I love Fall and the impending excitement of upcoming holidays that it brings. Halloween is one of my favorites. Along with decorating the outside of the house, I also like to set the table.  It is a great way to get in the spirit. I like to set the table early so I can enjoy it throughout the month. Nothing is off limits this time of year, so I like to mix it up with different styles and textures. The tablescape does not need to be uniform or repetitive.  I started with a cobweb embroidered table runner over which I layered felt cobweb cutout table runners in the front and back.  (It was originally five cobwebs which I cut into a 2 and a 3 segment piece. The larger segment was placed on the front center, the smaller on the back center making a sphere below the chandelier. This adds visual interest as everything is not confined to a rectangle in the center of the the table.)

I have a slightly different style from one end of the table to the other as you will see as I scroll across in the images below. Here my target is the younger children. The candy filled “potion vials”, scary bug in sparkling spheres, and jack-o-lantern with bounty to share are all crowd pleasers.

The bugs I found this year were a big hit. The girls especially love the Indian wasp that reportedly stings you in the eye.  They thought is was awful, but cool at the same time. The tropical beetle colors are amazing and the iridescent ones change with the angle of the light.

Next I transition to the gleaming glass. While my theme this year is predominately black and white, I will want to infuse some color to add visual interest to the setting. The glass pumpkins with the barely perceptable amber color add richness to the setting as does the green candy dish. As they are translucent they draw the eye but do not distract from the overall theme.

During the holidays I love a bit of sparkle.  I love the unobtrusive sparkle that glass provides.

As this is halloween, a bit of spookiness is definatley in order. Skulls, skeletons, and mummies fit the bill.

A tombstone guarded by skeletons and an apothecary jar enhance the presentation.

While my theme is predominately black and white this year, little touches of color make the Black and White pop. Here I tied some translucent ribbon around the candelabra. It ties in the warmth of the wood table as well as the ghost’s pumpkin.

Simple details like putting a handful of miniature pumpkins on a small cake pedestal make a big difference. It creates a nice height differential and adds dimension to the setting.

The kids always like being able to take items off the centerpiece home.  The jeweled rings are always a big hit. The spider rings seem to be preferred by the boys.  Festive candy dishes are a great way to store/ display these party favors.

I also like to decorate vertically.  Ceramic ghost chimes the girls made when they were little provide the context of early childhood memories for the girls. They add further height to the table when suspended with fishing wire from the chandelier.

Small details like decorative placemats with skulls, bones, and bats woven into the pattern are a nice touch that come out on a second look.

Putting it all together…

Happy Halloween! XS

P.S. We like to listen to holiday music as we set the table each season. The best of the Arctic Monkeys has a Halloween-y sound to me, so that is what I like to listen to.

Below are some more recent finds, if you are interested in a particular item, there is an embedded link in each picture below to make it convenient for you to click on the item and get in time for your next event. When available, the exact items are sourced, when no longer available, similar items are sourced.

 

                       

Musical Pairing: