3 Halloween Table Settings & A Halloween Craft

Welcome to the 473rd Tablescape Thursday!

Things are still a bit crazy around here with furniture still piled into the breakfast room and the deck furniture piled onto the porch. Fortunately, they are coming today to put everything back onto the deck now that it’s dry. Looking forward to getting everything back to normal!

Update: Sorry this post is going up a bit late…painters arrived while I was creating it and I had to help with moving the deck furniture back in place.

Halloween Craft Fail

I’ve always been a bit of an Edgar Allan Poe fan, the crafting of the short story, The Tell-Tale Heart, left a big impression on me back in high school. I was hooked after that!

So, many years ago when I came across this wonderfully creative setting featuring the Poe poem, The Raven, at the blog, Brooklyn Limestone, I saved the photo hoping to one day re-create it for a Halloween table. Unfortunately, after Stefanie created her setting, she discovered the paint markers she had used were not considered “food safe.”

Inspiration Setting for Halloween

Photo from Brooklyn Limestone

I’ve searched off and on for years for paint or paint markers that were not just for ceramics but were actually certified to be “food safe” and I finally thought I had found them. All the info I found online and in forums said they were safe for food because you bake the plates in an oven for 30 minutes afterwards and that sets the paint. The info I found online even stated that the plates were dishwasher safe after baking them. That sounded pretty good, right?

I ordered a few pens and after weeks of searching online, I finally found a crow stencil that was pretty close to the size I needed to paint a crow onto my salad plate. The stencil was actually of a crow on the back of a sheep, but I knew I could cut the sheep part off and just use the crow.

Small Crow Template

 

Once the pens arrived I decided to contact the company via email just to verify they were indeed safe for painting in the center of a plate. Just wanted to be sure. This was the response I got back.

Good morning Susan,

Thank you for your message and for contacting us with your question.

We recommend our Marabu Porcelain & Glas Painter to be used only on the outer rims of plates and the outsides of cups and bowls.

Despite the fact that our Marabu Porcelain Painter as well as the new Marabu Porcelain & Glas Painter are water based, non-toxic, certain very strict rules apply for paints for direct food contact. As these certifications comprise a vast number of chemical analyses and many factors to be monitored, we cannot certify our paint as suitable for direct food contact. But again, they are safe to be used on mugs if you leave a 2cm undecorated gap on the rim.

For tableware designs with the Marabu Porcelain Painters we recommend you do not paint on cutting areas, inner surfaces or glass rims as the painted parts might get off because of the mechanical abrasion by knives, spoons, teeth etc.

We hope this helps. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any further questions.

Kind regards

 

🙁

Ummm, not the answer I had been hoping for since I wanted a crow right in the middle of my salad plate. By the way, I found white plates, both dinner and salad, in The Dollar Tree. The price was right at $1 each, and the rim of the dinner plate is relatively flat, perfect for writing on.

Here’s one plate I had started before I received the reply email from Marabu. He’s not baked yet since I still needed to write “Nevermore…” underneath. I guess it would be okay if I just painted him on the rim, then baked him since they say that’s okay in their reply email. Drat! I had really wanted him in the center of the plate. Maybe he would be okay for finger foods where utensils weren’t being used. I guess on the rim is better than not at all, right?

Tiny Crow with Paint Markers

 

In the meantime, I’m sharing links to some previous Halloween tables for a bit of spooky inspiration. Hope you enjoy!

Click on the title of any table to see that table in full!

A Halloween Table for the Birds!

 

Halloween Table in Orange Yellow and White with Scarecrow Centerpiece

 

A Spiderweb Tablecloth for a Spooky Setting

 

You’ll find additional Halloween tablescapes I’ve created over the years here: Halloween Tables. (Click any picture on that page to access that previous tablescape.)

Looking forward to all the beautiful tables posted for this week’s Tablescape Thursday!

Pssst: I post almost daily to Instagram. Follow Between Naps on the Porch on Instagram here: Between Naps On The Porch.

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Comments

  1. That’s cute. I would just put a clear salad plate on top and use them that way. You can still see the crow and no danger will come to anyone using them. At least if you bake them they are less likely to have the paint come off.

  2. Cyndi Raines says

    That’s too bad that it isn’t food safe. I think the rim will work fine for a plate of finger foods, rapped candy, or mini cupcakes still in their paper liners. Would like to try this with other designs as well.

  3. Oh, they have to be so conservative! That is too bad! Guess you could do a decorative one to be placed on a stand. Loved Marie’s house! We are the same – 400 plus kids, lined up cars – crazy fun!

  4. Love the raven table! Thanks for hosting, Susan!… Christine

  5. Julie Williams says

    Susan, this project would be the perfect one to use under clear glass plates. The poem and illustration/s could be run off on a copier, cut in a circle, placed under the clear glass plate. Maybe you could even find a small plastic crow and clip it to the side of the plate or as a name card holder. Just some thoughts. 🙂 I love all your creativities. So inspiring! Julie W.

  6. I guess I might be the oddball but I would go ahead and do it. It’s not like it will be used daily. But then I grew up with asbestos and lead paint and no seat belts or bike helmets. You could also use it on a charger with clear glass plates or just on bread plates.

