Wow…I can’t believe that after the months of preparation and all the hard work, my baby is now three and her party is over! I know I say it all the time, but I am continually amazed with how fast the hands of time turn!
Grab yourself some lemonade and a snack and then settle on in and get cozy because I have a feeling this is going to be one long post! There were so many details in this party that I just adored and I want to share it all!
So first of all a little disclaimer…I can’t take credit for all of my ideas! Sure, I manage to bring them all to life, but I find SO much inspiration on the web and from other moms! Seriously…what would we do without the internet? One of my favorite party planning websites is Birthday Party Ideas. Once you know your theme, you can sift through all of the entries that other moms have so kindly submitted and take what you want from them! I have done that very thing for every single party we have had! Amazing Moms is another great one to hit up. And I of course just Google the theme too and see what else turns up from that! With blogging it is amazing what you can find out there!
For this party in particular I found a ton of fun ideas and inspiration from other moms who blogged about their Sweet Shoppe parties! And I have even made some new friends along the way…love that! Kara at Kara’s Party Ideas had a super sophisticated hot pink and turquoise Sugar, Sweet and Spice Party. The attention to detail and amazing decor makes me green with envy! Go check out that striped tent and the adorable cardboard awning she whipped up! Love. Her party was geared for adults {her Bunco group} but even so, I found some fabulous ideas in her post that I incorporated into Gentry’s party!
Another over the top bash that caught my eye instantly was that of Navy Sou. Her daughter’s party was absolute perfection! As in I wish I knew her and was invited! Super, super cute and all kinds of wonderful! The detail. The colors. The cake. The pictures. To say the least, it was amazing!! I would LOVE to have a party like this outside and take advantage of the natural light for picture taking purposes, but considering Gentry’s birthday is in July and we live in Arizona, we are definitely going to be inside for the duration!
My fellow Arizona girl Kim at The TomKat Studio had an adorable Lollipop Party for her sweetie pie that got my wheels turning! I actually came across Kim while searching for lollipop/candy goodies on Etsy! She creates all sorts of party cuteness {invites, cupcake toppers, tags, etc…} and I linked from her shop to her blog and have been following along ever since! She is super sweet so be sure to check her out if you are needing anything for an upcoming party of your own! She created some of the cupcake toppers for Gentry’s party {you’ll see them later!} and they are simply adorable! Gosh I love these moms that are just as into party planning as I am!
Words can not describe how inspired I was during the months that I worked on this party. I had SO much fun brainstorming and creating along the way! If you know me, then you know that in the whole scheme of life very few things really bother me. However, I hate it when people try to take credit for ideas that weren’t theirs! If I know the source, I always try to give credit where credit is due! I wish I could give credit to each and every person who inspired me along the way, but that just isn’t possible! So I’ll at least say THANKS!
Alrighty then…here is my jumping off point! Yes, I said during the months that I have been working on this party! I had originally planned on going with this theme for Gentry’s second birthday but was lured in by Target’s uber cute cupcake goodness for Valentine’s Day 2008 and went that route last year instead! However, I had already begun collecting Candyland happiness and couldn’t wait to tackle this sweet theme this year!
Okay…so how about we start off with the invite? That seems like a good place, right? I designed these in Photoshop with the help of my extremely patient and super smart husband!! I used several different digital scrapbooking kits and combined papers and elements to get the look I was after. Early on I chose bright orange, hot pink, bright purple, bright green and turquoise as my color scheme. I used those colors in everything from the invites to the balloons!
As for the wording, I looked at various invites on the internet and pulled bits and pieces from different ones to create something that I loved and that fit Gentry’s personality! There are some of my own thoughts thrown in the mix as well!
There is really no “order” to this post so I’ll just start with the favors since those are the pictures I have up first!! I absolutely adore gathering party favors!! Two years ago {like a month after Gentry turned one} I started thinking ahead and planning her next party, which at the time I thought was going to be the Candyland theme. Also at that time Target happened to have red, blue, yellow and green pails in their dollar bins. I won’t tell you how many Target’s I had to hit up to get the right amount in the right colors! Anyway, I ended up not using red and yellow in the overall color scheme because I changed from Candyland to Sweet Shoppe, but because I already had the pails, I obviously went ahead and used them! I am sure not a soul would have noticed had I not mentioned it first!
