Once you set out to throw the perfect Halloween party you have to follow it through to the T. It’s not enough to just set up some jack-o-lanterns on the porch or hang a few black and orange streamers around the place. You have to have a spooky yard, creepy, crawling things around the house, eerie foods and beverages, and much more. That’s especially true if you’re setting a dinner table for guests. If there is a centerpiece it could have cobwebs all over it. If there are napkin rings they might be spiders or even bats. You need an entire theme. You can’t have a spooky centerpiece and flowery dishes, or Halloween napkins with big daisies on the napkin rings. So, while you’re setting the creepiest table you possibly can go ahead and get the headstones ready. Not for the front yard; for the table. Make graveyard place cards and the guests can find their way to their seats in the most eerie manner.
Anything from a cardboard box to a brown paper bag can be used to make a grave place card. Whether you use a box or a bag it should be small. Paper mache boxes can be purchased at a craft store or little, brown paper bags can be ordered online. If you’re using a box, remove the lid, if there is one. If you’re using a brown paper bag just cut the bottom off so that you have a shallow bag.
You don’t have to worry about painting a box or coloring a bag with markers; the brown color of the bag or box is perfect for creating the look of a miniature grave. To make the headstone just use cardstock. It’s available in various colors but white or gray is perfect for making a headstone. It’s not hard to cut out a rectangle, and then round off two corners on one of the short sides of the rectangle, to create the small headstone. Using the names of your own guests, write “Here Lies Kathy”, or “RIP Bob”, or other eerie sentiments. Set the headstones aside for now.
Fill each box or bag with loose candies. Candy that looks great as “dirt” in the miniature graves includes black jellybeans, chocolate chips, small candy bars, crumbled cookies, brownie bites, or other candies which are brown or black. After filling each grave with candy simply tuck the headstone in somewhere amongst the goodies. Stand some of the headstones upright, and others in a tilted manner, to create an overall look for the place cards.
The Halloween grave place markers serve three purposes: they mark the places for the guests, provide everyone with a party favor, and help to create the spookiest holiday table ever.
Graveyard Place Cards