Sunday, October 31, 2010

Project: DIY Halloween Dessert Buffet

I'm a huge fan of Amy Atlas (who incidentally was a lawyer before building her dessert buffet empire)! And who doesn't love her candy/dessert buffets. Since Halloween is all about tricks and "treats", it's the perfect holiday for a dessert buffet. Of course, Amy's marvelous creations are not in everyone's budget--this includes my brother, who asked me to help him design a last minute "budget" friendly dessert buffet for his Halloween party. The challenge was to create a buffet with the visual impact of a couture dessert buffet, but for under $50. Here's what I came up with.


I used black polka dot gift wrap for the backdrop, with white muslin draped over it to create the effect of cobwebs.  I made a "treats" banner out of scrapbook paper, card stock and ribbon, and stuck a few fake spiders on the banner.


 The centerpiece is made from a dead plant, which has been sitting at a secretarial station in our office for, well, about 2 years! I stuck candy corn all over it! I also made a creepy candy forest using Twizzlers, graham crackers, and candy corn--I saw this idea in a parenting magazine!



Marshmallow pops are so easy to make. Just put the marshmallows on lollipop sticks, dip in white chocolate and twirl in a bowl of sprinkles!


Rather than buy cupcakes from a bakery, I made some coconut cream cupcakes at home and dressed them up with coconut flakes and orange and black sprinkles. I made the cupcake wrappers and toppers out of candy corn themed scrapbook paper. 


Using another idea from the parenting magazine, I made witch boots out of cardstock. The pretzels were dipped in candy-making chocolate and drizzled using Wilton purple candy melts.


I used some square vases, trimmed with polka dot ribbon, to hold candy corn and orange jelly candy.



These Oreo pops were my favorite thing on the whole table! To make them, you simply pull the Oreos apart, insert cookie sticks, put the Oreos back together, let them harden in the fridge for a couple of hours, dip in melted chocolate, let them harden again and then drizzle with Wilton orange and purple candy melts. I wrapped the pops in small plastic bag, glued polka dot ribbon bows on the pops and displayed them on a stand, which I made from a box lid covered in black gift wrap.


I filled small cocktail glasses with Reeses Pieces.


I hung these orange and black bird cages over the table. I found them at the craft store for $1 each! What a steal! I cut crow silhouettes out of black cardstock and stood them up in the cages.



The party was yesterday and my brother called me today to let me know how the party went. I was thrilled to hear that his guests were blown away by the dessert buffet! :-)

This party is linked to:

5 comments:

  1. OMG!!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this!! the attention to detail is AWESOME!!

    You're so talented!!! (and in the wrong profession, maybe? LOL)

    Love and hugs,
    Bird

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Bird! That means so much, especially coming from someone as amazing and talented as you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Smita,
    Incredible job. My guests were blown away, Im still getting emails and text about the dessert bar. I think some people spent more time there than the ACTUAL bar! :-)

    Thanks Again!

    -Ketan

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love this party! So happy to have found you! I'm going to do a candy corn theme Halloween party for next year so these are great ideas for inspiration!
    (Your lawyer/party sister.)
    Melissa

    ReplyDelete
  5. Smita the party rocked! And your dessert bar was a HUGE hit! I'm just sad I only had one Oreo pop!
    Wish you could have stayed to receive all the raves!

    Love your blog,
    Monica

    ReplyDelete

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