Candy Land Birthday Party!

I knew at some point I'd have to do a Candy Land party for one of my girls for my own selfish reasons, however time was running out. So my baby Meg got the full-on candy treatment for her 4th birthday over the weekend.


First things first was to buy as many gingerbread and candy cane decorations as possible during after Christmas clearance. You gotta love 50, 75, even 90% off sales! Next was to stock up on a wide variety of candies. Thanks to my new favorite store B.A Sweetie Candy Company just outside of Cleveland. It's an AMAZING candy warehouse that not only sells at their brick and mortar building, but also to their online customers. Check out their retro candies. I'll be returning for some of my favorite treats from the 70's (can you say Chick-o-Stick?)


Meg's guests were greeted by a "candy bar" that included a multitude of candies including M&M's, gummie bears, marshallow twists and ice cream cones, and circus peanuts. A large lollipop tree held suckers to be pulled out. Depending on what color tip was at the end of your stick determined what non-candy prize you received. (FYI - Helium tanks are not that attractive as party decor).

These candy fans chose a goodie bag to decorate with sweet stickers. This bag would be filled with treats throughout the party.


A simple festive decoration is hanging curling ribbon and candy dots from a chandelier.

These candy crusaders below entered "Gingerbread Forest" and received a gingerbread necklace made from clearance St. Patrick's Day leis and a clearance deck of gingerbread playing cards.


They were then directed to the King Kandy and Princess Frostine crown area where each guest made a crown for themselves decorated with more candy stickers (found at JoAnn's for $1.00 per book...great price).


Thanks to Hubs helping hand pre-party as well as during, he was able to get a shot of the family room while the party-goers were in other rooms. This was the Mr. Mint and Princess Frostine combo room.



My oldest daughter was the D.J. and coordinated a great game of "freeze dance" in honor of Princess Frostine. Party like a 4-year-old rock star I say!!


Meggie opened her wonderful gifts from all her friends and treated them to strawberries and fruit dip, bananas, cheese and crackers, popcorn and marshmallow filled ice cream cones and yummy confetti cupcakes! Just something sweet and simple.


I think messy face Meg enjoyed every minute of the day! Everyone left with bags full of candy and candy-related loot as well as a Candy Land coloring book with poster, stickers and crayons. Hopefully we didn't have too many hurtin' bellies afterward. ;)

The party is over...whew!

BEWARE! Get ready for a looooong post!!

As some of you may know my husband and I along with his brother, sister and their spouses, hosted my in-laws 40th wedding anniversary at our home on Saturday. As a whole, the party was orchestrated by C.T.'s sister and me, since his brother lives a few hours away, however we all contributed financially which was a big help. Organizing it was so much work BUT the end result was fantastic and I couldn't be happier. My in-laws seemed really pleased too.

Unfortunately I was so busy up to the very minute people started to arrive I didn't personally take any photos of my displays, appetizer table (which I was oh so proud of) or any of the guests!! Thankfully my sister-in-law took photos (I'm sure not of anything I set up, hehe) so my husband's parents can enjoy them years down the road.

I did however take photos the next day of a few of the budget flower arrangements I made. They were simple and turned out pretty well I thought. The one at the beginning of the post greeted the guests in the front entry. That along with the following arrangement was made of perenial lilys, sheetmoss and white mini-pumpkins. I placed them in pottery pieces I collect from thrift stores and garage sales. Total cost was approximately $7.00 per arrangement and I can still plant these puppies in my yard!!



Also, just a word to the wise. No matter how much you plan, organize, and recheck your work there is always the potential for a snag or two in the plans. Case in point, since my husband was in school till 5:00pm that day (yah, that was not fun), we sent my BIL to pick up the food. C.T. made an Excel spread sheet for him with the items listed that we ordered from the caterer and all he had to do was pick it up and pay for it. 15 minutes after he leaves we get a phone call from him saying they don't have any orders for pick up. WHAT???? Are you kidding me? I had confirmed with them two days prior that all was well and I actually tried calling that day but no one picked up the phone. Now my SIL and I are freaking out! It was unbelievable. The caterer kept insisting we must have ordered from a different location of theirs (which we hadn't). Anyway, after about ten minutes of confusion, we found out the order had not been entered into the computer so the front counter had no idea what was ready in the kitchen. Thankfully the food was waiting for us. What a flippin' scare!

The food was phenomenal! I was in charge of the appetizers so I made up a fruit, and cheese tray. Since C.T.'s parents love Italian food, we went that route. My platters consisted of wedges of fontina, parmesan, smokey cheddar and sliced fresh mozzerella cheeses. I added bunches of red grapes and melon along with large stacks of proscuitto so everyone could assemble their own concoction. It was served with thick slices of crusty bread and extra virgin olive oil to drizzle overtop. So yummy and it looked beautiful!! Our main dishes consisted of salad, chicken parmesan, rigatoni, sausage and peppers and HUGE fried mozzerella balls!! More crusty bread topped it off. What a feast!

This photo shows another inexpensive flower arrangement, not displayed in the way we did for the party, but just to show you an idea. Total cost was about $4.00 per arrangement. You can't go wrong with quick and easy grocery store flowers!



Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to read Sue at JUNKMARKET's response to my request for ideas on how to use my rusty cylindrical cheese grater prior to setting up for the party. She had a "grate" idea by placing a vase inside and use it for a flower arrangement. So I did just that below! The glass is a bit tall but you get the idea.



So, needless to say, I didn't do a darn thing yesterday. Oh wait...I laid on the couch with a nice cushy pillow and cozy blanket. My husband was studying and doing homework all day and my kids were gracious enough to play in their playroom for big portions of the day. What great girls! They really do love their mom. I'll make it up to them though!!

Have a beautiful week everyone and why not plan a party!!

Candy