One nice thing about living in an old, scary-looking house is that you don’t have to decorate much for Halloween. Still, I try to dress up the dining room, since this is where the appetizers are served during our annual Masquerade Ball. Would you like to see how I give the buffet table a ghoulish appearance?
The dining room and table in question.
To start, cover the table with a black, vinyl “cloth.” You can find this item at every hobby shop and “odd lot” during the month of October. I’ve had mine for at least 4 years.
Next, grab some common cheesecloth…
And use it to cover the table. The black underlining will show through the cloth in a very ghostly way.
Cheesecloth always reminds me of Miss Haversham, the hapless bride from Dickens’ Great Expectations.
Pop Quiz! In the comments field below, tell me the name of the actress in the above photograph. (Hint: She’s English. )
When my dining room is dimly-lit (as it will be on Masquerade Ball night), the table cloth has an eery-but-formal look. Just like the rest of this house.
Because the table will be filled with trays of appetizers on party night, I can’t crowd its surface with too many decorative items.
But just for fun, let’s explore some sinister tablescape-possibilities:
If you have a felt spider web, you could place it in the center of the table.
And on that web, you could place a couple of pointy witches hats.
(You really ought to photograph yourself in one of the witch caps.)
Alternatively, you could put one hat on the table, and flank it with a pair of pumpkins.
A scarier look could be accomplished by flanking one witch’s hat with two black candles. I set my candles in small cast-iron urns.
You would not be wrong to place a skull before each candle.
Of course, a great big spider belongs somewhere. You could certainly hang it from a chandelier.
Or, forget the chandelier, and just let the spider dwell between the candles and skulls.
Creepy decorations are endless when you have cheap Halloween crap creepy accessories at hand.
Whatever you top it with, I hope you’ll try my black-vinyl-and-cheesecloth table arrangement. It’s appropriately spooky, and it’s easy to do!
My friend Despina and I were were both spooky and kooky one year. She’s the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and I’m an extremely handsome vampire. Don’t pretend you don’t want me to bite your neck.
Do you decorate for Halloween? Talk to me in the comments field below.
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Need some fascinating costume ideas? Then be sure to visit these frightening posts:
Sue says
Helena Bonham Carter! And I, too, have lots of cheap Haloween crap! Love it!
Tiffany says
Helena Bonham Carter!
Debbie says
Yes, she is in fact the dear sweet Helena… also known by many “stage names” including the RED QUEEN (fom Alice in wonderland) 🙂
Paige says
Helena Bonham Carter!! 🙂 One of my favs!!! All the way back from when she was in “A Room With A View”!!!
Julie B says
Kevin – that turret seems a likely place to spot a ghost – does that ever happen at this time of the year?
Beverly, zone 6, eastern PA says
I confess that after hosting 46 Halloween Parties in 23 years, closed in a small room with Kindergarten students, I have exhausted my enthusiasm for decorating with ghoulish accessories. But I greatly appreciate your creative suggestions and love that gauzy tablecloth.
Helena Bonham Carter was never so scary as when she played Bellatrix LeStrange in Harry Potter.
KimH says
We used to go all out for Halloween but since our kids are all grown up & moved out and our neighborhood Trick or Treaters have become less & less over the years, we do less than ever. This year we hosted 9 little sorta-grands in our home & neighborhood & we had fun finger foods that were appropriate for kiddies… Thats as far as we go any more..