One Bite Won't Hurt: A Vampire Dinner Party

Halloween week is finally upon us, although, I feel like I've been celebrating all month over here with tons of fun DIYs. A couple of my favorites were the Boo Bar and these DIY Planter Witch Legs.

I didn't want to let Halloween night go by without doing something fun! On Tuesday night, we'll be hosting my husband's side of the family for a vampire themed dinner.

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Invites

I had the pleasure of working with Jackie from JM Custom Invites for the dinner. She brought the theme to life immediately but designing the perfect invitation. I sent them out to our guests and used these red envelopes from Amazon. How fun to get some mail that isn't a bill or junk flyers?!

Place Settings & Menu

To setup the table, I started with a red tablecloth I have from Target. Red is a great linen color to invest in as it comes in handy many times of year! I layered on a black lace tablecloth with spooky Halloween details over the top. I picked this up a few years back at Big Lots, but a similar one is available on Amazon.

I added red chargers that I borrowed from my party soul sister Mara, who recently wrote a fun guest post on her DIY backyard movie night. Red chargers are frequently available at Michaels, your local thrift store, or even Dollar Tree.

While my normal white plates would have been fine, I wanted the table to have a darker, more haunted feel. Dollar Tree carries plain black plates and at $1 a piece, a set of six won't break the bank. Plus, I am sure they will come in handy for other future gatherings! I rolled up red linen napkins and used Dollar Tree plastic vampire fangs as napkin rings. A set of 12 was only $1.

Each place setting was topped off with a beautifully designed menu from JM Custom Invites. You can see we will be serving a themed menu with a Bloody Mary Salad, Steak Through the Heart, Roasted Garlic Bread (to keep the vampires away), and something for the Vampire Sweet Tooth.

Centerpiece

To create the centerpiece, I started with a black metal tray that I picked up for a few dollars at a local thrift store last year. I layered on some spider web, plastic spiders, and eye balls all from Dollar Tree.

I filled three Dollar Tree glass votive holders with "vampire teeth" — a Brach's candy corn that I found at a local store for a few dollars a bag — and added in a tealight on top.

Vampire Goodies

As I started to setup the table, I decided something was still missing! I started thinking that perhaps some vampire jars of goodies were needed! I found a great repository of free printables online and set out to create some DIY jars. I headed to Goodwill and grabbed 3 glass containers for less than $5.

I turned the largest one into vampire blood with some water and red food coloring . Another jar holds vampire fangs with leftover Dollar Tree plastic fangs, water, and red food coloring. The last jar of this trio is brown sugar turned graveyard dust.

On the other side of the table, I used a glass jar I already had and created some "human flesh" by freezing water in a latex glove. Once frozen, cut off the glove and add in water and red food coloring. This is also a great trick for creating some creepy ice for a punch or a shrimp cocktail appetizer.