{I wanted to add that I flipped from manual to automatic for these and just snapped away! I also had to use my flash…a lot! The lighting in our house is not conducive to good photography!! I decided to just be Mom instead of photographer…figuring it would make my life much more simple if I could just shoot and not worry about settings! And it did!! Although the focus is NOT where I want it on many of them, that’s okay! We had a fun day and the memories are still priceless!}
Because I have such a girly girl, I had to jazz up the pails for all our little girly guests! All I did was use bright marabou and my trusty glue gun and went to work! This is super simple but adds so much!! Then I stuck a sheet of colorful tissue paper inside and tied on a coordinating name tag with curly ribbon and was ready to fill ‘em up!
I should probably warn you that I am slightly high maintenance when it comes to party favors!! Not in a snobby way {at least I hope!}, but I just like “nice” goodies and things that are useful! I refuse to buy junk just for the sake of filling up a bucket! The past several years I have started making little treats and have really had fun doing that!
But first up, the things I didn’t make! One of the first things I bought for this party were Candyland pencils and stickers. Both came from Ebay. There are still several options for the stickers, but the pencils no longer come up. Of course I couldn’t leave you hanging, so I searched online! Here is a link to the pencils!
The little gingerbread guys you see are straws. They came from the Wal Mart Christmas decor a couple of years ago.
There was also a little lollipop magnet in each bucket. They were actually cute little Christmas ornaments I found at Hobby Lobby last year and just snipped the ribbon off of and added a magnet to!
All of the older kids also got a candy shaped soap. For these I just made a bunch of round soaps {in different colors and with glitter in them!} and wrapped them up in shimmery cellophane and tied the ends with ribbon to look like pieces of candy. Another SUPER easy project!! I have made soaps for a couple of other parties and they are one of the easiest little crafts ever!! I promise!!
In the buckets for the girls were Starburst chapsticks and hair pretties. I found the chapstick in with the Easter goodies, but have since seen Skittles flavored chapstick in the teeny bopper make up section at Target {on an end cap}.
And now the little candy hair pretties I made! I told you I am all about making things if I can!! For both types I used small styrofoam balls from the craft store. It took a little experimenting on both to figure out what worked and looked best, but once I figured it out, I managed to whip up a whole bunch!
This is what I found worked best for me! On the lollipops I hot glued the stick in first. Once the glue was set up, I covered them in Mod Podge {one at a time} and then glittered away. It would probably be best to stand them in a piece of styrofoam to dry, but I didn’t happen to have an extra piece just sitting around so I was doing all sorts of crazy things to stand them up! Anyway, once they were dry, I tied on a tiny little ribbon and that was it as far as the lolly itself goes!! Once I covered the alligator clips in coordinating ribbon, I hot glued the stick onto the clip. And that’s all! From what I can tell, because of the sticks, these don’t work very well for pigtails but better as just clips!
For the candy pieces, I just played around and cut little fabric squares until I got them the right size to wrap around the ball and leave some excess. I then just glued down the edge with my glue gun. After that I tied ribbon on each end and then used pinking shears to trim the edges with. Then I just hot glued them onto a matching alligator clip! Easy peasy!
The boy pails were a bit more empty since they didn’t get chapstick or hair pretties! But because we had a candy bar as well for all the kids to load up at, I didn’t worry too much about it!!
I did change things up for the four kiddos under two that we had! Way back when I ordered the pencils, I only ordered twelve. And I only made twelve soaps and only had twelve straws left after my kids got into them!! So, for obvious reasons, the tiny guests didn’t get soaps, straws or pencils! Instead, they got a fun, yet practical, little lollipop treat! I actually saw these baby spoon/washcloth lollipops on a blog a long time ago. I pulled the picture off and stuck it in a folder on the computer for future reference!!
I have since seen them on Etsy and admittedly went back to Etsy the night I made these to get some inspiration!! So, if you aren’t too crafty, you can certainly buy ‘em! They make cute baby gifts as well!
Alright…what I did for these was roll up two infant washcloths (contrasting colors) and then taped them at the end. I had to roll several times to get the feel for what I was doing and they never did turn out “perfect,” but with the ribbon and cellophane, nobody noticed!! Then I simply positioned a baby spoon behind the washcloths and wrapped it up in cellophane! I couldn’t figure out how to stick the washcloths to the spoon and get them to actually stay, so I didn’t bother! The cellophane was wrapped tight enough that it held everything together without a problem!
