I made this candy/dessert buffet for dd's graduation. Sorry it is blurry but we only took one pic before anyone arrived and didn't realize it wasn't clear.
Her school colors were blue and silver so I used that as the theme.
I made the cake pops and cake balls in white and blue. The displays for the cake pops were made by covering foam squares I found on clearance with some silver fabric I had at home. These were time consuming and ended up being rather expensive (in my opinion) because of the candy coating but they were loved by everyone so worth it.
I also made mini carrot cake cupcakes since they are dd's favorite even though they weren't blue or silver they blended in ok.
I borrowed the cake plates from my sister but all other containers came from Goodwill on 1/2 price housewares day so they cost $1 each or less.
Candy cost did add up quickly but I tried to keep things budget for the most part. We had a mix of snack/mini size candy bars that are silver/blue in a tall container and also a bowl of mini York patties. I found some blue and silver Hershey Kisses in December and stored them until the party. I also purchased some Cookies and Cream Kisses since the wrapper is both silver and blue. At Party City I was able to purchase just blue Pixie Stix so I didn't have to purchase many packages to get the blues.
The rest of the candy I purchased a local warehouse that sells both wholesale and retail bulk candy. Tootsie Roll Fruities were 5 pound bags for $7 so it was a huge amount of candy for pretty cheap. That was also where a got the rock candy pops (where looked nice but weren't popular). The total splurge was a large box of Lindor Truffles with blue wrappers but they were as much a gift for my daughter as a dessert item and the price was great compared to regular retail cost.
The final item on the table was a large bowl of a cereal/candy mix I made myself. It is made with Corn Flakes, Corn Pops and popcorn all coated in different color candy coating. Everyone loves it and it makes a HUGE amount.
I did splurge on the fabric for the tablecloth but again - coupon and sale helped keep the cost reasonable.
I had a ton of dessert on this table but the party went from 1pm - 12:30 am and we had family as well as friends (including many big-eating high school boys). The candy buffet was unique and the kids loved it. Some of the kids were here all day but some left to go to the party with the bounce house and then came back for marshmallow roasting after dark. They ate candy ALL day and were just thrilled with it.
Candy buffets are not super cheap but by watching for sales/clearance and making some of the dessert things myself (I got the candy melts a little bit at a time using coupons at Michaels and Hobby Lobby) it wasn't too bad.
FYI - we did serve real food for the meal so we weren't just serving sugar all day.