A new bakery in downtown Washington offers a variety of delectable treats and baked goods and has opened just in time to offer specialized items for Halloween.

Tanya Manning, owner of Tasteful Creations, got her start in a high school home economics class when she baked her first cake for her mother, she said. From there, it was destiny. Manning started baking for her kids, for her friends and then what started out as a hobby she enjoyed turned into a passion.

“I just started doing it for more people,” Manning said. “Facebook came along, I created a Facebook page and I just took off from there.”

Through a USDA inspection, Manning, who just got Tasteful Creations up and running recently, had been baking, packaging and selling her items from home and during festivals and other events since around 2010, she said. Her husband was working in Washington, saw the space available on Market Street and checked on it.

“The rent was right, and my dream was bigger than my fear so we took that step,” Manning said. “This has been my dream for a long time, to actually have my own place and get my product out that everybody seems to love.”

The baked items and tasty treats available are every kid’s dream. The display cases in the store highlight Manning’s capabilities, ranging from different kinds of cupcakes, cookies and brownies topped with icings to chocolate covered peanuts, chocolate covered pretzels, candy covered apples, caramel, oreo and peanut butter truffles and all kinds of lollipops. Manning even personalizes the treats by theming them around any given season. For example, she has chocolate covered pretzel sticks that resemble mummies and witch’s fingers. Another fine item is pumpkin spice balls on a stick, which is more or less a lollipop, she said.

“I have all kinds of themes,” Manning said. “Each season you come in and I have designs for it. I hand-paint all of the lollipops.”

Manning said some of her work is original, but some of the ideas she gets from Pinterest, a social media site, or other locations on the Internet, she said. The ideas, whether from her head or from another’s, become products baked in her kitchen. Manning also makes specialty cakes, birthday cakes and party trays for parties of all types, she said. She even plans on having an in-house party room, decorated for childrens’ birthday parties, as well as offering packages that will give kids at the party a cupcake or miniature cake to decorate, she said.

“My biggest hope is when someone asks, ‘Where do I need to get a cake from?’ someone says, ‘Tasteful Creations.’ I want the first name to come out is Tanya Manning with Tasteful Creations.”

Manning, who lives in Grimesland, said she chose Washington for the location of her business because it provides the right atmosphere and a place for her tasteful creations.

“I like the location,” Manning said. “There are very friendly people around here. It’s more of a small town feeling — that home feeling — versus the hustle and bustle of Greenville.”

Tasteful Creations is located at 124 South Market St. in downtown Washington and is open Monday through Saturday, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. To contact Tasteful Creations, call 252-341-8424 or visit them at facebook.com/tastefulcreations.