup oil and 2 eggs. Once whipped together I scooped the dough into balls and rolled them in crushed oreos (removing the cream part before crushing them). Then baked them for a little less than 10 minutes. Super simple and tasty. Hindsight, I could have just purchased black wafer cookies without the cream to save time, but didn't really think of that until after I was already scraping out cream from Oreos.
This dinner was a ton of fun to put together and the girls had I had a good time as well. I played a Stranger Things playlist in the background throughout the party.