  7. Susan, Victorian English Pottery has a lovely crow plate that might do the trick for you:
    https://www.replacements.com/webquote/vcncro.htm
    It doesn’t say “nevermore”, but it’s a lovely crow/raven.
    Great post. 🙂

  8. Drats! Thank you for proving that we shouldn’t listen to what “others” say and go directly to the company source instead. I love the theme, and the crow should look fine on the rim. Go for it! (BTW, thanks for the link-up and table review of some fabulous tables past.) 🙂

  9. Thanks for hosting, Susan! Love your tablescapes!! Have a lovely start to the weekend! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

  10. rattlebridge farm says

    The plates were a great buy–and you can always use them (with the raven and quote) in your green hutch or elsewhere on display. Thanks for hosting TT.

  11. Where there’s a will there’s a way! What we won’t do to master the tablescape, right? Readers suggestions are good….use a clear plate on top or use your crafted plates for display. I love that bird tablescape you pulled from the archives, btw.

  12. I agree with what the others have said about using a clear plate on top. It was fun to look back at your tables from years past and thanks for hosting.

  13. Elizabeth Anne says

    All of your Halloween tablescapes are unique and full of fun! Did I mention clever ideas and striking colors!

    I enjoy all of your ideas and the fact that you share with your friends.

    Thanks Susan

  14. Marlene Stephenson says

    You would think there is something or some kind of marker, paint safe. Love all your table settings.

  15. Oh Susan,
    that’s too bad… but… on the other hand… as they say, nothing is, however, so bad that there is not some good in it somewhere: when you paint the crow on the rim of the plates, your guests can admire your masterpieces from the beginning to end of the dinner, even if they don’t finish their food, as it doesn’t cover (hide) what you painted, and that’s a good thing, too, isn’t it? 🙂
    Susan, of course, I ♥ all those tablescapes, especially Mr Scarecrow! He is sooo cute! lol

  16. I am agreeing with the clear plate…as well as the do it anyway person….the company has to have strict rules for legal reasons, but as much as it would be used (not much) I would not worry about it. I would wash by hand though. So cute. Love the table settings, all great.

  17. So many great ideas to keep your original thought going! Clever you. Love the crow table, especially the crow under glass. Nice that the deck is dry and furniture is back to the space it belongs in.

  18. I love those dishes with the Crow. What a shame it is not what you expected. I often wonder how people go about having their design crafted by a pottery company or just have a monogram added to an existing design. The problem may be that it is too costly.

    • Any ceramic painter or china painter can help you with that AND it is not expensive. There is a way to affix monograms, etc permanently in any color, in silver and in gold or copper. All are food safe. I put mine in the dishwasher (for testing purposes) but would not recommend it for everyone else.

  19. Great table settings. I specially love all the plates.
    Thank you for another party dear Susan.
    Blessings,
    Fabby

  20. Thank You for sharing this gorgeous and colorful display. It is so lovely.
    Marilyn

  21. Love the plate. Do you have a china painters guild in your area ?
    Those ladies know everything. LOL

  22. Hi Susan, Thanks for the update on the markers. I had pinned Brooklyn Limestone’s post several years ago. Your ‘Halloween Table for the Birds’ is my all time favorite Halloween post!

  23. I’m going to look on the bright side of putting the crow on the side: You can still see it while eating the salad! But I totally understand your disappointment. It sucks when you have a specific idea in mind and it just sort of gets blasted. I hope you’re able to find a suitable way around it! Have a great weekend!!!

  24. Hi Susan, Go to a ceramic shop. Purchase Duncan Easy stroke black paint (EZ-037) and a thin brush. Paint your plates. Then go back and have them fired for a small fee.

    Note: Before you paint your white plate scrub thoroughly with Ajax (or other) and clean and dry well.

  25. I love your idea for the Raven plates and totally understand your determination to do these as they would be a “treasure” to add to your china inventory. One year I was so inspired with “The Raven” that I decided to hand write the entire poem on fabric…. yikes!! But I was driven to do it anyway…. and did it in pencil first, then went over with fine point, Sharpies on 45″ canvas/duck fabric from Hobby Lobby. I split the fabric (3 yds) in half and sewed the 2 pieces together because I had no idea how much yardage it would take to complete all 120 lines plus appropriate space at top & bottom and between paragraphs. It worked and I love using it each year in different ways. It’s definitely a conversation piece and was used one year in a local antique store window as part of their Halloween display. Good luck with your EAP plates…. I just might try those too!! Happy Halloween!!! <|:-)

  26. Sorry to hear that your plan didn’t materialize but knowing you, you will come up with a solution. Also glad to learn that the staining of your porch floor is completed which BTW is beautiful and I don’t think you will regret the darker colour. -Brenda-
    P.S.: The raven silhouette that Stephanie used on her plate, appears to be the same piece of clipart that I got off the internet a few years ago and used as template for my DIY (Martha Stewart’s) wooden Witch lawn ornament, as wanted one perched on her arm to make her a wee bit more detailed.

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