Tag Archives: tower

Candyland Themed Party Décor Ideas (for Baby Showers, Children’s Birthdays, or Christmas Decorating)

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This Candyland theme was inspired by Mary, a dear lady who passed on long ago, but left her inimitable words of wisdom with me, “life is uncertain, eat dessert first,”…and she always did! So it is with her spirit of joie de vivre, that I unbound that creative kid within me that clamored for a sensory sugar high. To release your inner child, follow my 3 part DIY party decorating series (with easy project tutorials and free printables) as it’s a sure path to crafting your way to classic Candyland cuteness! Using some or all of the décor ideas (befitting kid’s birthdays, baby showers, and Christmas parties), you’ll be sure to delight the inner-child in your guests as well! While you’re at it, use my allergy friendly recipes and serving suggestions to fill your candy buffet quickly and easily. For now, let us escape to Candyland…

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A Candyland village of (glittered) gingerbread houses sits nestled atop an icing laden hillside (of buffalo snow batting) dotted with (pom-pom) sprinkles.

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(Faux) lollipop trees spring forth from gumball forest floors (in speckled metal pails) and (real) candy-cane thickets abound.

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Gingerbread people (treat boxes) populate the village, travelling amongst the wellsprings of jellybean pools (in pink plastic pails).

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A few “gingies” guard a fenced supply of the village’s juice-milk stores.

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Gingerbread (banner) clouds float high amid skyscraping treat towers holding abundant soirees offering peppermint candied almonds, twisty marshmallows, pastel taffy, and (healthy) spicy guacamole shooters with pink pomegranate potato chips.

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The towers’ penthouse floors encircle trios of cotton candy “cream” sodas with peppermint striped straws.

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Round rainbow swirled plates and napkins stand by to serve Candyland visitors.

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Boxed and wrapped candies sit ready for shipment to their final destinations.

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Gingerbread peep billboards pop up to signal the way to gastronomical paradise.

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Gingerbread (cookie) ladies and gentlemen hold snowball (cookie) fights in the village round, whist the tiniest of “gingie” tots toddle home with gumball treats over candy-cane cobblestones lain over pink velvet (cupcake) roads.

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A low gingerbread fog sinks below the sugary iced hills perched above a pink (cloth) cliffside.

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Around the bend, pink hard candy (lanterns) shine high above big rock candy mountains.

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Glowing with hard candy (ornaments), they burst forth with pyroclastic explosions of candy treats spilling over pillowy white icing.

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Hard candy (ornament) boulders tumble amid (faux) ribbon candy bushes and flowing streams of (real mega) candy buttons.

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(LED) peppermint light posts illuminate the scene.

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A rainbow lollipop (lantern) arcs above the distant rock candy mountain (tree).

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A lone home defiantly stands amidst the candy (ornament) strewn mountainside adjacent to a fallen (faux) ice cream cone log.

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Waterfall (faux mega) candy buttons stream down the embankments whose vistas shout, “Welcome to Candyland!”

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Wishing you a sweet life of seized moments in eating desserts first!

Faithfully Yours,

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P.S. Learn how easy it is to construct your very own Candyland village in these 5 articles:

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DIY Candyland Party Themed Craft Tutorial: Gingerbread People Banner, Treat Gifts Boxes, & Printable

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DIY Candyland Party Themed Craft Tutorial: Hard Candy Lanterns, Candy Ornaments, & Conversation Heart Garland

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DIY Candyland Party Themed Craft Tutorial: Game Board Treat Tower & Easy Buffet Display

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Quick & Easy Candyland Confection Ideas: Pink Almond Milk Juice “Recipe”, Cotton Candy “Cream” Sodas, & Gingerbread Peep Pops

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Spicy Guacamole Shooters / Avocado Appetizers Recipe (Allergy-Friendly & Nightshade Free = No Red Pepper or Tomatoes)

DIY Candyland Party Themed Craft Tutorial: Game Board Treat Tower & Easy Buffet Display

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Craft your way to classic Candyland cuteness befitting birthdays, baby showers, and Christmas décor.  This tutorial for a game board treat tower and easy buffet display are part three of a DIY party decorating series with easy projects and free printables. Using some or all of the ideas, you’ll be sure to delight the inner-child in all of your guests. Sweet!

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These simple crafts all utilize the same teacher’s bulletin board banner strips in a licensed Candyland board-game pattern. I made two towers, wrapped six pots, covered two milk corrals and a bunch of food picks… and I still have many strips left over! All of this is from one package of super-cute and inexpensive banners that could not fit my theme more perfectly.

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To cover food crates, all you need to do is measure the front width and cut a length off. Double a piece of tape onto itself to hold the cardstock in place during the party. Remove it to reuse later for another craft. One idea is to let the kiddos make thank you cards out of it.

