A Sweet Shoppe Candy Themed Party

I have always wanted to throw a candy themed party, and I was super excited when I finally got the opportunity!

It was so much fun to plan and even more fun to experience!

The entire party was centered around a "Sweet Shoppe."

From lollipop invitations to a fully stocked candy buffet, no detail was left unattended.

One of my absolute favorite creative touches was the candy necklace garland that adorned the front of the table. It was just precious!

Wanna see? I can't wait to show you!

Take a peek below for all of the sweet details!

Candy Themed Party Invitations

The idea for the lollipop invitations came from an amazingly talented gal, Kim, of the TomKat studio.

The moment that I saw those little invites I was immediately inspired to make them for the party!

They are incredibly easy to create using scrapbook paper (I love this print), a little bit of ribbon and a lollipop stick. You can also purchase them already made from Kim in her Etsy shop.

Some other fun invite ideas...these lollipop invitations come complete with a photo of the birthday boy or girl, and I love the simplicity of these sweet invites.

These candy buffet invites are also adorable and would be perfect for a Sweet Shoppe party!

Candy Themed Party Decorations

The featured decoration for our party was the Sweet Shoppe Candy Buffet.

My amazing husband built the structure out of pipe, then helped me make the awning to go over top.

We were so very excited about the way that it turned out, and it really added a great vibe to the party!

Prior to the party I took the birthday girl to our local Dylan's Candy Bar and snapped a bunch of pictures.

I framed the pics in fun, brightly colored frames and used them as a unique decorating touch. They were a big hit!

The party space was also decked out with:

• Giant Hard Candies: Colorful paper party lanterns wrapped in clear cellophane are tied up with ribbon to look like big, sweet treats.
• Lollipop Topiaries: Hundreds of Dum Dum lollipops were poked into foam balls to create little lollipop trees, then were "planted" into pretty pink pots.
• Lollipop Walkway: Colorful, solid paper plates were hot glued to thin wooden dowels, wrapped in clear plastic wrap, secured with a ribbon, and planted outside along the walkway.
• Candy Necklace Garland: Giant candy necklaces were pinned along the edges of the table to create the most adorable table accent. They really looked awesome! These were one of my most favorite decorating ideas!

To see more of the many decorations that were used for this party, hop over to our blog. You'll find lots of pictures and terrific ideas!

Candy Themed Party Games

The lollipop topiaries came in really handy once game time started!

After participating in each game we let the kids each pick lollipops off of the "lollipop trees." They loved it!

Here are a few of the fun candy themed activities that we did to keep the kids busy:

• Candy Necklace Station: This is a great activity for the kids to do while waiting for everyone to arrive. Remove all of the candy from candy necklaces and give to the kids with some elastic strings. Then let them go to town stringing their own candy necklaces!
• Pin the Gumball in the Gumball Machine: You could also play "Pin the Cherry on the Cupcake" but our birthday girl wanted the gumball game instead. To make, cover a piece of foam board with white felt then use colored felt to create a gumball machine. Secure with glue. Cut the gumballs out of felt, also, and they will stick to the game board without any adhesive. I added an awning cut out of fabric for a fun touch.
• Candy Bean Bag Toss: Cut some festive fabrics into the shape of hard candy, stitch together, then fill with beans. Tie the ends off with ribbon and you've got adorable little candy bean bags! Have the kids take turns tossing them into brightly colored buckets. By the way, I owe BIG thanks to my mom for making these for me! She's the best! :)
• Ring Around the Lollipop: Turn a classic kids' horseshoe set into a fun candy themed party game! Just hot glue a solid color paper plate to each side of the horseshoe pole. Add a lollipop swirl with sparkle glue or paint. Have the kids take turns tossing the horsehoes and trying to ring around the lollipop!

Filling the favor bags was one of the biggest highlights of the party!

The kids were so excited to visit the Sweet Shoppe and load their goody bags with candy and other sweet goodies!

Here are just some of the things that were in our Sweet Shoppe:

• Gumballs,
• Candy buttons,
• M and Ms,
• Gumdrops,
• Starbursts,
• The cutest rock candy soap from MilkAndCookeez.com,
• Candy scented nail polish (found at the Dollar Store),
• Candy flavored lip balm,
• and of course, toothbrushes!

All of the treats were tucked into brightly colored bags adorned with adorable little gumball tags from The TomKat Studio that said "Thanks for making my party so sweet!"

They looked great!

With all of the sugar that the kids were going to get at the candy buffet, we wanted to keep the menu pretty sugar-free!

Here's what we served:

• Finger sandwiches (PB and J and Chicken Salad),
• Goldfish,
• Homemade snack mix,
• And fruit kabobs with Hawaiian fruit dip.

We did put out some Twizzlers and Swedish Fish just so the adults could have a little taste of the candy, too!

The Sweet Shoppe Birthday Party Cake

I was really excited about the way that the cake turned out!

I'm a little cupcake crazy, so I knew that I wanted to incorporate cupcakes into the design somehow.

A friend of mine let me borrow her large Wilton cupcake cake pan, and it was just what I was hoping for!

I also fell in love with the colors of salt water taffy and knew that I just had to use it on the cake!

The colors in the giant candy necklaces that I used for the table garland matched the taffy perfectly, so I added that, too. I was really pleased with how it all came together!

Don't you just love the little bubble gum cherry on top? :)

Full decorating instructions for the cake can be found here.

Sweet Shoppe Party Supplies

Mixing and matching solid color partyware looks fantastic with this party!

Bubblegum pink, lime green, sunshine yellow and turquoise are my favorites, but feel free to choose the colors that strike your fancy!

If you're setting place settings, using different colors for the plates, cups, silverware and napkins really makes the table pop!

Check out CelebrateExpress.com for a huge variety of solid partyware at really affordable prices.

Shopping Links

Here are my recommended sources for stocking your Sweet Shoppe:

	CandyWarehouse.com: This is an awesome place to find candy for your Sweet Shoppe! I love that you can shop by color and match everything to your color scheme!
	My M&Ms: What better way to mark the occasion than with personalized M&Ms? Not only do you get to choose your own colors, you can add personalized messages and even photos to the candies!
	TinyPrints.com has some of the cutest little invites to match this theme! Choosing your favorite will be the hardest part! :)
	Hancock Fabrics has a great selection of fabrics that you can choose from to make your awning, bean bags and "Pin the Gumball in the Gumball Machine" game. I am in love with the fabric that I found there for the awning we made. So super cute! :)

Links You Don't Want to Miss

More Pics from this Sweet Shoppe Party

More Kids Party Ideas

Birthday Cake Design Gallery