I’m no Amy Atlas, but I wanted to create a simple, low-budget dessert table for my sister’s high school graduation. With a combination of bulk candy, homemade treats, and specialty desserts, I created a dessert table that anyone could recreate. This dessert table was positioned in the four season porch on a beautiful day, so I didn’t want to hang a background to block the sunlight and view of the trees. You could add decorations like flowers, banners or balloons to make it more festive.

I love the look of similar colored candy in clear jars and vases. Start searching the Internet for bulk candy in your preferred colors. A few websites you can start are: Candy Direct, Candy Warehouse, and Bulk Candy Store. We purchased M&Ms, gummi bears, lemon balls, sixlets, bananans, gumballs and a few others. We only had to purchase a few glass jars, the rest we had around the house. Target surprisingly has a great selection at a low cost.

Fleurir chocolates sent me a box of their handmade chocolates that not only taste great, but look great too. With flavors like Sesame Hazelnut, Pink Peppercorn and Carrot Cake, these chocolates are sure to be a conversation starter. I recommend a combination of candy, chocolates and desserts for your dessert table, depending on the occasion.

Place your largest item in the middle. A tiered cake or cupcake platter would work well here. If you aren’t planning on having either of those, to create height, place sturdy boxes under your tablecloth or use pedestals. Use a variety of different shaped vases and jars, you don’t want everything to look uniform.

In addition to the homemade cookies and brownies, a few specialty desserts makes things more exciting. I adore Better Bit of Butter cookies, which are some of the most delicious cookies I’ve ever tasted. I sent some awhile back to my husband’s aunt when she had a baby and her kid’s loved them. Christine sent over some “mini BB’s” which are perfect for parties.

See those Zebra and Damask decorated cookies? Those are actually chocolate covered ores from Sweeties by Kim on Etsy. These are perfect for kid’s parties, because almost all kids love Oreos, right? But these are extra special Oreos and they are absolutely gorgeous. Kim is a sweetie too!

If you are thinking about creating a dessert table for your next party of event, I would recommend browsing through Amy Atlas’ creations. The one I made was very simple, with more of a color scheme than an actual theme, but you can be as creative as you want to be.  Check out this Woodland themed table or this Circus creation. The sky is the limit in making a beautiful dessert table!