Spooky Miniature Gardens as Table Decorations

It is nearly time for some spooky, seasonal, Halloween fun! While you are busy weatherizing and theming your miniature garden for fall plus figuring out how to incorporate a little trick-or-treat magic in your yard or containers, you might consider taking your minis out of the garden. Yes, you heard that correctly! Fairy garden accessories can be extremely versatile inside the house, especially during the holidays.  What is an entertaining way to use them? The dinner table is an idea. While you may balk at the thought of using outdoor decorations inside, they can easily add a bit of fall fun by displaying your container in the center of the dinner table, whether you choose to celebrate with friends or family. Fall fairy gardens also give you a new and unique opportunity to showcase your passion and skills in the miniature gardening world.

Which Witch?

During chilly autumn nights, it can be fun to imagine witches zipping across the night sky on their brooms, cackling to the moon. Why not bring the witches to your Halloween party? Adding miniature accessories, which have not been in the soil, to decorate some of your favorite holiday dishes, can be an amusing way to spice up the table. Remember:  it is important to consider sanitation when it comes to serving food. Be sure to utilize clean, unused fairy garden accessories. You can incorporate them into the miniature garden after the party is over. 

The Witch Leg Picks turns a spooky scene into a silly look, as it seems like the witch has taken a wrong turn and ended up feet-first in your meal! These legs make a simple topper for a mud cake or tray of “dirt,” which contains chilled chocolate pudding topped with sandwich cookie crumbs. Perhaps the witch has crash-landed in a graveyard scene decorated with mini tombstones, or a gourd patch full of small pumpkins. Top the “dirt” with shredded coconut that has been mixed with green food coloring to create “grass.” The same effect can be had on top of a seven-layer dip or taco tip, using lettuce for “grass.” For a magical twist, add a little pumpkin fairy cottage that has fallen on top of the witch, and position her legs sticking out from underneath the fairy house. Using your imagination, you can create a wild scene—right in the middle of your dessert or dinner table!

Spin a Delicious Web

Witches can be silly, but if you would rather go the creepy route, you can consider incorporating some eight-legged creatures as a miniature accessory! Spiders make a fun, eerie addition to the table, especially when placed on an edible lattice. When it comes to spider-webs, there is a world of options. You can pipe an icing meshwork on top of frosted sugar cookies, decorate a pepperoni pizza with an orb web squeezed out of a bottle of ranch dressing, or even make delicate spider-webs using tempered chocolate. Top your delicious creation with some non-edible miniature spiders, and voila – your spooky treat is ready to decorate the buffet table. Remember to remove the spiders before eating!

Dip into a Yummy Treat

Whether you are planning an all-out Halloween bash or a low-key theme dinner, fairy garden accessories can help you set the scene at your gathering. A favorite food at parties is often a dip. Salsa, hummus, cheese dip, buffalo chicken dip, seven-layer dip…you name it, dips are popular. A quick and easy way to spice up your presentation is to offer the dip in a Halloween-themed container. Instead of investing in a bowl that will sit in storage all year long, you can buy a planter and after the party guests have gone home, you can plant a miniature garden. A Skull Planter is especially scary when filled with blood-red salsa or a gelatin mold-shaped brain. The fairy garden offers options too, like the Fairy Tale Book Planter. Line the planter with dark red Romaine lettuce leaves. Next, cut off the top and hollow out red, yellow, or green bell peppers. Fill the peppers with a variety delicious dips. Use raw vegetables to fill in the spaces. Another idea is to line the planter with black waxed food liners and filled with bone-shaped breadsticks, ghostly cookies, or even wrapped candies. The book planter's antique look adds mystery to the buffet. Finally, to give additional spirit to the season, edge the base of the planter with strands of spun spider-webs surrounded by garden fairies dressed in costumes and bat winged squirrels carrying pumpkins.

As you decorate the Halloween holiday table, you can also look to your fairy garden accessories as place card holders or elements of decorative displays. Some well-placed crows, dancing ghosts, miniature houses, or pumpkins can turn a party from “blah” to “wow” in an instant. Additionally, accessories with picks, such as bats or Jack-O-Lanterns, usually meant to settle into the soil, can be placed into cheese on a cheeseboard, used to accent a pumpkin pie, or even poked into individual cupcakes for guests to take home as a party favor. Get ready to have some enjoyment with your fall miniature gardens and your holiday table. Tricks, treats, and tastes are all waiting to be enjoyed!