If you think you'll be celebrating Halloween every year, it's nice to buy some decent quality tableware which can be reused over and over again. Lighweight and affordable Melamine plates, bowls and cups are a good option when you have young children.

There is a growing range of gothic home and tableware being produced, such as the Skull Collection by Weird & Wonderful Ceramics. If you can afford it, and breakages aren't really a worry for you, these pieces are pretty fantastic to buy for Halloween (or all year round) use. I wouldn't trust my girls with them just yet, but they're on my wish list for the future.

Melamine items aren't microwave safe, but they are much lighter than ceramic items and won't shatter if they are dropped. I was browsing the Black Friday sales and found a range of Halloween-themed Melamine tableware on the Marks & Spencer website. They are orange and black, decorated with bats, spiders and Jack-o'-lantern faces. The plates and bowls cost £3.50 each, and the cups were £3.00 each. I'm hoping that they will last several years at least with careful use.

At the time of writing, Marks & Spencer still have these plates, bowls and cups in stock, but they probably won't be available much longer. It will be worth checking if they stock some in future years, perhaps with different designs.