Getting the look of Dept. 56

Department 56 is really known for their Christmas Villages, but they also have some great Halloween decor. Here is a tutorial on how to set up a Dr. Frankenstein Table:



Frankenstein's lab
Learn the tricks of the trade and create your own Frankenstein's Lab. Using trays, ceramic dishes, eyeballs with sayings and candy jars all from our Frankensteins' Lab line, you will be sure to have all the ghoulish goods to make Halloween more fun than you ever thought it would be.


Supplies:
Misc. large mouthed glass jars – apothecary jars, pantry jars etc.
Food items to create "Science specimens" such as:
- Cauliflower or cabbage head for brains, we used orange cauliflower
- Sea sponges for brains
- Cooked ramen noodles, or spaghetti noodles for intestines
- Pimento stuffed olives for eyeballs
- Tea bags for tinted water
- Food coloring, regular or neon for colored water
- Toothpicks


Step 1:
Assemble misc. glass jars and food items for specimen jars:
-Place water in jar and tint to desired color with tea or food coloring.
-You can add food coloring to the noodles directly and toss in a bowl to tint the noodles themselves. Then add them to tinted water. We tinted the ramen noodles brown and red, and then placed them in greenish water.
-Arrange olives on a plate w/ toothpicks to create a 'pile' of eyeballs.


Step 2:
Arrange to create a spooky setting on a tabletop. Add tea stained gauze and spider webs to add more atmospheres.


Step 3:
Prop with additional props like an old Doctor Bag, old rusty hand tools and old books.