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[Boy Bash] Construction Truck Dessert Table

| Stephanie Keeping | Boy Bash on a Budget Challenge Comments

Every Tuesday till early September we're going to be featuring a budget themed dessert table or tablescape from the talented women who have graciously volunteered to take on our Boy Bash on a Budget Challenge. And we're even going to throw our own work into the ring from time to time and follow the same budget confines. Every participant gets the Spaceships and Laser Beams Collection of their choice + $50 for a dessert table or $20 for a tablescape. They can also use anything they are able beg or borrow, make themselves or already own.

This Tuesday's Boy Bash on a Budget Challenge submission is firmly rooted in the overachieving category. Not only did Ali of the blog Jen and Ali agree to participate in our crazy boy's budget challenge, she did two versions of her construction truck themed dessert table: one set inside where she bought all the treats and one set on a construction site where she made all the treats! Today we have the indoor construction themed dessert table. Tomorrow I will feature the outdoor version. Ali has a fabulous story about how she came to have two tables (one that speaks to the challenges of trying to deal with chocolate in the middle of a heatwave, which I am sure all of us can relate to), so I have her own words in italics below. There are several items from this table that I am completely in love with -- from the way the white boxes are styled to the juxtaposition of the cookie cake and dump truck -- but the element I love most is the banner. It's probably not surprising since Ali says it was inspired by something I pinned recently. LOL

 

 

 

 

 

Here's more about the indoor and outdoor table in Ali's own words!

First of all, I chose the Construction Crew collection for a few reasons: 1) My husband is a project manager for a utility contractor 2) My 2 year old son loves playing with trucks and other construction equipment 3) I loved the color scheme of orange, yellow and blue.
Since my husband works in construction, I immediately decided to set up my dessert table at his jobsite. That meant there would be lots of props I could borrow! I set my table up outside, on top of a large piece of plywood, propped up by an excavator bucket and 2 orange barrels. I also covered the plywood with job plans to give it a more realistic feel.
The happy birthday banner is probably my favorite part (although it's uneven in the pictures) and was inspired by a pin on SpaceshipsLaserBeams Pinterest board. My husband cut the triangles out of extra plywood we had on hand. I made the letters by wrapping baker's twine around nails and strung them on twine.
My husband was kind enough to also cut plywood to use as plates and a tiered cupcake stand. I covered these with the Construction Crew placemat printables.Plywood is so versatile (and cheap) and can be incorporated into so many party themes!
My husband wakes up super early for work and relies on a cup (or two) of coffee to get his day going. I have a feeling this is common among those in the construction field, so it seemed appropriate to use coffee mugs to hold drinks. I am a bit obsessed with striped straws and had to include them as well.
For the most part, I made all of the food. This included dirt pudding (chocolate pudding topped with crushed Oreos), donuts (store bought), chocolate cupcakes (with cupcake picks made with the Construction Crew 2 inch circle printables), and vanilla cake pops. The hard hat cake pops looked cute at one point, but the sun was not kind to them at all (and I lost three in the process of setting up the table). To make the traffic cone cupcakes, I baked cupcakes in ice cream cones, topped them with frosting, covered them with a chocolate wafer, and dipped them in orange candy melts. I also made tool sugar cookies, covered with white royal icing and decorated with food decorator pens. Finally, I dipped pretzel rods in chocolate and sprinkles, and made macarons.
Favors included candy (orange slices), candy (gumballs) and more candy (orange, yellow, and blue M&Ms, Skittles, and Lemonheads). The small excavator with orange slices is one of my son's favorite toys. I used the Construction Crew 1 inch circle printables on the mini orange cups filled with candy and on the gumball tubes. Finally, rounding out the table are the Construction Crew party hats and food labels.
The set up was a bit challenging. It was almost 100 degrees outside (summer in Georgia!), so my chocolate began melting quickly. I was forced set everything up very quickly and, I admit, a little sloppily. After getting home and looking at my pictures, I wasn't happy with the set up. The background was way too busy, something that I completely overlooked during the setup.
As a result, I decided to set up an alternative version inside at my house. Most of the same items were used in this version. The biggest difference is that, since I left the desserts with my husband so that his co-workers could enjoy them, I bought all of the food for this table. I substituted cake pops with donut hole pops, traffic cone cupcakes with Oreos, and macarons with Oreo Cakesters.  Also, since I didn't have the cement blocks for the cupcake stand, I used mini orange cups and duct tape rolls to add height.
Hopefully showing both versions of my dessert table (outside at a construction site with homemade food versus inside at home with store bought food) has proven that there are many options for creating a unique dessert table within a tight budget!
Budget Breakdown
Inside Version
Borrowed: orange/white cubes (3)
Already had: Same as above plus wooden dump truck and duct tape rolls
· Bought ($47.90):
o Yellow trash can - $1
o Toolboxes (2) - $6
o Orange wire basket - $2.50
o Mini traffic cones - $5
o Orange mugs (4) - $4
o Orange placemats (3) - $2.40
o Mini orange solo cups - $3
o Gumballs - $6
o Orange slices - $1
o Pudding - $1
o Cupcakes - $3
o Donut holes - $2
o Donuts - $2
o Oreos (2) - $5
o Pretzels - $1
o Oreo Cakesters - $3
(I'll have the budget breakdown for the exterior table tomorrow - Stephanie)

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