Candyland Birthday Party

Here we go again!!! 

My beautiful daughter turned 2 and in true Mortashed fashion, I threw an over the top party! The theme this year, CANDY LAND! There were so many ideas that I was a bit overwhelmed. I put all my ideas on paper and began to give them my own twist. I work on a budget of $500 for the entire party so I give myself no more than $200 for decorations. So when I found ideas on Pinterest, I had to figure out how to make them on a fixed budget. Below, you'll see my decorations along with descriptions of materials used. YES, I did make it under budget!

CANDY LAND PARTY!!!

Tables

Every table had a different color table cloth. I wanted it to appear as a rainbow; so I bought the cheap plastic table clothes from hobby lobby. Then I chose a polka dot wrapping paper as the runner down each table. Each table had a main centerpiece and then two smaller ones around it. Each table had the same center piece, just in varying colors. 

I made the tissue paper ball by layering 5 different colors of tissue paper together. I then glued them onto a small dowel rod. Then my fantastic husband cut a cube of wood to glue in the bottom of the pails (I got various color pails from hobby lobby) and drilled a hole to stick the rod in. I filled the pail with rice to weigh it down and topped it off with gumballs. (Less gumballs=less money)

I took a simple mason jar filled it with dyed rice to give it the appearance of sprinkles. Honestly, can you imagine the cost if I were to fill 12 mason jars with sprinkles?! YIKES! I cut the #2 out of card stock with my Cricut. I saw an idea using candles but that would add up since I put a #2 on both sides of the jar. So, to save money I used paper. I then taped it into the jar prior to filling it up with rice. 

Here is the overall look of the tables. I had a total of 5 tables, though I planned for 6. 

CANDY and DESSERT BUFFET

There can't be a candy land party without a candy buffet. So I did one more and added a dessert buffet too! To add pizzazz to the tables, I created ribbon fringe to the edges of the tables to make them stand out. After all, this is the theme of the party. To create the different levels in the buffet, I wrapped boxes in white wrapping paper (I just turned wrapping paper I already had upside down so I didn't have to add to my cost). I threw and extra table cloth over the boxes to hide them. I found that stapling the fringe to the table cloth was the best method in holding it up. Candy: I got candy the day after a major holiday so it was on sale for really cheap. I had a mix of chocolate and sour; blow pops, starbursts, nerds, ring pops, Hershey kiss mix, small Hershey bars and KitKats. Dessert: birthday cheesecake, cake batter dip with animal cookies, Trix crispy treats, frosted sugar cookies, dipped strawberries, dipped pretzels, dipped marshmallows, and the Mother's frosted animal cookies with sprinkles (you know the iconic pink and white ones with sprinkles?)

"Grab a bag, take some treats, enjoy the sugar, life is sweet!"

The Walls

My Husband had a CRAZY idea to paint the back wall in our garage in chalkboard paint. His reasoning? It would be cool to see the kids write and draw on it for the party. My initial reaction was disbelief, but I warmed up to the idea and we did it. The end result was perfect. I was able to write my daughter's name and then decorate around it. I created pieces of candy using my Cricut by cutting large circles out of varying colors and swirls. Then I made lollipops using dowel rods and varying colored circles. I created a sweet shoppe sign for my daughter and the letters to go above the door. I wanted the candy land characters so I printed them on my computer and colored them. The most impressive wall decor was the number two I did out of pictures over the past year. I received a lot of compliments on it. 

The wreath is a fabric wreath with a glitter A

The finished product

Outside Decor

I did a lot of decorating outside in the yard as well. I created 40 large lollipops to line the driveway and walkway. I got large foam boards from Hobby Lobby, painted them and added a survey stake so they could be driven into the ground. I had wooden art decor made for Christmas which easily doubled as decorations for the party. Lucky for me, I love the sweet shoppe theme so I didn't have to spend any extra on this. I had the candy land castle made for the party but of course it will be used year after year for Christmas because it is made out of wood. 

Miscellaneous Party Items

I bought the plates and napkins from Hobby Lobby. I also made silly straw lollipops as thank you's to send home. The oh so clever saying I came up with was "Thanks for 'silly'brating with me!"