V Day is upon us so I thought I'd give this Valentine's Day dessert board a try! It's a sweet gesture (pun intended) that doesn't require a lot of fuss or money yet is still thoughtful. Plus with these free chocolate wrapper printables, it's so much easier.
Platters and grazing tables are so popular right now, I've been wanting to attempt something for a while. This small platter is the perfect place to start too.
This post ended up becoming so much bigger than I thought so I've had to split it up into several posts and videos. Read and watch how I wrapped the chocolate bar wrappers for my dessert board. You can also check out the quick and easy chocolate and sprinkle covered Oreos tutorial to read and watch.
Watch the short video below or keep scrolling for the rundown on what I did for my dessert board of love.
STEP #1 | Select your Dessert Board
Given this is a Valentine's Day dessert board, the predominant colours were going to be pink, red and white. Not to mention my chocolate wrappers are those colours. I did end up straying a little and introducing a touch of other colours since I couldn't find the exact ingredients I wanted.
With the colour palette in mind I had my heart set on a timber board (something similar to this). White would have done just as well if that's what you've got in the cupboard. It turns out I don't have a proper timber board which came as a total shock to me. So instead I used this pizza paddle and the handle actually came in very handy! I have put timber boards on my shopping list now as I feel we could become really good friends.
STEP #2 | Enter the Valentine's Day themed chocolate bars
First I started by laying out my chocolate bars. You can grab the free printable for the wrappers if you haven't already. There are two designs on each page. As I mentioned above, stay tuned for a tutorial and video on how I wrapped Hershey's chocolate bars to help with the Valentine's Day theme of this platter.
STEP #3 | Place any bowls of treats
Using small bowls is helpful for some of the more difficult or smaller items. I'm now on the lookout for some heart-shaped ones, which are so adorable! I filled two bowls and placed them on the dessert board. I used Darrell Lea Strawberry Sensation chocolate balls and some white fairy floss I happened to find at the supermarket by chance.
STEP #4 | Allocate a space for the chocolate dipped Oreos
Next I placed some chocolate dipped Oreos on this Valentine's Day dessert board. I dipped these Oreos in white chocolate and added some sprinkles for colour. It was super easy and I'll be uploading the tutorial on how I did this shortly.
STEP #5 | Garnish with Smaller Treats
After finishing with the choc dipped Oreos, I put my marshmallows and little heart lollies on the board. I also used the marshmallows as fillers for some of the gaps. Too easy!
STEP #6 | Spread the love with heart-shaped strawberries
Strawberries are so easy to cut and shape into hearts (they're almost a heart shape as they are anyway). I'll post a video here soon to show you how I did it. Once you've washed and cut your strawberries, place them on the food board with the rest of your treats.
STEP #7 | Filling in the gaps of your Valentine's Day dessert board
This is where I went back over the dessert board to see what else it needed. I filled in the gaps with more marshmallows and topped up the heart lollies.
STEP #8 | The Finishing Touch to your dessert board
Just to add a little more colour and fun I decided to put two paper straws into the fairy floss. Practically speaking you're not going to suck up the fairy floss with a straw but it looks cute! I actually thought they would be good to try to scoop the fairy floss up and eat from the straw. No. I was wrong, that didn't work at all! But I still stand by my first comment that it looked cute.
Putting effort into creating a Valentine's Day dessert board on this day of love is a great way to show your appreciation. It is a thoughtful gift you can both enjoy. Since it's just for two it doesn't need to be a big expense nor does there need to be a lot of effort.
I'd love to see your dessert boards. Perhaps you went bigger, scaled back, changed the colour palette or did a completely different theme. You can share via Instagram #avmfreebies or by tagging @avisualmerriment on Facebook
Other resources you may like:
FREE PRINTABLE: Printable Valentine's Word Search Gift Cards
FREE PRINTABLE: Love Script Greeting Card
ARTICLE: Chocolate Bar Wrapper DIY + Printable
ARTICLE: Romantic Valentines Day Decorations + DIYs
ARTICLE: Valentine's Day Activities for Couples, Kids + the Family
FROM MY SHOP: Valentine's Day Chocolate Wrappers