So I think that covers the favors!! Goodness! This post is going to be a mile long!
We had three games for this party. The hit of the bash was by far the bean bag toss! The kids LOVED it! My super, super, super sweet friend Julie made these candy bean bags for me since I finally accepted I am not cut out to sew!! They are too cute for words! I was guarding them with my life at the party and cringed each time grubby, sticky little hands touched them! However, they survived and still look amazing!
I debated and debated on how to do the bean bag toss! I REALLY wanted something made of plywood with plexi-glass and an awning to resemble an actual store front, but that is quite obviously not a simple project that I could do on my own! So…as the time crunch increased, I resorted to my trusty galvanized buckets and colorful ribbon!! And they worked just fine! We put the buckets in a line {getting further with each toss} and had the kids toss them that way and it was great! SUPER fun and cute game!! Julie, thanks so much for the bean bags! They are darling!!
Another game was “Pin the Stick on the Lolly.” Once again, recognizing my lack of sewing skills, I sought help from another sweet blog friend on this one! Shelly and I emailed back and forth a few times discussing what would be the best way to make this creation I had in mind come to life! She suggested making it so that it could serve as more than just a game once the party was over…as in a pillow or a doll blanket. Genius!! I decided on a doll blanket…a pillow would require sewing on my end and work that I knew I would never get around to, so I wanted it ready to go once the party was over! I even had her go ahead and sew a stick on the lolly so I wouldn’t have to attempt that either!!
Shelly sewed the loops on and I painted a dowel purple and added the ribbon for hanging. As for the “sticks” that the kids used, I simply cut out strips of the stiff felt and wrote their initials on them. They stuck fairly well without having to use tape or anything, so I just left it at that!!
And now this sweet little piece covers one of Gentry’s dolls in a baby bed in the playroom! Shelly, thanks for the great thinking and the adorable quilt! It is perfect!
Last but not least is the fabulous little BINGO game my amazingly talented husband designed!! I like to consider myself creative, but not in the sense of tackling Adobe Illustrator and creating an entire set of BINGO cards from nothing! He has far more patience for that kind of thing than I do!
We bought the graphics from iStock Photo. They have tons of different options, but something about the cute little faces on these guys sucked me in! The papers that he used are pieces I pulled from different digital kits I already had that coordinated with the colors and feel I was after! Here is a sample of just one of the cards!!
Ohh, and I LOVE that he took my awning idea and incorporated it…without me even asking!! And the shimmer on the text? All him! He knows me so well! He is something special I tell ya!! Thanks sweetie…the cards were perfect!
In the essence of full disclosure, I highly recommend laminating these bad boys!! We have now had BINGO cards at three of our parties and by the time you factor in little kid hands and pieces of candy for the markers, they are sure to get dirty if they aren’t protected!!
Okay, so how about the cupcakes now? I found some ADORABLE cakes online that would have been too cute for words, but considering the sheer amount of candy I knew we were having as well as the fact that I had already spent way too much the way it was, I opted to go the cupcake route instead!
But just in case you are curious, here are a couple of links to my favorite cakes! The first one…and the second one! The second one is definitely more of a Candyland cake, but could probably be done without the the little path? Not sure…the first one is my absolute fave!!
Before I post the picture, I want to share with you that I am NOT good in the kitchen. To be perfectly honest, I flat don’t like to cook or bake. I never have…and I don’t pretend to! Considering my lack of experience, I was highly tempted to just order cupcakes so I didn’t have the worries, but good ole’ Betty Crocker came through for me and I managed to whip up some tasty treats if I do say so myself! I was planning to attempt Cotton Candy Cupcakes {inspired by Kara}, but somewhere in the midst of all the chaos, we managed to get every flavor of cake mix except white! So, in the eleventh hour I nixed that idea! We had plenty so I am sure they weren’t missed!
