It’s surreal to me that the beloved animated series Over The Garden Wall is now 10 years old! As it has for me, the series has touched the hearts of many lovers of animation and storytelling. It perfectly captures themes of old Americana and early 1900s cartoons. An article detailing each of the episodes and their themes can be found here on The Game of Nerds by sabrina19200. She does a wonderful job describing the atmosphere of what the show is like.
This series does not have any set decorations for a party like my other article regarding cryptids, so I have put together this guide for inspiration. Much of my inspiration has come from videos I have seen on TikTok and concepts from the now extremely-rare-to-obtain art book. If we wanted to boil down some essential themes for what can make an Over The Garden Wall party, one of them would be to have an overall garden theme, Halloween, early 1900s-1600s vibes, and a fairy tale aesthetic. Although Halloween tends to be the primary theme for Over The Garden Wall, I believe it can easily be used in theme year-round as I had mentioned before, the focus here will mostly be on the garden and fairy tale aspect.
Most of my findings in supplies have led me to make another Amazon and Etsy list as many of the sellers have an abundance of Over The Garden Wall-themed products. Also seeing as it is no longer fall, I have taken my special liberties in creating this party by focusing on a tea party setting. My main focus will be the dining area as I intend to make a thematic tea table setting. I will also bring to this party another tabletop game that is best played with 4-6 players. Now let’s begin!
Party Supplies
I focused on finding cost-effective items for decoration from bargain/thrift stores so not all of them will be from Amazon.
This time, I have taken to budgeting for most items as party planning can be expensive. Luckily with a little creativity, it is easy to make do. As Greg says in the penultimate episode, “Wirt, you can do anything if you set your mind to it. That’s what the old people say!” So you can do what you please with the list I have provided below for inspiration.
- Tea Set and Tableware
As the secondary theme of this Over The Garden Wall party in particular is going to be a tea party setting, it is essential to find a good teapot and set that goes along with the theme. This set in particular I found from a GoodWill and the same set can be found on Etsy. It is a piece from the 80s with a leaf pattern that I liked and stayed within the woodsy themes of the show. Anything with some sort of plant decor will do well in your favor as I also got a set of paper plates and cups with a vintage floral design from Amazon.
- Mini Animals
Schoolyard Follies episode is what drives to bring these little guys to the table. All sorts of creatures both big and small can be found in the woods of The Unknown so I took it upon myself to add little woodland creatures.. Any that wear little outfits or an abundance of birds are going to be the best choice. You can use any little leftover toys or figurines.
- Thrifted colonial lantern
Out of all the symbolic items you can place at your table, one of the most important ones is the Beast’s lantern. While at a thrifting warehouse, I happened upon a colonial lantern and placed a tealight inside for some lively decoration. Anything with a rounded shape will do nicely as a lantern and you can even paint it! I found a similar lantern can also be found at Michaels called the colonial lantern, but it can only be ordered online.
The Unknown is a mysterious place with deep woods so this backdrop best suited the theme. It worked splendidly as a photo op spot for my guests and I, maintaining the creepy atmosphere of the woods with a lovely almost purple-blue tint to it. Other alternatives that have more greenery can also be found on Amazon such as this forest tapestry or a mushroom forest tapestry.
Tying into how Over The Garden Wall mainly has a vintage quality, I ordered these postcards from Amazon. They can be used for activities or displayed in various places on the walls as they come with double-sided foam stickers. My favorite out of the bunch has to be the frog playing the guitar which reminds me of Jason Funderburker the frog.
- Sticker Packs:
You can never have enough stickers especially if they tie in with your theme! I spread these around the table and gave them to each guest as a party favor. I decided to get two packs in particular is they offered more variety. I love how some of them even reference moments from the covers of the comics.
Table Set Up
When it came to setting up the table, I opted to start with a traditional table setting placing the utensils and napkins at the sides of the paper plates as well as a tea cup. I used some guides online for setting the table as a reference as I wanted to make sure I was accurate in my placements.
I had a tea service at the end of the table for all of my guests to pick from a variety of flavors. I had Earl Grey for Marguerite Grey, Chamomile for Quincey Endicott, Pumpkin Spice for Pottsfield, and some other floral or citrus varieties with various placards relating them to a certain character or theme from the show.
And in the center of the table, I had the lantern surrounded by some of the woodland animal figures and a pair of stork scissors. I used a portion of the stickers and scattered them about the table to make it abundantly clear this was an Over the Garden Wall party.
After a while, I then made some additional room for all the food and snacks which shall be listed below in the menu section.
Menu
Each item I selected below I tried to relate to one of the many locations in Over The Garden Wall whle also observing many dishes in the show tended to be either very filling or sweet.
- Mashed potatoes (and molasses)
- Dark Lantern Tavern-style Ham Sandwiches
- Bagel Chips and Homemade Roasted Tomato Dip Party Size
- Assorted Candies for Greg (anything twisted in a wrapper will do)
- Beatrice’s Dirt Pudding with Gummy Worms
- And finally, Cake (preferably pumpkin or cheesecake)
Activities
- Babes in the Wood Oneshot
There is a wonderful Table Top Role Play Game (TTRPG) I discovered last year by creator Vass called Babes in the Wood. It’s themes are heavily inspired by Over The Garden Wall and its mechanics involves traversing through towns (Hallows) with the scores taken from your Itelligence (Noodle), Strength (Steam), and Charisma (Mush). I have started a campaign with my own guests so we simply continued to our second session for this party. I also made my own map to help give an idea of what the Hallow is like. Do not worry if you are unable to come up with your own Hollow, for in the guidebook there are several premade Hallows and other special ones you can download online at World Champ Game Co. I also had each player bring a small item to represent the placement of their characters so no one got lost on the map. I higly reccomend buying this game as the cost of an online pdf is free if you have an account with the website.
- Costumes are Required!
The best part of any themed party are the costumes. You could easily go for any of your favorte characters from the show, but I propose you could also use this as an opportunity to get creative. I suggested to my guests they could also dress up as their character for Babes in the Wood among the options being a critter, living toy, wodschild, or a kid in a costume. I’ve seen other suggestions on TikTok such as people dressing up as how an animal would that lived in The Unknown.
- Mini Collage
The postcards I mentioned from above as well as the stickers are what can be used for the following collage activity. All you need is either a sheet of paper or cardboard for the background pice to assemble a tiny Over The Garden Wall collage. Anything mystical or forest-like will make the perfect collage which then can be hung up on the wall.
- Watch Party
Over The Garden Wall may no longer be on Max, but it is still on Hulu and Amazon Prime.The show is about an hour long when adding all the episodes together.
Conclusion
I must reiterate it is early in the season to be celebrating this show, but Over The Garden Wall is such a classic, it can truly be enjoyed at any time or season. The fan community is a vibrant one which matches all of the outstanding creativity and thoughtfulness that went into this show. So much wonderful media has come of this show including the TTRPG and this featured image which is by my dear friend, Chase Diebolt who is one of the players in my campaign and featured in the image to the left as The Beast. Tell us if you also love Over The Garden Wall!
Trackbacks/Pingbacks