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Candy Land Baby Shower
I have fond memories of days spent playing Candy Land when I was a child; I remember the colorful squares, the gumdrop pass and the Candy Land Castle. It was a quick game, or rather quicker game than any other ones we had, and I enjoyed the simplicity of it. Fast forward twenty years, and I found myself happily playing it once again with my own children. Candy Land has become such a cherished classic that there is very little doubt that it would be a wonderful way to celebrate the arrival of a new baby. This theme is can be as simple as the game itself and just as sweet and all it needs is a few properly placed decorations, the right type of food and the perfect invitation.
You can actually have a lot of fun with decorating a Candy Land themed baby shower. First and foremost are the bright colors. Pull them out into your space with balloons, brightly colored flowers such as Peonies, Gerber Daisies, or Lilies, streamers in a variety of colors and layered tablecloths. You can also use brightly colored throw pillows, and blankets to add more color and depth to your decorating. Both of these also make a space much cosier for guests since some prefer to have a pillow or two on a chair. Since you are using a Candy Land theme, it is only appropriate that you have a copy of the game out on a table. Set it up like people are going to be playing it but take a handful of cards and fan them out beside the board to give it more of a decorative feel. Guests can play around with the game or they can simply admire how you used it in your decorations. Another great choice for decorations is to put up little ornaments around the room that feature clowns and candies. These can be given out as prizes during the games or they can be given to the mom to be for her baby’s nursery or keepsake box. Lastly, one of the biggest features to the Candy Land game is the colored squares. While you can make your own squares with paper on the floor, it is not the best option since people can slip on the paper. Instead, you could tape paper squares to the walls to create your own version or the game board throughout the space. If you are having the party at home, you can turn your walkway into a candy land board simply by creating squares with sidewalk chalk or sidewalk paint. When your guests arrive, they can walk down the colored path to a baby shower that is sure to be remembered for years. Also: main decorations section Invitations If you are going to be purchasing your invitations, then I would recommend that you find an invitation that features a lollypop or some sort of candy. There are many out there and all of them have a burst of color, which is so reminiscent of the Candy Land game board. Another great idea is to find an actual Candy Land invitation. There are several available in catalogues and online, although most are made for birthdays instead of for showers. The last suggestion that I would make for an invitation is to create a game board of multi-colored paper set up like the Candy Land game itself. In some of the squares you could have, “Take a step forward...” “Take two steps back...” “Get stuck in a baby shower event...” Little things that bring to mind the game with every verse. If you are a little stumped for the invitation wording, I would recommend: “Down colorful pathways, over Rainbow Trails, past Peppermint Forests and Gumdrop Pass, you are invited to celebrate the sweetest of adventures. (Mother) would be honored to meet you at Candy Castle to celebrate the soon to be arrival of her own little gumdrop.” Also: main invitations section
Since the theme of the shower is sweet and bright, I would recommend choosing presents that have an “aww” factor and are fairly bright in colors. Thankfully, most baby items tend to do this so there is no limit to the selection that you can make for the mom to be. One specific gift that you should give the mom to be is her own copy of the Candy Land game for her to play with her baby when he or she is older. With wrapping, it would be good to mention that you would love it if guests could wrap presents in colorful or candy prints wrapping paper. This will tie in nicely to your theme and you can really use the presents to accentuate your decorations. For guests, the perfect gift bag is to have some made up from a sweet shop. Find a local chocolate shop or a candy store and make up some small gift bags. If you want to do them yourself, find a local bulk store and start stocking up. One word of advice with candy gift bags is that it is good to through something else in there, such as a nice CD or book and to keep the gift bags small because most people don’t want a large bag filled with candy. Prizes can also have the candy theme but you could really move away from straight candy. Instead of giving a lollypop as a prize, why not offer a lollypop pen. If you still want something sweet, why not have a small coffee basket as a prize and have some after dinner mints and some sugar sticks for stirring. The key is to have fun and really play around with the prizes. Also: main gift section & main favors section
Okay, you are now at the planning stage where you need to consider the food. Although I am a big fan of having a wide selection of food for guests, you are going to want to play up the whole Candy Land theme in your food selections. Make sure that you offer a large selection of desserts to delight your guests. Cheesecake, peppermint ice cream, brownies and many other sweets are a great choice. We love these personalized M&M'SŪ Don’t forget; however, that although your shower has a sweet theme, not everyone has a sweet tooth so make sure you offer food that has a bit more substance to them such as finger sandwiches, egg rolls or fresh fruit. Also be sure to have some salty snacks such as chips, pretzels, or nuts. When you set out your food, decorate the table with squares of colored paper arranged down the table like the game board itself. On the occasional square, put out a bowl or platter of food so it gives the appearance that fingers need to wander down paths to find tasty little treats. Finish off by having multi-colored serving dishes and napkins and put out a few small bowls in between the main dishes that are filled with little candies that guests would love. Also: main recipe section
There are many different games that you can play while keeping it geared towards the Candy Land theme but don’t feel that all your games should match your theme. Remember that Candy Land is about the sweet factor so any “sweet” game will do. For this theme, I would recommend Candy in a Bottle, and Bubble Gum Babies submitted by Becky. Personalized candy Also: main games section Do you have an idea to add to this theme? Send it to us! |
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