get your spook on - somebody set the table

I just finished setting our table for the holiday season (no, not Christmas - the other holiday season) and I think it is one of the easiest ways to add some fun to your decor.  

I must throw in this disclaimer...this is a much nicer idea when you have a dining room separate from your everyday eating area.  We do not have that luxury (cut me some slack, real estate is pricey in Orange County) This tablescape gets pushed around more than any bullied kid I know to make room for homework and dining.  

Yes, I said it - dining.  We move the beautifully set table so we can eat on our everyday, sturdy white Ikea plates. Crazy?  Probably, but my husband loves me in spite of it all so all is right with the world.

The "trees" down the middle of the table are from Ikea - seriously love that store!  I purchased them forever ago on sale for like 25 or 50 cents a piece.  I'm not sure why they were marked down so low since they still carry them (current price is just around $5) but I'm not arguing. I originally bought them thinking they would be cute with family pictures tied to them as a family reunion centerpiece.  When I needed something not too big for this table I decided that these would work as a modern take on spooky dead trees.

The place settings consist of orange wooden chargers bought on clearance at Z Gallerie.  Keep an eye on the clearance area of all your favorite stores - you can decorate an expensive looking table for little money if you just shop for bargains.  Want to mimic the look but can't find a good deal on chargers - cut some mdf board or wood from the local home improvement store into the size you want and paint it. Better yet find an orange stain and stain the wood allowing the wood grain to show through.

The silver boney hands also came from Z Gallerie (I think)  I believe I paid full price for these because "I just had to have them" - you know how that goes.  I think that these could be reproduced cheaper with plastic skull hands and silver metallic spray paint.  If anyone tries it let me know how it turns out.

The orange napkins can be found anywhere and then just add your own silverware.  A big pat on the back to anyone that can tell me what movie our silverware has been seen in.
The orange soda bottles I found at Cost Plus (another favorite party store).  I'm not sure of the brand.  You could use Jones or some other orange soda.  I chose this one because it had  plain orange cap with no writing.  The label I made on the computer using s clip art skull and Dead Secretary as my font.
I may add some candles at some point but for now it's good.  I love seeing the traditional orange and black table set up every day and the bonus...it helps with house cleaning since we can't pile bills, papers and other garbage on top of it.

Make some plans to decorate your dining room table for this Halloween.  I even give you permission to wait until it's a bit closer to the 31st so you don't have to push around the place settings you big bully.