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Wrap a length of the banner to coordinate a plain metal bucket to your theme. Simply cut and tape the ends together.

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These can be used to hold candy and prop up Gingerbread Peep Pops (see the Candyland Confections article here).

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Make food picks by simply cutting the leftover banner end bits into colored squares.

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Tape toothpicks or popsicle sticks behind them. These can also be used for place-cards if you like.

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My treat towers begin with ordinary cupcake stands that are transformed into darling 3-D gaming creations.

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To make your own, first find a commercially packaged stand in a matching color palette.

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Cut the teacher’s border into two sections (so that they’re small enough to allow food to be placed once it’s completed).

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I just followed the natural curve of the game path pattern.

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Put the stand together as per the package instructions.

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Hot glue the underside if you really want it to be super-sturdy.

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Hot glue a strip to the outside rim of each level. Cut off the excess length.

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If your ends don’t match up perfectly, just trim off the top edge to make them appear seamlessly adjoined.

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These are what the towering creations look like when laden with sweet treats galore! (See my allergy-friendly Spicy Guacamole Shooters Recipe here.)

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Check out the rest of my Candyland craft series: Gingerbread People Banner, Treat Gift Boxes, & Printables and Hard Candy Lanterns, Candy Ornaments, & Conversation Heart Garland as well as the final party post on Candyland Themed Party Décor Ideas.

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Faithfully Yours,

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DIY Candyland Party Themed Craft Tutorial: Gingerbread People Banner, Treat Gift Boxes, & Printables

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Craft your way to classic Candyland cuteness befitting birthdays, baby showers, and Christmas décor.  This tutorial for gingerbread people banners and treat gift boxes are part one of a DIY party decorating series with easy projects and free printables. Using some or all of the ideas, you’ll be sure to delight the inner-child in all of your guests. Sweet!

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Every Candyland village needs to be populated with gingerbread people, and it can be accomplished by more than just the menu. Gift your guests with take-home treat boxes that also serve to decorate your buffet.

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Begin with readymade gingerbread people shaped paper maché boxes. These are widely available in stores beginning in the fall, and may be purchased online the remainder of the year. (Find discounts for online craft merchants in the side bar from Le fidèLe Design’s affiliates.) I found mine on sale at half off, making them 50 cents each. Use an acrylic paint color in a shimmery brown so that a top coat is unnecessary. (I used DecoArt’s elegant finish espresso metallic paint, because I already owned it, and it coordinated with my banner.)

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Separate the tops from the bases, and paint the little guys. I set them rim side down onto a plastic bag, so that I could just peel them off when they dried. (On other surfaces, the paint sometimes acts as glue.)

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Allow them to dry overnight, then use hot glue to adhere tiny pom-poms. They make the cutest dimensional eyes, nose, and buttons! I chose colors that would coordinate with my other décor elements, and tried to intentionally randomize the combinations on each “gingie”.

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Fill your goodie boxes with candy, tiny toys, or even candy flavored lip gloss and intersperse them in your treat town.182Leigh

Another idea is to fill them with numbered papers that correspond to larger gifts or game elements.

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Make a banner of gingerbread people adjoined in jubilant Candyland solidarity, using one of the two following methods.

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Foam gingerbread people shapes may be located at just about every craft store in the fall and winter, and may be purchased online the rest of the year. You can choose from many sizes in matte and glitter. I wanted to use the glitter guys to match my houses.

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Glue on tiny pom-poms that coordinate with your décor. Use hot glue in the same eyes, nose, and button pattern with which you made the treat boxes.

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Punch a hole in each hand of the “gingies” in order to string it into a banner.

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Make a loop of thin ribbon through holes in two “gingies”, and tie a knot to connect them. I alternated between three different colors from the same spool of clearance ribbon.

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The second method is to right click on my printable image above (free for noncommercial use), and select print. Then print them in color and photo settings on sturdy cardstock (so that they don’t curl when strung). Cut them out, and punch holes into the white circles in the arms. Choose to leave them as is, or add more glitter to the images. Then tie on ribbons to join them (as in the previous method). You can also glue pom-poms over the images in the prints to add dimension to your project.

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Use the gingerbread person image without white holes for other décor or signage. Simply adjust your printing sizes to make smaller “gingies”. Do this by printing at a smaller percentage (i.e. at 50%) or by printing them as photos (i.e. wallet size). Or… you can get Kinko’s to do it for you! These little guys also make cute kid’s craft puppets when taped to a popsicle stick, so you can utilize them as a party activity for the little ones.

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Check out the rest of my Candyland craft series: Hard Candy Lanterns, Candy Ornaments, & Conversation Heart Garlands and Game Board Treat Tower & Easy Buffet Display as well as the final party post on Candyland Themed Party Décor Ideas.

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Faithfully Yours,

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