My latest tea party was frightfully delightful!
I asked my friends if there was a theme they would like for my next tea party and they chose 'spooky'. Since it was still summer at the time, I was careful to not include specifically Halloween/fall time details such as pumpkins. Another one of my goals was to make this event feel eerie and dark, while still maintaining a tea party-esque atmosphere, adding touches of elegance amongst the gore!
I set the table with these cut-out sugar cookies that are made to look like decapitated people. (Yikes, maybe I should have put a trigger warning at the top of this post?) I used a Christmas gingerbread man cookie cutter, sliced off the heads before baking, and then added some red icing after they cooled to look like blood.
I asked my friends if there was a theme they would like for my next tea party and they chose 'spooky'. Since it was still summer at the time, I was careful to not include specifically Halloween/fall time details such as pumpkins. Another one of my goals was to make this event feel eerie and dark, while still maintaining a tea party-esque atmosphere, adding touches of elegance amongst the gore!
I set the table with these cut-out sugar cookies that are made to look like decapitated people. (Yikes, maybe I should have put a trigger warning at the top of this post?) I used a Christmas gingerbread man cookie cutter, sliced off the heads before baking, and then added some red icing after they cooled to look like blood.
For the second dessert idea, I made red velvet cupcakes and decorated them with dyed pink buttercream frosting to look like brains!
My favorite of all the food I served were the "finger sandwiches"! (Get it? Sandwiches that look like actual fingers!) I made pepperoni and cheese sandwiches on garlic bread sticks, used a quarter slice of pepperoni for the finger nails, and cut a few lines in the middle, on the top of each bread stick to look like knuckles! The first picture is how I had them displayed at the tea party, but the picture of them on the baking sheet gives you a better look, so I included both for you to see.
One of the hor' dourves I served were these deviled eggs with black olive spiders on top! I love easy recipes like this that also contribute to the theme.
Recipe: https://www.food.com/recipe/halloween-spooky-spider-deviled-eggs-397228
How cute are these caprese eye balls? They're baby tomatoes sliced in half with the insides removed and replaced with mozzarella cheese, then topped with teeny, tiny basil circles. The funny thing is, I didn't actually read the recipe (linked below) until now (I was just going by the picture when I made them) but it turns out you're supposed to use a hole punch - not scissors! - to cut out the round pieces of basil... this makes so much more sense! I was wondering how the ones in the picture were so perfect compared to mine. Haha! Oh, and right before serving, I drizzled balsamic vinegar over them as well to add some additional flavor. Yum!
Recipe: https://www.eatsamazing.co.uk/seasonal-fun-food/halloween/spooky-eyeball-caprese-bites-fun-halloween-food
I also put out black (well, technically, I think they're a really dark blue) tortilla chips with guacamole for something extra to nibble on!
"Where does the tea at this tea party come in?", you may ask... well I tried something new and made tea punch for my first time! See below for the recipe that I followed, but keep in mind, I added some red food coloring so it would go with the aesthetic of the party.
Recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/23532/tea-punch/
Most of the decorations, I either already had at home or picked up from from the Dollar Tree (fortunately they had already started stocking spooky decorations for Halloween) so it wasn't even expensive to arrange! Check out the next few pictures for a look at how I displayed the buffet table. The old silver tea set is my grandma's and it gives me major Haunted Mansion vibes, so of course I had to put it to use for this tea party! The 'ghost motel' sign, stringed skeletons, and fake spider webs were all in my family's Halloween storage boxes from previous years... they definitely came in handy for decorating the wall! I used a regular red table runner, but dressed it up with some black tulle covered in glittery spider webs along with a string of light-up spiders!
I really like this napkin ring idea that my mom and I came up with for the party. We hot glued small plastic skeleton hands to red ribbon and tied them around black, paper napkins. So simple, but they really added a lot to the table!
The center piece was also a DIY project. I filled a clear vase with the same spider web tulle that I used on the buffet table, threw in some mini skull heads, then added an arrangement of faux black and red roses. I also added a few other miscellaneous decorations to the table, all on top of a lace table cloth. Again, I wanted this to be spooky without losing the tea party vibe!
My favorite of all the food I served were the "finger sandwiches"! (Get it? Sandwiches that look like actual fingers!) I made pepperoni and cheese sandwiches on garlic bread sticks, used a quarter slice of pepperoni for the finger nails, and cut a few lines in the middle, on the top of each bread stick to look like knuckles! The first picture is how I had them displayed at the tea party, but the picture of them on the baking sheet gives you a better look, so I included both for you to see.
