Halloween Spider Tabletop + Spider Cookie Recipe

A Black and Orange Tabletop (and a so-simple Recipe)

For someone who doesn’t particularly care for these creepy crawlers, they’re almost always my go-to when it comes to decorating for Halloween. I fell in love with the beaded black and silver spiders I used above from Pottery Barn last year. Sadly, they’re sold out. Maybe if we petition PB enough, they’ll bring them back next year?! They’re too cute and I get compliments on them all the time.

I branched out a bit on my table runner this year. Instead of purchasing one already produced, I went to my local fabric store and purchased five yards of this flowy black fabric with a chiffon-like feel. I aimed to get enough so that I could bunch it up around the individual place settings and so that I could have a nice spillover on either side of the table for our Halloween party (photos from that coming soon!).

Next, I tackled lighting. I always keep an eye out for brass candlesticks whenever I’m antiquing. They’re such a versatile element in an entertaining cabinet. I used them with our black taper candles to create an old haunted house feel.

We kept the decor of this tabletop simple, using mini pumpkin pie pumpkins and paper plates, napkins, and cups. For my readers with kids, this is a fun and fabulous kid-friendly table with a few adjustments (the poms are on sharp sticks and the bottom plates are porcelain).

I layered a black paper dinner plate, a spider web luncheon napkin, and an orange paper dessert plate on top of our white everyday porcelain dinner plates. I found orange and black pom picks at Michael’s, which I nestled into the corner of each setting. Black paper cups with red-orange and white striped paper straws (similar here) were the final touch to the table.

On the menu? Spider sugar cookies. I found the original recipe on Fashionable Hostess and tweaked it a bit so that it’s even simpler. Here’s how to make them:

What You’ll Need:

Sugar cookies from your favorite recipe (if your favorite recipe is break-and-bake, you can use that here, too!)

Chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate – I went with milk chocolate and my friend Katie mentioned they had a slight hazelnut flavor – I completely agree though I’m still not sure how!)

1/2 tsp canola oil

Zip-top sandwich bag

Glass bowl (to hold chocolate chips)

Scissors

Your microwave

A bit of patience – and a few practice cookies!

Bake your sugar cookies the way you normally would. I like mine a bit on the soft side. Once they’re done, take them out and set them onto your cooling rack for 5-10 minutes, or until cool.

While your cookies are cooling, pour 1/3 cup of chocolate chips into your glass bowl along with the canola oil. Microwave it for 30 seconds, then take it out and give it a stir. Repeat until you have a smooth, creamy consistency. The canola oil helps everything set up and gives the chocolate a slight shine.

Now, it’s time to assemble. Pour your melted chocolate mixture into one of the corners of the zip-top bag and snip off a small hole in that corner. Now that you have your “icing pouch” ready to go, it’s time to pull this all together.

Take a chocolate chip, dab a bit of the melted chocolate mixture on the bottom, and “glue” it onto your cookie. Repeat until all of your cookies have 1-3 chocolate chips. Make sure that you set the chips apart enough so that you can draw in the little legs. How many chips depends on the size of your cookies. I tried to fit three chips whenever I could (odds always look better than evens), but made my cookies a bit on the smaller side since I was going for quantity for our party, so most of mine had pairs of chips.

Using your zip-top bag of melted chocolate, form your “spider legs” by making upside-down “L’s” on either side of the chocolate chips. Make about 2-3 legs for each of the two sides of the chocolate chip. Remember: they will be delicious and are so clever, so don’t be upset if they don’t turn out perfectly. Repeat until all of your spiders are there, and enjoy!