Celebrate Summerween!

For many—perhaps you too—around the summer solstice a familiar hankering is felt. A longing for a spirited sort of shindig. Enter Summerween: fun in the sun for fall lovers and anyone carrying Halloween in their hearts all year long. Inspired by the animated TV show "Gravity Falls" and trending big right now, this midsummer celebration is a bright and brilliant mashup of Halloween and summer. And it goes without saying…we’re all smiles about it. Here’s how to bring the theme to life on your table!

1. Set the Scene

No pumpkins? No problem! To infuse Halloween’s spirit into an occasion without autumnal elements, swap them with in-season summer substitutes. It takes creativity—the kind that comes wandering a fruit aisle, pondering carvability. Melons from watermelon to honeydew do the most for your summery spookiness. Not just exceptional for carving, the array of shades adds to the whimsical joviality. In place of mini pumpkins, humble oranges, grapefruits, and clementines bring bursts of on-theme color. Even better (if you can find them) are kiwano melons—the spiked skin is playfully creepy!

For foliage, sunflowers are a natural choice you can easily find now. For texture without cornstalks, pineapples are perfect (and carvable!). In place of chrysanthemums, we suggest carnations. Pro-tip: arrange them like flower crowns on your melons for a festival-inspired spin.

 

2. Set a Scary-Good Table

To merge summer and fall on the table, we opted for beachy woven textures in an autumnal palette, slightly brightened for the current season: think sunflower yellows in place of robust oranges. Of course, black is your base—we love LX Collective dinner plates and mixed-media serveware for the right touch of natural texture and matte black moodiness. Halloween favorites like our Vintage Halloween accent plates can be pulled out of the shadows. They’re too cute for just one time of year, anyway!

3. Serve up the Fun!

We highly encourage neighborhood trick-or-treating, scary movie watch-a-thons in the backyard, kiddie pool apple bobbing, and setting up a haunted bounce house if you’re truly daring. In addition, treat guests to summer party fare easily adjusted for frightful fun. Instead of grilling hotdogs, consider baking them wrapped in mummy-like strips of crescent roll dough (add candy eyeballs to achieve the final look). And in place of October favorites like candy corn, serve sweets that match the theme and palette, like gummy peach rings, pastel macarons, and anything that stains mouths red—think cherry cotton candy and polish water ice. Finally—serve a fabulous fruit salad, courtesy of all those carved melons.