Candy Christmas Dessert Table

I've been anxiously awaiting the day I could reveal the photos from my CANDY CHRISTMAS party photo shoot and after it ran on Celebrations at Home (yippee!) yesterday, I now have permission to share with my readers. Candy and Christmas just seems to go together and I've wanted to style a table like this for such a long time. It was a true labor of love, and I hope it inspires you with your own holiday parties and dessert tables. Lots of details and DIY tips to follow after the photos....

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I've always loved the idea of a Candy Christmas with lollipops and peppermint, gingerbread men and candy canes. For the table, I wanted to set a holiday scene with an eye-catching backdrop.  I got the idea while re-decorating my little boys' room and having a few frames left over which I thought would be perfect for showcasing some over-sized crafted candies made from felt, styrofoam and cellophane.

These are an easy craft and come together in no time at all for very little money. The smaller styrofoam circles for the candies came from the Dollar Tree and the larger ones for the lollipops were purchased at Hobby Lobby. I cut templates from the circles and then cut out the shapes for the candies and the swirls. Then I placed the template onto felt, outlined it with a marker and then cut the pieces out. Next, I glued them onto the styrofoam, wrapped them in cellophane and added some ribbon to tie them off.

I love using thrift items to create unique table displays and created the cake plates from brass candlesticks and some plastic circular lazy susans found at Goodwill. After painting the candlesticks and lazy susans with white spray paint, I glue them together and then hot glued the eyelet around the edge of the plate. Adding a border of peppermints (adhered with hot glue) finished the edges and tied in perfectly with the candy theme. For the three candlesticks and the four platters, I spent a total of $9.50!

The topiary trees were another easy craft idea. For the taller trees, I used a poster board rolled into a cone shape and then alternated rows of 4" eyelet with rows of cherry fruit slices, glued on with hot glue (a crafting girl's best friend!). The smaller trees were heavier with more candy so I used a plastic megaphone-shaped cone from the Dollar Tree as a base and then covered it with white poster board. Next, I alternated gluing rows of peppermints with rows of the cherry fruit slices.

For the tablecloth, I used a white table cloth I already owned and bought two yards each of three different fabrics to create ruffles. This was a fun idea and created a bit of drama to balance the backdrop of the dessert table. Adding a store-bought red bow completed the look.

I was thrilled to collaborate again with the brilliantly talented Brittany Rumohr of Edible Details who created all of the amazing fondant toppers on the table. For the cake, I made my mother-in-laws famous coconut cake (a must-have at every holiday get together), surrounded it with peppermint sticks and topped it off with some of the Edible Details fondant lollipops, gingerbread men and jumbo gum drops.

From the fondant toppers on the cake to the Santa hat cupcake toppers, peppermint cookie toppers and the sweet little gingerbread men, I love how fondant makes it easy and quick to turn ordinary baked goods into something extraordinary. The cupcakes were all store-bought and believe it or not, the cookies were simply white chocolate covered Oreos which you can find for the holidays in grocery stores everywhere.

Over-sized campfire marshmallows dipped in white chocolate candy coating and then sprinkled with crushed peppermint are another simple but fun treat for a party. Adding a striped paper straw "stick" from Shop Sweet Lulu makes them fun and easy to eat, too. These make great party favors or classroom treats when wrapped individually with cellophane and tied with ribbon and a gift tag.

The Candy Christmas printables set was used throughout the table as dessert labels, cupcake toppers, cupcake wraps and more. One of my favorite ideas was the Santa hat cake pop holders. I printed the red and white dot paper from the printables set and cut cone shapes out. After rolling them into santa hat shapes, I added a little fur trim and topped them off with a cake pop for Santa's pom pom.

Red velvet cake parfaits were made in individual servings and topped off with cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of crushed peppermint candy. Miniature felt Santa hats from Hobby Lobby made for a fun embellishment on the serving spoons.

Store-bought rice crispy treats already cut into serving size portions were dipped in white chocolate candy coating and then drizzled with red candy coating. Adding a small ribbon bow and a gingerbread logo from the Candy Christmas printables set made the simple desserts stand out.

Miniature candy wraps from the Candy Christmas printables set were placed in a glass bowl on the table and also placed inside of take home favor bags along with a few homemade holiday cookies.

Utensils were wrapped in red paper napkins and secured with a 2" peppermint candy printable from the collection and some white grosgrain ribbon made to resemble wrapped candy pieces. Drink glasses were simply small mason jars embellished with red and white checked ribbon and a sweet red button.

Tomorrow I'll share some photos from the fun hot cocoa bar. It was such a fun table to put together. I hope you have found a few favorite ideas for your own holiday tables.

VENDORS: Amanda's Parties To Go - Party printables / Amanda Parker - table styling, crafts, and photography /  Edible Details - Fondant cupcake and cake toppers / Online Labels - Label paper for drinks and candy bar wraps / Shop Sweet Lulu - Striped paper straws / The Twinery - Baker's twine / Hobby Lobby - ribbon, felt, fabric, eyelet, large gingerbread men