A Texas mom volunteered to host a cheer team party, then spent two months turning it into a ‘Halloween fever dream’ for under $500

When Ashton Sedita volunteered to host the middle school cheer team party, she decided to transform her home through her love for Halloween. The Texas mom spent two months preparing for the event, transforming her living room into a space filled with orange-and-black streamers, themed cushions, curtains, spooky art, and even pumpkin covers for her lights. She documented the process on her TikTok account, where a post on her creative approach gained hundreds of thousands of views.

In the post’s caption, she said she was having a great time adding little details to make the night extra memorable. She wrote, “I’m officially hosting the cheer Halloween party at my house this year, and naturally I’ve decided this means I need to turn the entire house into a Halloween fever dream.” The video shows her setting up thick streamers to “completely transform the room” and to get “all the old-school Halloween party vibes.”

In an interview with PEOPLE, Sedita said that her vision for the event went far beyond just decorations. She created a mystery game for the cheerleaders called “Who Stole the Spirit Stick?” which features suspect files, hidden evidence, and a leopard-print spirit stick. To make the game personal, she reportedly used photos of the cheerleaders as suspects and worked with one of the team’s co-captains on fictional police statements.

Sedita’s goal was to plan a Texas-sized party

The party is meant to help the middle school cheer team bond before their November competition. Sedita noted that the pressure to make the night special was entirely self-imposed, as she wanted to create a memorable experience similar to the ones she enjoyed at her grandmother’s house as a child.

Sedita told PEOPLE, “If I say I’m hosting a party, I’m hosting a PARTAYYYY. When they say everything is bigger in Texas, they mean it… even when I offer to throw the cheer party.” She also noted, “Nobody handed me a checklist that said, ‘Please build an evidence board and turn your house into a Halloween fever dream.’ That was all me.”

Despite the elaborate setup, the outlet reported that Sedita kept the budget under $500 by thrifting supplies, reusing decorations, and getting help from other booster moms. She also planned a surprise for the guests that she kept off social media, arranging for a restored 1940s police car to pull up as the spirit police. “They’re expecting a Halloween party, not the spirit police pulling up in a vintage cop car!” she said.

TikTok has been loving Sedita’s take on the Halloween party. One user wrote, “I’m 71 and THIS IS HOW I REMEMBER HALLOWEEN. ITS STUNNING!!” while others asked for tutorials and praised nostalgic touches like the Blockbuster sign. Sedita isn’t the only one leaning into nostalgia this Halloween, as Alyson Hannigan recently showed off her Buffy Halloween graveyard.

As one user mentioned, “I keep forgetting that I have adult money and free will! This is amazing. I’m going to have to order me some pumpkins for my lights now!”