Candyland Birthday Party

Can you believe my little girl is 4????

Oh my goodness, where does the time go?

When I asked her what kind of birthday party she wanted, it is no surprise Megan said she wanted a candy party. Healthy eating can be such a bore sometimes. Besides, a candy party sounded totally adorable so I was more than happy to oblige.

Here is the lollipop invitation I made . . .

I totally copied was inspired by an invitation created by Cherry Blossom Way on etsy. I steal some of my best ideas from etsy.

Totally cute and totally simple to do.

My next task was to plan the cake. Megan said she wanted a topsy turvy, whimsical cake (and yes, she actually used the word "whimsical." We spend a lot of time watching cake shows together.)

Everything on the cake was edible except for the lollipop sticks. It was a classic white cake with vanilla buttercream filling, coated in chocolate ganache and covered with marshmallow fondant.
Megan loved it!

She also really liked the dessert/candy buffet. It seemed to be a big hit with the under 10 crowd!!!!

Info on how to make the tissue paper pom poms is here.

My mom made the adorable table runner for the table.

These little cupcake treats are made from cake balls and melted chocolate.
I used chocolate cake and cream cheese icing and they were delicious. For instructions on how to make them, check out Bakerella here.

Some sugar cookies with royal icing . . . yum!

I decorated the outside too.

Welcome to Candyland . . .

Info on how to make the lollipop decorations is here.

I made a little sign for the front door.


I decorated the backyard with some more lollipops and these cute little candies in the trees. To make them, I just covered sturdy paper plates with tissue paper, then wrapped them in gift wrap cellophane and tied ribbons on the ends. I punched a hole in them and looped some ribbon to hang them.

The night before the party, Megan and Brendan spent the night at my mom's house so John and I could put things together for the party. Here they are arriving the day of the party . . .

I love how even Brendan is smiling at the idea of a party full of candy.

The looks on the faces of the girls was priceless! And we can just help ourselves to whatever we want? YEP!

Megan's lollipop dress came from here.

We played Pin the Cherry on the Ice Cream Cone, a game idea I stole from my friend Heather's party, only she used a cupcake. Thanks for the great idea Heather!

The face painting station was a big hit with the kiddos.

And Aunt Laura too!



We played "hot potato" only I called it "pass the gumball" to go with the theme. I played a candy mix CD that John created from songs we found on i-tunes and when the music stopped, whoever was holding the gumball was "out" and had to go eat a piece of candy.

I think the kids really enjoyed themselves . . .

Then we opened gifts and had cake and ice cream.

We really appreciated the thought that went into choosing gifts so perfect for her. She really is blessed by wonderful family and friends.

And since I determined that the 14403958233 milligrams of sugar the kids had so far wasn't quite enough, we clobbered the heck out of this pinata (found at Hobby Lobby) for even more candy.

Fun!!!!!

And here is Nana . . . she taught my baby how to hold his own bottle.
He didn't get any candy but seemed to have a great time anyway.

We sent all the kids packing with a treat bag loaded with . . . more candy, a CD of the candy music that played at the party and of course . . .

A TOOTHBRUSH!!!!