You have a dining table, a Saturday afternoon, and a party on the calendar. That is enough. The whole thing takes about three hours of real work, and most of that is waiting for things to be unfolded and flattened out.
Here is the order I would do it in, because doing it out of order means moving everything twice.
First twenty minutes: the surface
Clear the table completely. Then cover it, and cover it in one layer, not three.
The vintage plastic tablecover is 54 by 108 inches, which runs the full length of an eight foot banquet table with overhang left over. On a normal six foot dining table you will have a lot of drape, and that is fine. Plastic also means you are not babysitting spills for the rest of the night.
If you are stashing boxes under a folding table, add skirting. The vintage red and black skirting is 14 feet long and 29 inches deep, which wraps three sides of an eight foot table. Skip it on a nice dining table.
One opinion while we are here: do not stack a tablecover, a runner, and placemats. Three layers of pattern makes the food look like it is sitting on a quilt. Pick the cover and move on.
Next forty minutes: height in the middle
A flat table photographs badly no matter what is printed on it. You need something standing up, and you need it only in the center.
The honeycomb centerpieces are the straightforward answer. The Cat and Moon and the Witch and Moon are both 9.75 inches, both printed on both sides, both on a tissue base. If you want a run of them down a long table, the four pack of 9 inch centerpieces opens to six inches across on an orange honeycomb base, which spaces nicely at roughly every two and a half feet.
For something taller, the black and blue honeycomb piece is 14.25 inches, tall enough to be the only thing in the center of a round table.
Tissue dancers do something the honeycombs do not. Three per package (witch, skeleton, black cat) in orange, black and ivory, and they move all evening if you set them where people walk past.
Assemble all of this before you set a single plate. Honeycomb tissue needs persuading to stay open, and you do not want to be doing that over a laid table.
The next hour: plates, napkins, and the walls
Now the tableware, because it is also the pattern. The 9 inch vintage theme plates come half black cat and half goblin in the orange and black style, and 9 inch is dinner size, not a dessert round that collapses under a plate of food. The luncheon napkins carry the Black Scratch Cat, which is one of the classic old Halloween images, at two ply.
Count two napkins per guest. Everyone gets this wrong.
While plates are going down, get something on the wall behind the table. This is the half of the job people forget, and it is the half the camera sees. A six foot string banner, or the 1948 jointed cat streamer at 7.5 inches by 4 feet, or the five by seven foot fabric backdrop if you want the whole wall handled in one piece. Fabric is the better choice if anyone is taking pictures, because it does not throw glare the way plastic sheeting does.
Everything above lives in the vintage Halloween collection, which is filtered to in-stock only, so what you see is what will ship.
Last twenty minutes: the small stuff
This is the part that separates a decorated table from a table with decorations on it.
- Vintage picks, fifty to a package, into cupcakes, sandwiches, and cheese cubes
- Black cat sticker sheets on cups, cello bags, and name cards so the small items match without buying themed versions of each
- Cat boppers and buttons scattered along the table as filler between the taller pieces
- A fortune wheel game at each end, which doubles as decor and as something for people to do
The Witch Fortune Wheel is a 1927 reproduction with a turn dial on an eyelet. No batteries, no app, and it reliably occupies people who do not know anyone else at the party.
What I would add if you have more time
Serving pieces. The 12.875 inch witch and black cat platters hold a full batch of cookies, which means fewer trips to refill. Cider in the vintage ceramic mugs is better than cider in a paper cup, and the mugs go back in the cupboard on November 1 instead of into the trash.
For a second table or a drinks station, plain orange and black from the solid color tableware range keeps the palette consistent without repeating the print. And if you want the rest of the house handled, the full Halloween selection covers the doors, windows and ceilings this post ignored.
Ordering today? PARTY10 takes 10% off, one use per customer, so put it on the cart that has the tablecover and the plates in it.