One of the hor' dourves I served were these deviled eggs with black olive spiders on top! I love easy recipes like this that also contribute to the theme.
Recipe: https://www.food.com/recipe/halloween-spooky-spider-deviled-eggs-397228
How cute are these caprese eye balls? They're baby tomatoes sliced in half with the insides removed and replaced with mozzarella cheese, then topped with teeny, tiny basil circles. The funny thing is, I didn't actually read the recipe (linked below) until now (I was just going by the picture when I made them) but it turns out you're supposed to use a hole punch - not scissors! - to cut out the round pieces of basil... this makes so much more sense! I was wondering how the ones in the picture were so perfect compared to mine. Haha! Oh, and right before serving, I drizzled balsamic vinegar over them as well to add some additional flavor. Yum!
Recipe: https://www.eatsamazing.co.uk/seasonal-fun-food/halloween/spooky-eyeball-caprese-bites-fun-halloween-food
I also put out black (well, technically, I think they're a really dark blue) tortilla chips with guacamole for something extra to nibble on!
"Where does the tea at this tea party come in?", you may ask... well I tried something new and made tea punch for my first time! See below for the recipe that I followed, but keep in mind, I added some red food coloring so it would go with the aesthetic of the party.
Recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/23532/tea-punch/
Most of the decorations, I either already had at home or picked up from from the Dollar Tree (fortunately they had already started stocking spooky decorations for Halloween) so it wasn't even expensive to arrange! Check out the next few pictures for a look at how I displayed the buffet table. The old silver tea set is my grandma's and it gives me major Haunted Mansion vibes, so of course I had to put it to use for this tea party! The 'ghost motel' sign, stringed skeletons, and fake spider webs were all in my family's Halloween storage boxes from previous years... they definitely came in handy for decorating the wall! I used a regular red table runner, but dressed it up with some black tulle covered in glittery spider webs along with a string of light-up spiders!
I really like this napkin ring idea that my mom and I came up with for the party. We hot glued small plastic skeleton hands to red ribbon and tied them around black, paper napkins. So simple, but they really added a lot to the table!
The center piece was also a DIY project. I filled a clear vase with the same spider web tulle that I used on the buffet table, threw in some mini skull heads, then added an arrangement of faux black and red roses. I also added a few other miscellaneous decorations to the table, all on top of a lace table cloth. Again, I wanted this to be spooky without losing the tea party vibe!
I set up a couple of themed decorations out front as well to get my guests excited as they entered!
Since I wanted to make the room feel dark, I put two room dividers up along the wall where the window is to block out some of the light from outside. Then covered it with a black plastic table cloth, 'no trespassing' banner, string of skull lights, and several paper doilies. This is also ideal for a photo backdrop!
I had a prop table set up in case anyone wanted to have some fun pictures taken upon arriving or afterwards.
What's a party without music?! I put together a playlist of spooky songs in advance to have playing throughout the gathering.
Of course, I always like to include an activity (or several!) of some sort to liven things up! While at the table, after everyone was served, I began a game of Spooky Fish Bowl. It's just Fish Bowl, but with spooky words and phrases only! My sister - the one who didn't attend the party (so don't worry about cheating!) - came up with them ahead of time. Shout-out to Bria, thank you for the help!
Here's how to play the original game of Fish Bowl: https://funattic.com/how-to-play-fishbowl-game/
I also put together a little obstacle course for my guests to complete after dining! Really, it was just three, small tasks and whichever team completed all of them in the shortest time won. One of the tasks was to unscramble a spooky word.
They also had to toss 6 plastic eye balls into a bowl.
Finally, they needed to successfully 'pin the spider on the web'! One teammate had to use words to guide the other blindfolded teammate to the center of the web.
I am so happy that I can now add "spooky" to the list of different themes I've done for my tea parties! Thank you so much to my mom for playing a huge role in helping me prepare for this event. Thank you also to my sister Livia and her friend Brooke for helping me with a few last minute touches. Thank you again to all of my guests for coming and participating. And of course, thank YOU for reading this! I hope it inspires you to put together a spooky tea party of your own. Make sure to tag me in your posts if you take any of these suggestions so I can see! Xoxo Love, Dahlia
You always go above and beyond! My family and my kids friends had so much fun!!! Thank you always
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Thank you so much, Sandy! I always look forward to our annual tea parties together:)
DeleteA lot of appetizers for halloween are usually not appetizing to me especially when they do the fingers, but you truly made it look very appealing and I am sure everything tasted great as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for taking the time to say that! I really appreciate the kind words, it means a lot! Xoxo
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