For those of you that read my Skeleton Hand Place Card and Napkin Holder post only to run out to buy the hands and find that they were all sold out… you may have found skeleton feet instead. No fear… Snatch those feet up…. I have yet another Halloween Seating Card idea up my sleeve. Not to mention a gorgeous Halloween Tablescape to pair the cards with!
For the rest of you… let me go back to the beginning…. I was lucky enough to come across a pile of skeleton hands and feet at my local Kroger. I had no reasonable expectation of finding anything too terribly exciting on the Halloween aisle of my grocery store, but this time of year I can’t help but look. I mean, this time of year I check the Halloween aisle of EVERY place I walk into! Anyway.. imagine my surprise when I came across these somewhat realistic appendages! I had to have them. I bought every one they had, and even headed to another Kroger to buy their’s. It’s not as crazy as it sounds… they don’t stock too many of these, and I knew I’d need enough for a dinner party at some point. By the way, I have since found the identical hands and feet at Walmart for those of you without a Kroger.
Last month, I created two Place Setting Ideas with the hands, and have been eager to put the feet to use! This go around, I didn’t stop with just the seating cards…. I designed a beautifully macabre tablescape, and even a specialty drink to fit in with the theme! I’m in love with how the entire table came out, but before I discuss all of those details, let’s talk about those Toe Tags!
By now you may know that I’m a stickler for “assigned seats” at dinner parties… and what better way to combine seating cards with skeleton feet than a toe tag! So obvious, right? I researched a few actual toe tags and designed a version based on those. Download your free printable here. It only made sense for me to take these tags one step farther and put them thru an aging process. It’s pretty simple, but delivers a nice effect. The lighting in my photos drown out some of the aged detail on the cards, so you may have to trust me on this one!
On a side note…. This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, you won’t pay a penny more, but we’ll get a small commission, which helps keep the lights on. Thanks! Click HERE for more details.
What you’ll need to create the tags:
- Beige Cardstock
- 2 Tbsp Coffee Grounds
- 1 cup Hot Water
- Eyelet Punch
- 3/16 Eyelets
- String or ribon
- Sharpie Permanent Marker
1. Print the Toe Tag designs onto the cardstock
2. Cut each one out
3. Fill in the information
4. Add coffee grounds to hot water
5. Add the tags to the coffee and let soak for one hour
6. Remove from the coffee to dry, adding some of the wet grounds to the tag as they dry
7. Once dry, brush off coffee grounds
8. Using the eyelet punch, add eyelets to the end of each tag
9. Tie the tag to the skeleton’s big toe using string
As you can see, I have some very special guests coming to my party. After all, this is the time of year when the veil between life and death grows thin… you never know who may stop in for a bite! You will, of course, have your actual guests names on the Toe Tag Seating Cards. Instead of handwriting, I filled mine out in Adobe Illustrator. If you have access to that program and would prefer the AI file for the artwork, feel free to send me a message. If you choose handwriting, I recommend using an Ultra Fine Point Sharpie Permanent Marker
To complete the place setting, I paired the feet with matte black dishes
You’ll be pleased to know that this entire look fit into a very small budget…. all snatched up from discount stores and thrift stores. The black dishes are from Walmart. The black place mats are from Ross. The black glasses came from Zulily. The skulls and black floral stems are from Micheals. The Creepy Cloth and rat are from the Dollar Tree. Sadly I can’t tell you where I got the velvet napkins… they were the first set of cloth napkins I ever bought decades ago (of course red velvet!) and I still use them all of the time…. but I can tell you that I bought them during the Christmas clearance sales… it’s a great time to get your hands on red velvet to use all year long! Everything else came from thrift stores (this should be no surprise to those of you familiar with my posts!)…. all of the candlesticks, the red roses and silver urn, the rust chargers, even the antique decanter. Can you believe that in the past year, I have come across 3 of those decanters.. goes to show what you can find!! It makes me so thrilled when I can pair all of these finds together into something so beautiful.
Hopefully, you’ll have luck finding similar items to pull this look together! Once your table is ready, places are set, the punch is poured, and your guests are seated…. it’s time for a little fun. Test your guests’ knowledge of celebrity deaths with this Toe Tag Party Game. It’s the perfect conversation starter for your Halloween dinner party!!
Stay tuned next week for the Embalming Fluid Punch recipe (as seen in the decanter) as well as some DIY Antique Embalming Fluid Bottles.
Enjoy!
this post contains affiliate links
Oh Alex. I absolutely ADORE this! I love that your printable is designed on a London Coroner’s toe tag, too! I’ll definitely be downloading that! Mind you, I don’t have an eyelet punch and the eyelets really do make the project look super authentic. I may have to invest in one! Sue x