{Easy Entertaining} Festive Blue Holiday Dessert Table and Chobani Giveaway Winner Announced!

Happy Belated Christmas/Hannukah/Festivus/Holidays everyone! We just returned from a quick, but wonderful, visit to my hometown of Toronto. While we were there, my mom told me we were also surprising my dad with a "Congratulations on your (sorta) Retirement" party (sorta since my dad will still be working part-time with his employer - they can't let him go! =) )

So I wanted to put together a fun dessert table for him but because it was a surprise, I decided on a "Winter" theme so he would think it was a table for our Christmas party. Unfortunately, I only had a day to put everything together. And since I was in Toronto, I was without my stash of pretty paper, fancy hole punches, and color printer.

I scrambled and improvised. It's not as festive as last year's dessert table (which I also had a lot more lead-time for in addition to being able to bring supplies from NYC), but I think the dessert table turned out well.  Read on for tips on creating a quick and easy dessert table.

I made last year's cake pops from scratch but this year I cheated and bought Timbits (or donut holes). The best donut holes to use are the round, dense ones (i.e. I used cherry and chocolate Timbits). In each Timbit, I stuck a 6 inch Lollipop stick. Then I melted a bag of Wilton Candy Melts and coated each donut-hole-on-a-stick with the melted candy coating. It only took minutes to make these cake pops!
 

One bag of popcorn, some homemade spiced nuts, and a pan of brownies can go a long way when served in mini baking cups. I also love using brightly-colored ornaments and peacock feathers. Cut flowers, fresh fruit, or anything else you might have on hand can be used as decoration on the dessert table. Rummaging my mom's china cabinet was the best place to find plates and glasses to hold the desserts.

Less than one roll of patterned wrapping paper goes a long way! Instead of cake platters, I wrap empty boxes to elevate the desserts. I also used wrapping paper as cupcake toppers/flags.

Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones!

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Thanks for everyone who participated in the Chobani giveaway! Using Random.org, the winner is Tara @ Chip Chip Hooray who wrote:

I like to use yogurt when making muffins--it helps me to think they're a liiiittle bit healthier when I make breakfast out of 'em! :) 

Congrats Tara! We'll email you with details on how to claim your prize.