I also want to share that I had never seen this type of cupcake tower until I was catching up on posts at The Tomkat Studio. Kim wrote an entire post about hers and how she went about decorating it! I gave one half hearted attempt at covering the bottom of one of the tiers in paper but quickly decided I didn’t have the patience for that! Nor did I have the patience for cutting paper strips to jazz up the edges! But what I did have the patience for was using some of my colorful and fun ribbon! Like Kim mentioned in her post, the edges of these tiers are curved which makes getting the paper or ribbon perfectly straight darn near impossible! I am an extreme perfectionist and this drove me batty, but I finally just accepted it and moved on!! {You can totally see the gaps and wrinkles in the picture if you want to know what I am talking about!!} To get the ribbon to stick, I used glue dots from my scrapbooking days!! Those things work wonders! In fact, I am going to have to take alcohol to the edges and remove them all as I can’t get them off with soap and water!
A couple of things I learned decorating these cupcakes! First of all, bake them in plain jane wrappers that you don’t really care about and use your fun ones to just set them in! I started off actually baking the cupcakes in the polka dot wrappers only to find that once baked, they lost some of their luster and pop! So, after that I baked them in random wrappers and just placed them in the polka dots when I was ready. If you plan to use the Peach O treats, you may want to have two or three bags in different flavors! I was getting annoyed that all of them were the same! Sitting here now I wish I would have thought to use some of the jumbo gumdrops I have just sitting in the pantry. Why didn’t I think of that at the time? Go figure! I also wish I would have had other colors of the sugary sprinkles. The pink and purple were great, but orange, blue and green would have added a lot! Hindsight is always 20/20, hunh? Despite all the flaws that I see, all in all, they turned out pretty darn cute! Chris was beyond impressed with the fact that I not only managed to bake but also decorate these little treats!
Earlier I mentioned the toppers. I had originally planned to do my own, but then started having printer issues and craft punch issues and was basically freaking out, so I contacted Kim who made me a set. I also bought a set from another Etsy seller as well…the ones that look like lollipops! Both sets were darling and both sellers have all sorts of goodies to choose from so be sure to check them out!
For the treats at the candy bar I picked up little cardboard boxes at Michael’s. Inspired once again by Kara, I created little stickers {printed on clear labels} for the front that read:
Grab A Box
Take Some Treats…
Enjoy The Sugar,
Because Life Is Sweet!
I know the picture is terrible, but you get the idea! The colors were actually a lot more vibrant and cheery!! Keeping in line with the whole candy theme, I used a Candy Cane font for the text!
Here is a shot of the entire box. This is actually the back…the front was solid. I opted for this style over the little take out boxes when I was buying them so that you could see the candy through the clear window. However, I then decided to add the colorful tissue paper so it didn’t matter anyway!
And now for the candy bar!! I had SO much fun setting this up! However, it was reiterated to me that I could never, ever work in a candy store because I would spend half the day sampling candy and gain a ton of weight!! Not to mention I would have even more cavities than I already do!!
I started buying candy a few months ago. Each time we went to Sam’s I would pick a bag of something up. This way I didn’t have to make one trip and spend a fortune all at once!! I also bought a couple of things from Target and an actual candy store in the mall because Sam’s didn’t have everything I was wanting!
As for the jars, I started buying those a long time ago! I picked them up at Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, Target and Wal Mart. Keep in mind that you want jars with wide openings so that you can fit scoops in them! And be sure to have different sizes and shapes for interest!
And the scoops…I bought those online. I had this great debate because I really thought I wanted silver {metal} ones, but the more I thought about it and looked at them, they were WAY more expensive than the clear plastic ones! Plus, if the kids are doing the scooping {the parents scooped at our party}, you have to worry about them clanging the metal around on the glass and possibly breaking something or getting hurt! As with everything I do, I had way too much candy and way too many scoops!! It is just so hard to judge and I would MUCH rather error on the side of caution than to have empty candy jars and not enough scoops!
A little side note on the scoops…I had NO idea how to know if I was going to need the 3 ounce size or the 5 ounce size, so I ordered several of both. As it turns out, the 5 ounce scoops were actually a little too big for what I wanted so I used the 3 ounce size for all but one of the jars! Just thought I would share in case someone else out there is curious about what size to order!
Another fun thing I did was to tie a strand of bright ribbon on each of the handles! If you look closely you can see some of the scoops in the pictures! Simple but cute!
