The Modern Girl's Tea Party Primer: Haunted Tea

Nothing beats a haunted moonlit night on All Hallows Eve... ~ Kim Elizabeth

Salutations, Reader! In just a few hours, it will be that most anticipated of masked holidays: All Hallows Eve! Are you looking forward (as I am) to tomorrow afternoon's parade of wee ghastly ghouls, ghosts and goblins? If so, this tea party theme is for you!

The Haunted Tea combines all the things I love about Halloween: the cute, the clever and the deliciously spooky, while omitting the gory/zombie/slasher stuff I don't care for. Halloween has always represented the imagination to me--that hidden desire we all have to creatively try on a completely different identity--just for a few hours--and present it to the world (all while gathering a plastic jack-o-lantern full of goodies).

As a grown-up, I can't wait to create that same magic for our neighborhood munchkins. A bubble fogger, self-propelled cackling broomstick and witch's hat wait by the door to welcome these kindred souls...

The Setting:
Just to enhance the ambiance on Halloween night, I opted to set this Haunted Tea tablescape in our dining room where it can be seen from the front porch when trick-or-treaters arrive. Dim the lights and add a few flickering candles to give it a spooky glow.

The Tablescape:
Because there's usually a lot of pattern going on in Halloween table linens, consider going a simpler route with your centerpiece to minimize visual "noise". Here I went with a small haunted house silhouette votive holder and a cute Halloween salt & pepper set (Joann Fabrics has the most adorable & affordable assortment this year!). To get this look, pair them with a silver tablecloth and a runner made from inexpensive disposable spiderweb fabric. To play up the Haunted House angle, I threw in some appropriate place mats and washable spiderweb napkins (both scored at Kohls a few years ago).

Break up dark colors on your tablescape by adding some brightly-colored spooky potion ingredient jars (Eye of Newt and Lizard Legs, for example) and maybe a tea light holder or two. The candy corn Chinese take-out containers were super cheap at the Dollar Store and make clever napkin holders. Round out this look with black and white dishes (get 'em at Goodwill) and inexpensive plastic silver chargers.

A side note: patterned teacups and water glasses would be a distraction on an already busy tablescape. Instead, I suggest using footed glass mugs for hot beverages (cheap, dishwasher-safe and affordable in most housewares departments. They're also reusable for holiday gatherings.) and a set of silver skeleton punch cups for cold drinks (something similar is probably available at one of those Halloween shops that pop up in vacant stores this time of year). A few more scary embellishments round out the room and the tablescape is done!