Sweet Shoppe Birthday Party ~ Candy Buffet ~ Grace's First Birthday

My goodness, time is just flying by!   School isn't even out yet for the summer, yet somehow, it feels as if summer is almost over. 

Grace turned 13 months old earlier this month.  I just can't believe that just last month, we celebrated her first birthday. 

I miss my tiny baby girl!  The sweet baby that loved to sit in her swing and watch the stars on the mobile twinkle above her head!  But my goodness!  The busy toddler that she has become is soooo much fun! 

This past week, she started to become very chatty.  No real words yet, but she definitely saying something.  She was chatting away and then started laughing at herself.  So, whatever it was she was trying to say, she just thought was so funny! 

She's toddling all over the place now!  Thank goodness we have a small house, because I am tired from chasing her around this small place.  I can't imagine how worn out I'd be at the end of the day if I had a bigger house to chase her around! 

This picture makes me laugh!  To me, it just shows how busy and active she really is!  One second I have a great picture line up and the next, she's almost out of the frame!  And her little tongue, she's been blowing raspberries since she's been about one month old! 

Since I've been chasing her all over the house, I haven't gotten around to posting about some things that I've wanted to share with you all. 

Right now, I have a rare moment to myself, so I wanted to share this great party idea with you. 

Since before Grace was born, I was sort of planning her first birthday party in my head!  I knew I wanted a cupcake and polka dot theme, but as I was searching for ideas, I started seeing a lot of candy buffets and fell in love with the idea right away! 

All of the candy buffets that I saw online showed clear vases in assorted sizes holding the candy.  The vases were arranged on long buffet tables with white table cloths.  I didn't have a long table to spare, so I was trying to think of what I had around the house that I could turn into a Sweet Shoppe. 

I found this shelf in my basement.  (Only look at the shelf, not the junk all around it!)

My parents bought this shelf at a yard sale for $3 (it's a retail display for T. Marzetti's....I love their salad dressing!) and thought I could use it in my craft area.  For the past couple of  years, I stored my ribbons on it.  In assorted sized vases just like the candy buffets! 

I also primed and painted the sign.  Joe re-attached the sign for me using L-brackets since I needed it to sit slightly higher than it originally did to make room for the gumball machine. 

I dusted off the shelf, used some primer and paint that we had leftover from painting the basement walls.  I added some ribbon around the shelves too.

Here's how it turned out:

I found the gumball machine at a local thrift shop for under $5.  I bought some candy jars from Walmart and Target, but realized that new jars for all of the candy was going to get really expensive, so I decided to make-do with what I had around the house.  I used a recycled olive jar to hold the pixie stix, a recycled catering container for the Twizzlers,  a vintage peanut jar to hold the jelly beans,  my plastic Food Saver canisters  worked perfectly for a variety of different candies!  The hot pink and purple square containers are from the Dollar Tree.  Adding ribbons to the assortment of candy jars and recycled/repurposed items helped tie all the pieces together. 

Here are a couple pictures of the birthday girl just before our families arrived: 

Aren't those pinwheels the cutest?  I found those at the Dollar Tree!  Grace thought they were great!

The candy buffet was a hit!  The kids and adults all loved it!  I tried to incorporate some vintage candies to make it fun for the grown-ups.  Although there are many resources online for vintage candy, I was really limited since I was trying to keep the cost as low as possible. 

I was able to get the marshmallow ice cream cones from  BJs Wholesale, I found the wax bottles and Circus Peanuts at the Dollar Tree, the candy buttons I found at a local supermarket.  Some of the other candies we had were Swedish Fish, M&Ms, Caramel Cremes, Life Savers, Jolly Ranchers,  Ring Pops, etc. 

It was a lot of fun and I definitely see us doing this again in the future.  Maybe a Candy Land theme? 

What's great about the candy buffet is that it can go with any theme.  They can be used for birthday parties, graduation parties, even weddings!  If you use some of the online candy shops, you could color coordinate your candy to match your school colors or bridesmaid dresses! 

You could even use the candy buffet as your party/reception favors by providing small bags or small takeout boxes and allow your guests to fill a doggie bag! 

I had small bags pre-filled for the kids to take home (you can see them in the buckets).  I was worried that I wouldn't have enough candy to go around for snacking throughout the party and for the kids to take home.  So, I bought a couple of big bags of mixed candies to make up some favor bags.  But in the end, I realized that I would have had plenty and could have skipped the pre-made goodie bags and let the kids create their own. 

I'll know for the next time!  Like I said, we'll be doing this again in the future! 

I'll be linking this post to the following blog carnivals: 

• Homemaker Monday
• Making Your Home Sing Monday
• Tackle It Tuesday
• Works for Me Wednesday
• Make it From Scratch