The shimmery pink garland was a whim purchase I made at Hobby Lobby!! I really had no idea how I was going to use it, but it was 75% off after Easter so I knew I had to figure out a way to incorporate it!
And here is a look at the entire island…I had a few of my favorite pieces set up as the “centerpiece” and then the food down at the far end!
Here is a peek at the silverware!! I had read on one of the entries on Birthday Party Ideas where a mom used ring pops to hold the silverware together. I loved that idea but for the life of me could NOT get it to work out! So, a trip to the local party store and 32 candy bracelets later, I was able to pull something together that I loved! In the past I have tied ribbon around the napkin in some way, shape or form but this was so much easier and faster!!
Gentry picked the colors we used! Despite the fact that she only just turned three, the girl has quite the opinions and was adamant that the napkins be pink and the silverware green! It worked for me! We alternated turquoise and purple for the plates and used orange, green and purple for the cups and those same colors for the bowls…with the addition of pink because we needed one more package!
Before I totally move on from the food aspect, I want to share a couple more things! I really, really, really wanted to make a Peppermint Punch, but as it turns out, peppermint ice cream and egg nog aren’t readily available in July! Who’d a thunk it?! It would be PERFECT for a winter Sweet Shoppe party though! Or if you didn’t want to make punch, you could just serve peppermint ice cream with your cake! MMM!! Or cotton candy ice cream! We tried to find that too and once again struck out! {We went with one of our personal faves though which is called Birthday Cake Ice Cream and is absolutely delish! No, I am not too upset that we have an entire carton left over!}
Because I got a fun new punch bowl a few months ago, I was determined that we would in fact have a punch of some sort! I wanted something light in color so that we didn’t have to worry about clothes getting stained or the carpets getting ruined!! This is the one I decided on. Well, kind of! I didn’t actually add the pineapple juice but it was really, really good without it!! We used lime sherbet and floated frozen slices of lemon and lime. The bowl was pretty much empty by the end of the party!
We also had a tasty rasberry lemonade as well! Everyone seemed to love it! But, it was red and did stain the carpet! Both are drinks we will be sure to make again!
One last thing here. Awhile back I ordered a cute little candy shaped cookie cutter and also a big flower. I was planning to cut out the shapes in slices of watermelon and pineapple as well as sandwiches for the kids. I have seen this before but was totally re-inspired when I saw what Navy Sou did for her daughter! Her sandwiches and fruit were darling! Unfortunately, this is one of the projects I simply did not get to! In fact, we didn’t even serve the fruit at the party and instead of sandwiches for the kids, I made mini pigs in a blanket! Sometimes I have more ideas than I can possibly make happen!
And here are a few of the super fun bits of decor! First of all, take a close look at that “G.” Isn’t is AMAZING? All sorts of colorful sweetness placed together perfectly to form a letter? With fabulous colors and shimmer to boot? I about wet my pants when that little gem surprised me in the mail a few weeks ago! My dear friend Julie had it made for Gentry girl for her birthday. Isn’t that unbelievably sweet? Why yes it is, but that is Julie for ya! Anyway, she got in touch with Jill at A Pocket Full of Posies and had this piece custom created for my doll baby!
I contacted Jill to tell her that I loved it, but also to see if she does custom pieces like this regularly. She would be more than happy to help you out and create something for you, so just click the link above and follow the button on her sidebar to send her an email!
That little orange frame is one I made awhile back when I was crafting like crazy for this bash!
And now for a little bit on that Dum Dum topiary!! All I have to say is EEEEKKKK!! I LOVE that thing! It wasn’t my idea…it was all Kara for you, but I absolutely love the way it turned out!
I picked up a styrofoam ball at Michael’s as well as a terra cotta pot and a dowel. The first thing I did was to make a hole for the dowel and then hot glue it in. You want to make sure you use plenty of glue because once you have all those suckers in, the ball gets heavy!! I didn’t glue the suckers in…they are just stuck. Because I am obsessive compulsive, I started off by putting my lollies in lines and evenly. I am sure that you could probably just stick them in randomly and be fine, but my brain orders things so I basically just did it unconsciously!!
As for the pot, I just spray painted it one of my colors and called it good. The dowel is also spray painted.
