10 Easy DIY Edible Arrangements Slideshow

Crunchy, fresh and colorful, vegetables are the perfect food to see and snack. Arrange your favorites in an appropriately garnished basket with flavorful dip in the center of the table for guests to nibble on. Artfully arrange gorgeous green bean stalks, asparagus or carrots to act as candleholders for an easy, peel away snack—but watch for the hot wax! If finger food at the table isn't appropriate for your soiree, look to arrangements good enough to eat by creating your own table bouquet of vegetables with leafy greens like cabbage and spinach surrounding your favorite colored blossoms.

Setting the Scene: Since vegetables come in an array of vibrant colors and textures, it's best to choose what vegetables to feature according to season. Thinking of throwing one in the fall? Try the fun, funky shapes of gourds with deep golden colors to make your other vegetables pop on the table.

While you may not be able to replicate the intricate design of carved fruit artists, you can use these succulent treats to dress your table and fill tummies easily. Emulate a romantic table setting with a canopy of fruit trees  or a small tabletop with whole fruit arrangements for guests to pick off at their leisure. For a subtle look, fill glass vases and shooters with your favorite berries amid the soft glow of tea lights that guests will feel comfortable snacking on.

Setting the Scene: You don't have to be a purist in arranging fruit at the table. Try dipping various fruits in white and dark chocolate and towering them in the center. What's even more inventive is using white chocolate-dipped strawberries as a metaphor for a wedding dress by arranging them in a tower around a veiled Barbie doll for a bridal shower.

Instead of pelting the new happy couple with rice, use it to beautify your next table spread. With a touch of ingenuity and a little spice, you can liven up this fluffy filler as a beautiful decoration just as with rice dishes. Take clear glass vases and fill with rice as the base of a beautiful bouquet. With a little food coloring, rice is extremely easy and safe to dye, and it can be layered in old mason jars to adequately match the theme.

Setting the Scene: If you want guests to snack on some rice, use an ice cream scoop to measure round, cooked rice balls. Using whatever seasoning you like for taste, add various food coloring to the rice balls. Pile them in a tower to make it look like an ice cream sundae for a kids' table or use plain, white scoop-able rice as snow for a winter-themed scene.

Today, as wedding extravagance grows, sometimes a simple edible favor is a welcome relief. Besides, who needs a tiny saltshaker set when a bag of candy can satisfy drunken post-wedding munchies? With candy, not only do you have a simple party favor for any occasion—it easily doubles as an interactive and tasty centerpiece. Create a candy forest by stringing together candy trees that guests can pull off. A candy flower arrangement at the center of the table can both accent the room and allow guests to treat themselves. Instead of clear canisters filled with candy on the dessert table, place miniature ones in the center of each with scoops, so guests can create their own bags of fun without even leaving the table.

Setting the Scene: If you're in the market for a kid friendly DIY project, candy "gazing balls" may be the answer. A styrofoam ball, unwrapped candy, a touch of glue and your creative youngsters will be busy for hours.

Tooth-achingly sweet, airy cotton candy a fine way to sugar up the kids, and it's a great accessory for any themed party. With a little fishing line and a miniature basket, kids will climb the tables to get a piece of a cotton candy hot hair balloon.  Tell them to "reach for the sky" at a backyard movie night with cloud cotton candy. You can also grab an old cupcake tier and with some designer paper, make cotton candy cones for kids to take with them as they party it up. If you're worried you won't find quality cotton candy when the fair isn't in town, learn how to make your own and wow guests with your DIY skills!

Setting the Scene: This sugary sweet fair favorite isn't just for the kids—they don't make cotton candy vodka and other sweet drinks for nothing. For an adult-themed cotton candy bonanza, make it both cutesy and elegant with accented cotton candy branches. For the drinks table, garnish champagne flutes with a piece of cotton candy. Hand out brightly colored cotton candy colored wigs and you'll have yourself a party Katy Perry herself would die to attend.

You don't have to be a Cake Boss or a contestant on Cupcake Wars to use cake as your main attraction. For a spring-themed party, serve up potted ice cream dirt cake with cleaned out clay pots and a few fake flowers. For a simple look, arrange miniature glass cake domes in the center of the table and it fill it with cupcakes or sweet treats. Use an array of different cakes on different tables and accessorize with an appropriate DIY cake topper for a custom look. Swap out whole cakes for decorative cupcakes or mix and match, so everyone can sink their teeth into your table.

Setting the Scene: If you want a true finger food cake, you can never go wrong with the easy, cutesy cake pop. To play up your party's colors, recreate a flower arrangement by coordinating cake pops in a glass vase. You can easily recreate your favorite storybook characters or seasonal character to make your party treat functional and fun. And don't forget: These tasty treats can double as party favors for your next shower.

Get ready to "mangia" on this favored Italian dish staple, a gorgeous (and tasty) focal point for your next wine party. Using clear mixing bowls and decorative cake stands, create colorful pasta dishes and arrange them around earthy objects like rustic silverware, candles and wine bottles. Take a trip further east with an Asian fusion setting. Just place family-style pasta in ornate china bowls and surround with chopsticks and orchids. 

Setting the Scene: If you're more interested in pasta as an aesthetic, why not paint a metallic, colorful centerpiece using pasta? You can easily mix flowers and pasta with minature pasta vases, or just artfully display dried pasta in ornate containers to show off your table's natural colors.

From tasty cocktails to thirst-quenching bottles of water, drinks are essential to any party. Play them up and put them in the spotlight. You could use recycled and redecorated wine bottles for refreshing, signature cocktails that can customize your party on a few levels. Accessibility to drinks is a must at any party, and it doesn't get easier than arranging a decorative cooler dead center in your spread. Remember: The colors alone in a diverse drink menu can add a splash to any table, so think up some great concoctions that mirror your party's feel.

Setting the Scene: When it comes to putting drinks in the limelight, waste not, want not. Old wine corks and bottle caps can create a delightful candleholder. Recycled bottles as vases can do the same for fresh flowers. Using mason jars to hold signature cocktails or as table decor is a trendy way to dress up your table—just be sure everyone knows which are for drinking.

Full of protein and flavor, shelled nuts of all varieties are a favorite munch snack. With rich colors and diverse textures, adding a few different types of nuts to your table décor can pull a display together. Provide a nutcracker and let your guests have at it with a spread of shelled nuts on themed plates. Afraid of the mess the shells may leave behind? Try a large dish with nuts that are ready to eat, and accent it with candles.

Setting the Scene: The best way to incorporate foods like nuts into your décor is to have them represent something special. Create a holiday wreath out of nutshells or use them as a visual for a themed party, like brains for a spooky holiday skull.

No one can deny the smell of coffee. Use this fragrant bean to make your tables pop. Using a styrofoam cone, glue beans to create minature trees that you can accent with other earth tone foods. Coffee cans make for fine rustic vases, as do accented coffee mugs.  For the baristas out there, use a steaming pot of coffee, surrounded by sugar cubes and miniature pitchers of cream, as your centerpiece.

Setting the Scene: Roasted coffee beans may seem like the least edible centerpiece, but did you know that chewing on and smelling coffee beans clears the palate for the next course? Lay out small dishes of coffee beans with simple tea lights in the center for a beautiful, accessible display that comforts guests and clears their senses between courses.