Thursday, July 29, 2010

DIY Chocolate Tower Party Centerpiece: How-To Instructions

I love the French macaron tower trend that is going around, but unless you live in Paris, NYC, or LA, macarons can be hard to find.  Plus, these delicate confections are difficult and costly to ship. 

I wanted to come up with a more accessible and affordable alternative for the rest of us.  The result is an elegant tower made of gold and brown wrapped Ferrero chocolates that you may have marveled at in my post about Paul's 40 Favorites Surprise 40th Birthday.


This version costs $50 to construct exactly as shown, but you can definitely adapt these instructions to create towers of colorfully wrapped Lindt truffles or, even more affordable, Oreo Cakesters in vanilla creme and chocolate creme rows.  If you use Ferrero chocolates, Walmart by far has the best prices on these. Beware of bulk packages, which were always more expensive per chocolate due to their more attractive packaging at all of the stores I checked.  The instructions below were inspired by a tutorial I saw on the Creative Hostess blog.

DIY Chocolate Tower Party Centerpiece
How-To Instructions

DIY Chocolate Centerpieces Supplies
Supplies Needed
  • 4 7/8 x 17 7/8" Foam cone
  • 19 x 16 1/2" Broadcloth, brown or black
  • Scissors
  • 4 Pins with large heads in a color that blends in with the cloth
  • Regular straight pins
  • Round wooden toothpicks
  • 10 Twelve-count boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolates
  • 8 Twelve-count boxes of Ferrero Rondnoir chocolates
  • Floral clay (optional)

  1. Wrap foam cone with broadcloth leaving enough room around the base of the cone to fold underneath. Create a seam along the cone's long side by folding cloth underneath in a vertical line from the narrow tip to the base of the cone. 

  2. Trim cloth to create minimal overlap of material at the long vertical seam. Broadcloth is very thin and inexpensive fabric material. However, a lot of overlap in the cloth can make it hard to poke the toothpick through the cloth, so trimming is very important.

  3. Using pins with large heads, pin the cloth onto the foam cone along the vertical seam at three points, starting at the base and working your way up.


  4. At the narrow tip of the cone, fold the broadcloth under to hide all ragged edges and pin in place at an off-center point with the fourth large-headed pin. It is important to pin off-center because you will want to place a toothpick in the center of the point to add the final chocolate to the cone.

  5. Using regular straight pins, secure the loose ends of fabric at the base to the underside of the cone. You may need to trim off excess fabric around the base.

    DIY Party Centerpieces

  6. Starting on the opposite side from the seam at base of the cone, insert a round toothpick into the foam cone at a 45 degree angle. It is important to use sturdy round wooden toothpicks, as thinner wooden toothpicks will not pierce through the broadcloth.

  7. Place a gold Ferrero Rocher chocolate with the brown paper liner left attached on the toothpick, so that the bottom of the chocolate is flat against the cone.

    DIY Candy Centerpiece

  8. Repeat step 7 until the entire base of the cone is circled by the gold Ferrero Rocher chocolates.

  9. Again, starting on the opposite side from the seam, place a brown-wrapped Ferrero Rondnoir chocolate staggered between the gap above the gold chocolates to get an idea of where to stick the toothpick in for the second layer of chocolates. Pierce with toothpicks and attach Ferrero Rondnoir chocolates until cone is circled.

  10. Alternate rows of Ferrero Rocher and Rondnoir chocolates all the way up the cone.

  11. On the flat tip of the cone, pierce with a toothpick vertically and place a final chocolate on top.

  12. Place the tower on top of a cake pedestal for a beautiful display. If desired, place some floral clay on the bottom of the cone to attach it to the cake pedestal for a stable centerpiece.

  13. Enjoy your beautiful creation!

DIY Dessert Tower Ideas
 

If these instructions inspire you to create your own DIY candy tower centerpiece for your next party's sweet table, I'd love to see photos!


This post was featured on the following blog:

Singing With Birds


This post is being shared on the following blogs:



Birthday Wedding cakes crafts parties

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21 comments:

  1. So cute! I am collecting party ideas and I love this one!

    glad I popped by from Making Mondays Marvelous!

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  2. That's a divine centerpiece! You must have some fun ideas for wrapping gifts, too! I hope you'll stop by my PRETTY PACKAGES PARTY and share some of your talent! Be sure to grab a button for a reminder!
    http://blackberryvine.blogspot.com/2010/08/first-ever-pretty-packages-party.html
    smiles!

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  3. YUM! It's so pretty I wouldn't want anyone to eat the chocolates! LOL

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  4. great idea! might have to borrow it for a party ;)

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  5. Cute! I'd love it if you'd link up to my Topsy Turvy Tuesday's tomorrow! This is a cheap way to create a nice looking centerpiece!

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  6. So glad everyone likes the tutorial!

    Jami & Ashlee, thanks so much for telling me about your link parties!

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  7. Fabulous idea! This would be a great centerpiece for our Christmas party...I will have to remember this!

    I'm visiting from Making the World Cuter Monday. Have a great day!

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  8. That is SO cute! I love those candies too :) Makes me wanna throw a party! Stopping by from Just Something I Whipped Up Monday.

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  9. OooOOooo! I think I need to have some chocolate now... This is a wonderful idea! Thanks for sharing! Oh! And thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment! I love love having visitors, so please stop by again sometime! Have a lovely day!

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  10. Oh my gosh! So impressed!!! I love this!

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  11. I'll definitely be making one of these soon for by husband, he loves these chocolates.

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  12. Come back and share photos of your creations! I'd love to see!!!

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  13. Gorgeous! I want to eat that entire thing. I love it for a party decoration, and how awesome would it be as a Christmas decoration in the red and green Lindt? Fabulous idea.

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  14. I totally agree, Kasia! It would make a super cute Christmas decoration in red and green Lindt...can I come help you eat it after the holidays? (;

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  15. Hi Betsy,

    Congratulations, your DIY Chocolate Tower made this week's Top 5 Hits at Singing With Birds! Please come check it out, grab a button and have a great weekend. Thanks for sharing such a terrific tutorial and pictures.

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  16. Great centerpiece and very clear directions! Thanks for posting!

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  17. I did this with powdered munchkins for christmas. I just stuck a toothpick in the center of the munchkin and stuck it in the cone. Then I took white icing to fill in the gaps and make it look like icicles. And added red and green jelly beans in between some of the icing gaps for ornaments for winter wonderland tree. It was a huge hit at my Christmas party.

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  18. Maggie in Perth, Australia, emailed me a photo of the chocolate tower she created for her daughter Jessica's 21st birthday. I love the creative spin she put on it by adding a sparkly 21 pick coming out the top. Great idea! Check out the picture on my Facebook page (you don't need an account to see).

    While you're on my Facebook page, press the Like button to get exclusive party ideas that I only share on Facebook.

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  19. So thoughtful of you to share this more affordable "macaron tower" idea! And so resourceful to find all the materials, with tips on where to buy. Thanks!

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