Welcome to the 892nd Tablescape Thursday! I have an absolutely delightful, fun Halloween table setting to share today! Selma, who throws the best tea parties I’ve ever seen, wrote to say, “I had a Halloween Tea for a friend’s daughter yesterday. She graduated from high school, so the original plan was a June tea, but they were busy, and I was busy, so it ended up happening yesterday! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays for decorations, no doubt due to the familiar black cat!”
Selma is a major cat lover like yours truly. She has nine beautiful cats, and without a doubt, they are some very spoiled and well-loved kitties! I love, love, love that her Halloween tea party table naturally has a cat theme throughout. Selma shared, ” I layered one of my table squares with some beaded cat faces that I bought from Pier One years ago. One of the benefits of having consistent taste combined with 66 years of life is the acquisition of a variety of things in a given theme! ”
Regarding the beautiful fabrics Selma used in this table setting, Selma said, “The table squares are made with fun fabric and hemmed with Stitch Witchery (perfect for Halloween, no?) The black rimmed dinner plates are Lennox “Contempo Luxe”. I really like them for tea because they have a scalloped edge. That always lends itself well to a tea table setting. The accent plates are made by Royal Stafford. The pattern name wasn’t stamped on the back.”
“The napkins are among my favorites because they are inexpensive, but they remain square, and they wash and press like a dream! The napkins are made by Saro Lifestyle, an embroidered line design. They come in a variety of colors, too! (Napkins are available here: Embroidered Napkins.) The napkin rings are a Nicole Miller design from several years ago, but it looks like Williams Sonoma has some gorgeous jeweled spider napkin rings this year!” (Spider napkin rings are on sale here: Jeweled Spider Napkin Rings.)
Selma’s cousin, Deb, made this beautiful fall floral arrangement for the table. I love how easy it is to give it a Halloween twist with the addition of a spider or two.
The mom of the guest of honor made the placecards. How cute are those! Selma shared, “The black rimmed dinner plates are by Lennox, pattern is ‘Contempo Luxe.” I really like them for tea because they have the scalloped edge. That always lends itself well to a tea table setting. The accent plates are made by Royal Stafford. The pattern name wasn’t stamped on the back.”
Selma found this awesome cat stemware in Pottery Barn several years back. Selma said, “Our cocktail for the event was a witch’s brew based on tart cherry juice, blood orange juice, and ginger ale, all mixed in a cauldron, to which I added some small bits of dry ice! Of course, I didn’t get photos. The under-21 set didn’t get alcohol with theirs, but the adults had theirs with bourbon! The tea was my beloved Ragamuffin.”
I was so intrigued by Selma’s awesome cat chair covers! Selma share, “As for the chair covers, I only use those at Halloween. I think this is my all-time favorite holiday when it comes to tablescapes. Christmas is up there, too, but being able to highlight black cats is just such a bonus for me!”
Did you notice the teacups? Selma said, “The tea cups were customized by an Etsy shop. There is a black cat on one side of the interior of the cup, and “Black Cat Teahouse” on the other.” (You’ll find the Etsy shop that customized Selma’s teacups here: Angioletti Designs.)
The teacart was prepared and waiting for the party to begin.
Regarding the scalloped edge plates on the tea cart, Selma shared, “The polka dot and striped plates came from Home Goods this year. They are part of a Beetlejuice collection, but they will work with a variety of themes and patterns!”
Selma always prepares wonderful sandwiches and treats for her tea party guests. Selma said, “The top plate has ham and cheddar with Branston Pickle; the middle plate holds cucumber sandwiches and salmon egg salad; the bottom plate holds caramel apple sandwiches. They are a pain in the **bleep** to make, but they ARE worth it! I’ve yet to meet anyone who doesn’t love them.”
“For dessert, I made Italian tricolor cookies, shortbread bats, ruby chocolate and feuilletine brains, and coconut-ube monster macaroons. The tricolor cookies are really mini slices of almond cake. The cakes are baked in super-thin layers, then stacked with either raspberry or apricot jam. The stack is weighed down with several heavy books for at least 8 hours. Once the cake is welded together with jammy goodness, it’s coated on one side with semi-sweet chocolate (I use Callebaut), allowed to set, then flipped and coated on the other side with more chocolate. Once that’s set, the whole thing is sliced, resulting in 1/2″ wide x 1.5″ long cookies.”
Selma shared this photo, saying, “I never get enough photos that show the full effect of the scones, jam, curd, clotted cream, and the beautiful accent serving pieces, dang it, but I did get one. The top photo shows my antique triple server. I thought it was kind of a cool photo because one of the black cats on my chair covers is peeking through the handle.” I love that!
Thanks so much to Selma for sharing this delightful cat-themed Halloween tea party/table setting! Such a fun, fun table! I know her guests must have loved this so much!
Looking forward to the beautiful tables linked for this week’s Tablescape Thursday!
If you are participating in Tablescape Thursday, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name, then copy and paste the address showing in the address bar, into the “url” box when you link up. You’ll need to include a link in your post back to the party to link up and participate. That’s so visitors to your blog will be able to find the party and the other Tablescape Thursday participants. Requiring a link back also prevents businesses and scammers from linking up to sell their products. Please, don’t add your post name/blog name ALL IN CAPS…it tends to create big spaces between the rows of links. Please do not link up table settings that were just recently shared in the last few weeks for Tablescape Thursday.
Wow, Selma went all out (as usual!) That young lady must have felt very special and pampered when she saw what was awaiting her.
I particularly like the cat chair covers, the baubles hanging from the chandelier and the colorful and abundant centerpiece. I would love to be invited to one of Selma’s teas. I must speak to my mailman. My invitations always seem to get lost. Thanks, Susan and Selma. That was a fun post.
What a fun tablescape! It was so fun to look at every detail especially the cat face peeking through the server handle. Wish I was there to enjoy it.
Oh Selma’s table is just darling!! I LOVE those cat teacups! And I especially love a table that looks so elegant at first glance, then you get to find all the fun Halloween touches as you look closer. Well done, Selma, and I’m sure your friend’s daughter loved it too! What a fun time for your guests – and for us! I got several ideas I’m going to try out. Thanks so much both of you for sharing!
Wow, there is so much to take in that I had to scroll up and down several times. Especially like the googley-eyed dessert cookies, although not sure if I could eat one looking at me
Such a fun tablescape and, as a cat mom, I love the cat theme! Such wonderful attention to detail and I’m sure all the guests had a fabulous time. Thanks Susan and Selma for sharing and happy Halloween to you both!
Super fun, and so much to look at and notice. Love the moody plates and flower arrangement…they really caught my eye. But the whole table is wonderful! Happy Halloween indeed!
WOW!! Selma hosted a fabulous tea party! That tablescape is AMAZING!!!!!!