You don’t need to spend hours or lots of cash to create a visually interesting and frightfully fun serving table for your next Halloween party. Follow these quick tips for transforming your table faster than a werewolf appears in a full moon.
Stick with a Theme
A table looks best if there is a consistent theme in both story and color. The idea is to avoid too many elements and only use what makes sense to tell your spooky story. Also, you'll be adding serving dishes and trays to your table, so a consistent theme keeps everything from looking overcrowded.
My favorite table story is a witch's lair where she brews her concoctions. For the look, I use green and purple as my accent colors against a black base. I add a small bird cage, a fake crow (witches always have a pet), lots of skulls (victims!), a caldron, "potion handbooks" and "potion bottles." Here are some other ideas:
• Screaming for the Screen – Use a movie as inspiration. For example, for "Friday the 13th," place "Jason" masks on the table along with foam "weapons," such as an axe or machete. From classic horror and sci-fi to modern slasher and suspense, the movie options are practically endless. Plenty of family-friendly options too, such as "Harry Potter" and "Hocus Pocus."
• Skin and Bones – Spread fake skeleton parts and "dismembered" rubber hands, ears, fingers, etc., across your table. Pull out a length from a gauze roll and dip areas into red food coloring or color with a red Sharpie marker. Be sure to position these unrolled sections like a ribbon running across the table and curling around table items. Add "bloodied" fake knives and cutting instruments, as well.
• Haunting Words Come Alive – Look to macabre literature, especially by Edgar Allen Poe. Bring to life the dark imagery of his work, such as the "Raven" and "Tell-Tale Heart." Plus, there's so much grim imagery of Poe himself.
• Area 51 – Go all in on aliens and UFOs. Little green men figurines and alien-related items and decorations are so easy to find, even at the dollar store.
• Creepy Critters – Place plastic or rubber bugs, millipedes, snakes and spiders in different sizes and colors across the table.
• Pumpkin Parade – Showcase all kinds of fake pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns in different sizes and styles.
• Haunted House – Decorate your table with items that look old or antique and stretch fake spider webs among them. Haze a mirror with soap or baby powder to make it look extra dusty and old.
Elevate Decorations For an Eye-Catching Table
Tables look best with decorations on different visual planes for the eye to explore. So before you place a tablecloth, create at least two levels in the center of your table. Follow these tips:
1. Raised Centerpieces – Create raised platforms by placing a shoebox, an upside down bowl or whatever you have on hand. Make sure it's sturdy enough to support your decorations.
2. Different Heights and Shapes – It's okay if the raised areas are different shapes and sizes. The differences will look more interesting overall.
3. Keep it Relaxed – Place a tablecloth over the raised platforms, but be sure to slightly pull and gather the fabric around the platforms. The fabric should gently fall around these areas. This tablecloth is the "base layer" for the final table covering.
4. Table Platform Options – In addition to, or in place of, raised platforms under a tablecloth, use your decorations to create height on top of the table cloth. My favorite choices are books and faux books. By the time September rolls in, T.J. Maxx and HomeGoods roll out Halloween-themed storage containers and nesting boxes designed to look like books. Stack them up and top with a Halloween decoration.
Layer Fabrics For A Striking Visual Effect
Although a classic look, Halloween parties aren't the time for covering your table with only a single white tablecloth. Instead, use fabrics with texture and monotoned patterns in layers to create the perfect Halloween vibe. Here are steps for creating the look:
1. First Layer of Color – For covering the entire table and the raised platforms, pick a tablecloth in black (my preference) or any Halloween color, such as green, purple and orange. Another fantastic option is red, which looks especially creepy under layers of black. If white is all you have, don't fret, it will work fine since it's only a base layer.
2. Layer Fabrics On Top – The key to this look is covering part of the base tablecloth with accent layers of smaller, fabrics placed at different angles. These layers shouldn't cover the entire table, just the majority of the center from side-to-side.
3. Arrange the Layers Loosely – Just like the base tablecloth, gather some of the fabric around the raised areas in the center of the table to make it look relaxed. You can also gather some fabric into a long, loose roll and then wind around the base of the raised areas under the table items. I did this with a runner that had a lacey, spider-web pattern.
4. Get Creative with Fabric Choices – I prefer the monotoned look of an all-black table. To create visual contrast, I use fabrics that vary in texture and type of material. But, a base tablecloth that's a different color from the top layers looks great, too.
Fabric remnants work well for the accent layers. For instance, I used three different fabrics: a flocked, spiderweb pattern; a sheer; and part of an old costume that looks like zombie rags. If the remnant has rough edges, then all the better for creating an eerie look. Want to make your own layers? Use what you have! For example, cut an inexpensive black, cotton bed sheet or an old costume into small sections and then tatter and fray the edges.
Use What You Have
Before you rush out to the store, look around your home for items to help decorate your table. For my table, I used left over St. Patrick's Day bead necklaces to represent a potion flowing out of a plastic caldron for my witch's lair theme. In our attic, I discovered antique glass a relative had collected and used those as potion bottles. Maybe you have some of these items tucked away in your home:
• Old-looking books.
• Glass bottles in dark colors.
• Antique or ornate silver and pewter decor, such as goblets, vases and mirrors.
• Small, aged metal and wooden boxes (open and fill with Halloween items, such as fake spiders or eyeballs).
Be Creative With Lighting
Lighting is the simplest and fastest way to turn so-so table decor into something extra special. Try out some of these ideas:
• Mini String Lights Create Depth – Mini, battery-powered string lights, especially the extra small "fairy lights," in orange, purple or green look great on a table. Wrap the lights up and around elevated areas and focal points, such as food trays, to create visual interest and depth. If your table covering includes a sheer layer, run the lights under it to help soften the look.
• No Wax Worries – Combine a variety of battery-powered pillar candles and candle sticks with differing heights and styles.
• Glow Sticks Grow Up – These handy soft lights aren't just for trick-or-treating. For an easy way to add accent color, strategically place small glow sticks under the tablecloth layers or drop into table-top Halloween decorations and containers. The effect is best when only one color is used.
• Tried and True Votives – Battery-powered votives are super easy. Simply spread out on the table or place inside decorations such as plastic pumpkins and small glass containers. Votives with white lights work great, but those with orange, green or purple lights are even better.
• Adjust Room Lighting – Switch out the bulbs in light fixtures and lamps for ones that are orange or purple. If you have a dimmable overhead light, turn it down. There are also specialty bulbs available that flicker.
Get a Little Crafty
If you have a little extra time on your hands, then try these two simple crafts that are perfect for decorating a Halloween party table.
• Creepy Framed Images – Search the Internet for images that match your table theme. Print out and place these in distressed wooden or metal picture frames. Black-and-white, old-timey looking family portraits (those blank stares are freaky), are perfect as part of a haunted house theme. Images of apparitions and famous haunted houses would also work.
• Haunted Mansion Wine Bottles – Serving wine? Remove all of the labels and use a white paint pen to draw a spider web pattern on the bottles.
Hope these tips and suggestions help you create a memorable Halloween party table. Enjoy!
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