I am super excited to host a spooky early Halloween dinner tonight for three of my most favorite people. Joining my husband and I will be my cousin Lindsey and her husband Gino. Lindsey and I were very close growing up and she is like the sister that I never had. We spent many Halloween's together as kids, often being forced to eat hot dogs at our grandma's house for what seemed like an eternity when what I really wanted to do was canvas the neighborhood for candy. We lived in the country and houses were really far apart, so if you wanted to accumulate any candy at all, you really had to get a move on.

Anyway, it's so fun now that we are both married gals because the only two people that might have more to talk about than we do are our husbands. The four of us always have a great time, and it has been years since Lindsey and I have gotten to spend Halloween together. So this year, to mark their autumn visit to Asheville, one of our activities for the weekend will be a spooktacular dinner party.

Here is a little preview for you. Behold the tablescape!

Here is a little preview for you. Behold the tablescape!





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I whipped up a few paper luminaries, which I have been a little addicted to lately, but the real show stopper is the bat tree centerpiece. This could not have been easier or less expensive and the pictures do it no justice. It came out so cool, I could not be more excited about it!

I picked up two twigs from the yard, sprayed them off in the sink and let them dry, cut small bats out of black card stock, arranged the twigs in an orange glass vase that I had on hand and strung the bats from them with black string. When the candles are lit in the luminaries below, the heat from the flame makes the bats flutter about. The effect is impressive, especially for how totally easy it was to construct. Oh, and a big thank you to the Graphics Fairy for the awesome images!

Happy haunting this weekend!