It’s that time of year: time to get spooky! With this in mind, I’ve crafted décor for a Victorian Halloween Tea Party. These projects give a nod to some spooky Victorian pastimes such as palm reading, crystal ball gazing, and divination with tea leaves (also known as tasseography). At the tea table, we will display our curious collections under bell jars. And we will drink a full-bodied black tea accompanied by tea sandwiches, scones and sweets. So read on to learn how you might craft décor for your own creepy Victorian tea time.
The first crafted items that I will
discuss are the decorated pumpkins.
After all, what is Halloween without pumpkins? I purchased all of these
pumpkins at a thrift shop.
1) -Paint two layers of white chalk
paint, allowing drying time between layers.
2) -Sponge on off-white chalk paint. Allow to dry.
3) - Rub a very light coat of “tea
stained” wax on the stems of the pumpkins.
4) -Trace the silhouette of a teapot onto
the largest pumpkin. Paint it black. Once dry, attach a cameo brooch to the
silhouette.
The next crafted item for our spooky
Victorian tea is a small crystal gazing ball. Crystal gazing, or scrying, was a
form of popular entertainment in Victorian circles.
Instructions:
1) - Find a black and white clip art image
of an ornate tea pot. (You can find a
number of these at http://thegraphicsfairy.com)
2) -Size and print the image onto clear
transparency film. Transparency film is
available for laser printers, copiers and inkjet printers.
3) -Trace a circle around the image using
a thin tip sharpie marker. Cut out the image just inside the lines of the circle.
4) -Roll up the cut out image and slip it
into a clear Christmas ball. You can
find these clear balls at any big box craft store.
5) - Attach the clear ball to the top of a
candlestick using the adhesive of your choice.
I used Lexel by Sashco. It is a
clear, paintable caulk that is available at hardware stores.
Victorians were avid collectors. For this spooky tea party we will display our
collection of shrunken skulls under a bell jar.
1) -Choose a silverplate plate that fits
under your bell jar.
2) -Cut the end off of a Styrofoam ball
and glue it to the silverplate plate with the adhesive of your choice. I used Weldbond.
3) - Glue moss over the Styrofoam ball. I
used Weldbond. Let dry.
4) -Stack your mini skulls and glue them
to the moss coated ball. Also glue them
together. I used Lexel as the adhesive
for this part of the process.
5) -Stick floral pins and butterfly or
dragonfly charms into the moss coated Styrofoam.
6) -Once dry, place your bell jar over
the arrangement of curious items.
The illustrations in these vignettes
are from the digital collections of the Library of Congress and from the New
York Public Library. To search the digital collections of these two
institutions, go to the following two web addresses and enter “tea” as your
keyword search term.
http://digitalcollections.nypl.org
