This is post 2 of 3 on my daughter’s Candy Party. Here is the first post, Candy Party Planning. And the final post (with the actual party!) is here, Grace’s Candy Party.
As the date for my daughter’s candy themed birthday is moving closer, I’ve been having a fun time collecting all kinds of sweet things! It seems the stores have been cooperating with me, and I’ve been finding cute things everywhere I go. I guess there are some big advantages to planning a party 6 months in advance!
Here are a few of the things I’ve found-
Colorful boxes (Michael’s)- I’ll use these to add some height and color to the candy buffet table.
Giant red/white/pink lollipop (Target)- I found of few of these discounted after Christmas.
Pencils with cupcake and lollipop designs (Michael’s)- I found packs of 8 pencils in the dollar section, yay!
Notebooks with candy designs (Michael’s)- Another find from the dollar section.
Plastic green/white and pink/white lollipops (Target)- These were sold as Christmas ornaments.
I came across these cute shirts at Target. They were only $5.00 each, so I didn’t have any problem buying two, one long sleeve and one short sleeve. Since I dont’ know exactly what the weather will be the day of the party, the birthday girl will have a cute party shirt either way.
At my request, my (very talented) mom made these adorable pillow covers with cupcake and sprinkle pattern fabrics. She made a total of 6 pillow covers, so I’ll have pillows to put on the couch and a few chairs around the house. I have a feeling I may just leave the pillows around even after the party, they are so cute! She also made a bunch small bean bags using the pink cupcake fabric. We’ll be using the bean bags for some of the party games.
In addition to a few bean bag games, another game I’ve prepared is a candy version of bingo (photo below- on the left). I gathered a bunch of sweet themed clip art images and then arranged them in PhotoShop to create bingo cards. So instead of calling bingo numbers, I’ll pull from the stack of calling cards (the individual images) and say, “Does anyone have a chocolate chip cookie?”, and then those who do will mark that spot. The first to have three sweets in a row is the winner. I laminated the cards so then can be used again and again. We’ve already played with them several times as a family.
Below (on the right), are some more of the fun things I’ve gathered for game prizes. The large lollipop shapped item is a set of candy shapped soaps (obviously not for the younger guests!)- I picked up two of these at Wal-Mart on clearance after Christmas. The mini gumball machines are from Big Lots (although Wal-Mart has very similar ones in the Easter candy section right now, for $1.00). The bubble gum flavored lip gloss is from Dollar Tree.
Since first deciding on the candy theme, I’ve been collecting a variety of jars for the candy buffet. I knew this would be one of the larger financial investments for the party, so it was the first thing I started searching for. I wanted to spread the cost over several months and also, not be running around town searching for them a couple weeks before the party. The most I think I paid for any of the jars was $16.00, which sure beats the $30-$50 Pottery Barn charges for apothecary jars. Once I thought I’d collected enough jars, I played around with arranging them until I found a display I was happy with. Then I thought through which kind of candy, and which colors of candy would go in each jar. I labeled the jars with the kind of candy they would hold, so then I could figure out how many pounds of each kind of candy I would need. I didn’t want to order 5 pounds of something I would end up putting in a smaller jar, or not order enough candy for the larger jars.
Shopping info.- Back row, L to R- Antique store, Wal-Mart, Home Goods, Wal-Mart, Antique store
Front row, L to R- (box) Michael’s, Home Goods, Antique store, Michael’s, (box) Michael’s
hi there! I love your ideas. I need help with the bingo images…i cant find those anywhere…can you help me out?
thanks
Lisa
westermanlisa@yahoo.ca
Great Advice. You should add an Advice column to your blog. I know you don'thave time to reply to e-mails all day but maybe you could have 1 e-mail a week that you answer. I think it would be fun.
Wow, what a great idea. I always prepare the food and then I am searching for what dish would work best. Sometimes I use a dish and then realize that I had originally plan on putting someting else in it. I'm going to try your post-it note idea next time I have a party.
Wondeful Glory! I am VERY envious of the shops you have access to! But it is your talent that brings it all together.
The blog looks amazing.
Love Kathryn x
Oh it's looking so pretty. I adore these colours Glory. They are my happy colours.
Thank you for sharing all the shopping sources too.
xx
Thanks Glory!!
Hey Sharon,
Hmm, a bit of a mess, I know I would stress out about a situation like this too!
My sugesstions…
Can your SIL move the day of their party? I'm assuming the party is planned for a Saturday, could it be Sunday instead? Depending on how fancy or expensive the invitations she already has are, it may be worth the extra trouble to pick a new day (either Sunday, or the following Saturday).
The other thing to think about is, which guests are the most important to the birthday girl? If the one or a couple kids that are really special to the birthday girl will have to chose between two parties, that would be a strong case to move the party. But if at least some of the most treasured friends/famiy will be able to come then leave it as is, and enjoy having a smaller group.
I'll be interested to hear how it turns out!
Note for next year… send out the invitations a bit earlier, or if the "twins" are still a part of your neices group of friends, your SIL may want to consult with the other mother several months before the birthdays to make sure the dates don't conflict again.
Oh, Glory, everything looks so fabulous! We can't wait. I am coming to you this morning for a 'Dear Abby of the party planners' conundrum…My SIL in So cal, emailed me this morning, you can see the desperation in the tone and wording.. any advise??
Here is her letter…
Hi Sharon,
I need some feedback from you. I was at Mel's preschool today and she received an invitation for another birthday the same day as the one we are planning for Mel. It turns out the twin girls in her class are turning 5 and the invites were in class today. I am planning on giving out invites on Monday. Our party is from 11-1:30 and the twin's party is from 12-4 in Riverside at a horse ranch. The distance to get the party is at least 50 min or longer depending on traffic. I think there is going to be overlap on who is invited to both parties. Should I just not worry about it and still send my invites out Monday with the hope that some kids will still attend Mel's birthday and opt not to drive the distance to Riverside. I also don't want to take kids away from the other party. I think what it may come down to is what ultimately the parents decide. Some parents may not want to drive the distance to Riverside or have other commitments before or after Mel's party that need to keep them closer to our area. I just don't want all the kids to end up at the other party and Mel only has a few friends. I do think at this point at least 7 kids will be able to attend between daycare and my personal friends. Let me know what you suggest as I am overthinking all of this and am not sure what to do…Bailey should be getting her invite soon in the mail…
Susan
Can't wait to see the pictures from the party. I am sure it is going to be FABULOUS 🙂
wow. Glory everything looks amazing. It is going to a wonderful party.
xoxo