CenterpiecesNo. 4662 · The 2026 edition
Tablescape Thursday: Three Reader-Submitted Halloween Tables
Discover three imaginative Halloween tablescapes and a charming tale of how a gardening mishap led to a festive new tablecloth.
Our own summary of the original — the full post and photos live at betweennapsontheporch.net.
Readers Norma, Kathy, and Elena share their unique Halloween table themes: a whimsical witch, Buffalo check, and Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven. Plus, a story about acquiring a tablecloth from an unexpected gardening project.
About this
This post is the 786th Tablescape Thursday roundup and showcases three reader-submitted Halloween tables: Norma's spooky table in the south of France (which supplied an unusual tablecloth origin story), Kathy's orange-and-black Buffalo check table with its humorous upside-down witch centerpiece, and Elena's Edgar Allan Poe 'The Raven' themed table with tarnished silver and DIY-painted props. Along the way Susan shares sourcing links for the tablecloths, napkin rings and plates. It's a source of Halloween table-setting inspiration, DIY prop tricks, and shopping pointers.
The plan
- Look for glass chargers at a local charity organization — Norma got 8 'for next to nothing' even though similar ones are expensive elsewhere (seen on eBay).
- Choose a table that isn't too scary if you'll be entertaining little ones — Kathy's table is described as good for kids.
- For a Halloween table, use tarnished sterling candlesticks and tarnished silver plate flatware instead of polishing them.
- If plates wobble on glass chargers or with antique plates, place a doily in between to keep them from moving.
- Buffalo check napkins, tablecloth and placemats in orange and black are available for purchase; napkins Susan already owns.
- Source spiderweb tablecloths and black mesh napkin rings online if you want to copy Elena's Raven table.
Decoration ideas
- Tablecloth covered with stars and zodiac signs (Norma's, repurposed from a garden-work mud-covered cloth that washed beautifully)
- Napkins sewn by Norma from fabric named 'Ghoul's Night Out'
- Black hexagonal plates with no hallmark from Norma's local charity organization
- Glass chargers from the same charity organization — 8 for next to nothing
- Big candelabra with a crow perched on it (Susan plans to steal this idea)
- Black candles in the Halloween chandelier/candelabra
- Large green bottle from a friend's cellar in France, stained inside, with a label added by Norma
- Cauldron made to look like it has a fire beneath it using red battery lights
- Green lights tucked under stretchy pull-apart cobweb material inside the cauldron so it glows spookily with the lights off
- Kathy's orange and black Buffalo check tablecloth
- Spider napkin rings (similar Rhinestone Spider Napkin Rings available)
- Humorous centerpiece of an upside-down witch on Kathy's table
- Closer-view candelabras on Kathy's table
- Halloween-decorated china cabinet/hutch with a spiderweb apron
- Kathy's Halloween-decorated kitchen
- Elena's spiderweb tablecloth (found online)
- Black mesh napkin rings on Elena's table
- Salad plates by 222 Fifth Ave for the Raven table
- Dinnerware: Mikasa Italian Scenery (dishwasher safe, chosen so the dining room can be used more often)
- Tarnished sterling candlesticks and tarnished silver plate flatware as a purposeful Halloween look
- Doily placed between plates and chargers to stop wobbling with antique plates and glass chargers
- Raven in an antique cage that Elena has had for years
- Raven standing on a silver skull from TJ Maxx, with claws touched up using craft paint after silver over-spray
- Book on a stand from Michaels, used as-is
- Large book from Michaels with bright white skeleton hands and book edge sponged and dry-brushed darker, plus gold added to the book edges
Activities
- Take a Raven's-eye view photo of the finished Poe-themed table
- Host or join Tablescape Thursday: link up a table-setting-related permalink (not the general blog address), include a link back to the party in your post, and only link table-setting posts
More photos
Photos hosted by betweennapsontheporch.net.
