Dessert Table: A Totally Target Halloween

I'm so excited to share my latest dessert table with you today. I'm doubly thrilled, because Kathleen of Twig & Thistle is kindly featuring it on her blog, as well. You might remember these behind-the-scenes sneak peeks from a couple of weeks ago. Well, photog Emily Steffen's beautiful pics capture the table and the beautiful forest much better.

The Totally Target Halloween dessert table is just that. A dessert table designed using ingredients, supplies, dishware, and desserts that are all available right now at your local Super Target. Target is headquartered here in Minneapolis, so it has a pretty big presence in the area. But, it's also easy to find Target stores across the U.S., making this design a really affordable option for your Halloween bash.

Target's black cake stands make the perfect pedestals for two great cakes. You can use a favorite family recipe or a boxed mix to make both. Target's bat cookie cutters and black sparkly decorating icing (in the baking aisle) add flourish to this chocolate cake. Jumbo and mini marshmallows transform into cute ghosts when you add chocolate jimmies for the eyes for this vanilla cake.

I used these great jars to hold licorice and black raspberry gummies. Target's white and milk chocolate truffles and candy corn go along with the chocolate-covered rice crispy treat tombstones and chocolate-covered Oreos I made.

To display several of the treats, I wanted to create ceramic-looking platters. I used Target's black gift wrap to cover box lids and risers to mimic the reflective quality of traditional china. You can use books or any other flat surface to raise your treats to differing heights.

favor bags: Two brown paper lunch bags make great favor sacks. Simply shred one and place another un-shreeded bag inside of it. Fill the inner bag with lots of sweet treats, insert a stick, and tie the bag closed with twine or other natural-looking string or ribbon.

skull & bone chocolates: I couldn't find the perfect spooky chocolates, so I used Target's skull & bones ice cube trays as molds to make custom white chocolates.

cupcakes: These brain cupcakes were surprisingly easy to make using buttercream and a frosting tip. You can bake them from scratch using ingredients, a box mix, or pre-made cupcakes, all of which can be found at Super Target.

brownie pops: These brownie pops are incredibly simple. Bake your own brownies, buy a mix, or use Target's Market Pantry brownie bites from the bakery section. Roll a golf ball-sized portion into a ball, insert lollipop stick, and dip into melted white chocolate. I alternated the spider web flags I designed with ones that say "Boo!," "Beware," and "Howl" to add a finishing touch to each pop.

I also designed "Trick or Treat" wrappers to dress up standard chocolate bars. I painted Target's butter dish black to display the chocolate bars, while a gothic goblet housed black-speckled jelly beans.

Invite designer and budding stylist Bethany Hway created these invites, which are inspired by the chocolate bar wrappers I created. I love how well they coordinate with the bars and brownie pop labels without exactly mimicking them.

 

Thank you so much for sharing my design with your readers, Kathleen! Please head on over to Kathleen's blog, Twig & Thistle (one of my daily must-reads), to download the chocolate bar wrapper and brownie pop flags I designed. You can also download and print the invitation that Bethany Hway designed. Don't forget to stop by photog Emily Steffen's blog for even more photos from this shoot.

If you're visiting the Sweet Tooth blog from Twig & Thistle, thanks for stopping by. You can check out my other designs on my website or follow me on Twitter and Facebook.


*Target, Corp. in no way compensated me for this post. I am not now, nor have I ever been, employed by Target Corp. or any of its affiliates*