So then comes the tricky part. First of all, my pot was probably a little on the small side. I didn’t realize that by adding all of the Dum Dum’s that the ball would take on a life of its own and seem huge!! Considering I had already painted the pot and wasn’t about to head out in the 115 degree heat to get another one, I just went with it! Looks more whimsical if the topiary is bigger than the pot anyway, right?! Okay, back to the tricky part. Because the topiary is SO heavy, you pretty much have to use cement to hold it in place. I let Chris handle all of this for me but I think if I absolutely had to, I could have done it!!
Anyway, once it was all set up, I just added some shimmery shreds, some curly ribbon and a blingy button and it was ready to go! All of the fluff distracts from the imperfections because believe me, this guy was far from perfect!
And now for just a few more details! Here are most of the rest of the decorations! Enjoy!
This paper banner hung on the front door and greeted our guests!! There were also giant lollies and candy canes in the yard on either side of our top step out front!
We also made this shimmery Sweet Shoppe sign! It was one of those things that literally was getting finished as guests were arriving, but it was SO worth it!! I hope to someday redo Gentry’s room in the Sweet Shoppe theme and incorporate bits and pieces of the party decor!
Isn’t this Gentry banner super cute? A dear friend made it for Gentry and we hung it in the kitchen for everyone to see!! It is also one of the pieces that serves as a great inspiration in how I want to do her room one of these days! LOVE that fabric!
Here are a couple of pictures of the entryway. The polka dot balloons came from here. And the Candyland banner from here. Birthday Express actually has an entire Candyland party set, but the only things I ordered were the banner, the cups and the mylar balloon!
Aren’t all those balloons fun?! The kids LOVE them!! And my kids love heading out back after everyone has left and letting them go! It has become somewhat of a tradition for us!
A couple of Christmas’ ago, my BFF Lisa gave me this too cute for words mug and some adorable spreaders! She knew then that I was hooked on this candy theme and thought of me when she saw these! I LOVE this mug!! The picture does NOT do it justice! It says Goody Goody Gumdrops and has some sort of sugary coating on it that makes it shimmery and glam! It is Department 56 and although they have never been online {we looked when she gave it to me!!}, they do have some other cute and fun candy goodies!!
We hung streamers from the light fixture out to the walls in the nook, but I don’t have a picture of that. I did snap a shot of the ribbon and candy we hung from the light fixture though! So fun!! I loved looking at this!
That gumdrop star you see in the background {barely} is a Christmas ornament I picked up at Target almost three years ago!! They had several candy ornaments that year and I stocked up!
Okay…last but certainly not least, the family room!! The majority of the decorations went in this room as it was where the majority of the party took place!! All of the lollies and candies I made, the fence, the paper lanterns…everything!
We decided to stick some of the smaller pieces around the fireplace! It wasn’t really planned, but it ended up working out great and carrying the theme all the way across the front of the room!
Aren’t the presents fun? Target had the lollipop gift bags in their dollar bins awhile back so I snagged a few! And I added some tulle and ribbon to the others just to dress them up a bit!
Here are a few of the bigger lollies I made! We stuck them on the wall to finish out the corner and keep the feel going!
And drumroll please…the entire view!! Here it all is!! If you haven’t been following along, here is the link to the post about the little picket fence I decorated! The paper lanterns were bought at Hobby Lobby in their seasonal stuff. Chris hung everything for me!! And it all looked AMAZING!!
And of course the birthday girl and her big brother! Gentry looked SO darn cute! She wore a darling polka dot dress from Pumpkin Patch, her little name bracelet and even had her fingernails and toenails painted to match! Plus, I curled her hair and had it all smooth and perfect! Total cuteness I tell ya!
And now for some outside shots!! I definitely prefer outside shots opposed to inside! These were still shot in auto as the sun was setting and I was just trying to capture the moment, but these shots right here more than make up for the inside ones {above} that I am not loving the quality of!
I am totally feeling a balloon shoot coming on!! These next few were taken when we were letting these all go and the light was quickly fading! I would love to get out and experiment when we had some good daylight and in manual!
Happy THIRD Birthday Sweet Girl, Happy Birthday…
Now how is that for the longest post ever? Goodness! If you made it this far, leave me a little love! I need it after the hours I spent compiling all of this into one place! If you are having a party, happy planning and please let me know if you have any questions and also send me pics! I love all things party and would love to see your take!