a classy carnival

Up, up, and away, baby boy is on his way! In honor of my soon-to-be-mommy friend Sarah, a group of us got together to throw her a “classy carnival”-themed baby shower. It all began with an adorable invitation I found on Etsy (here), and from there the ideas started flowing. From chevron goodie bags and hot air balloon centerpieces, to flags and a candy bar, we loved putting together every last detail. My friend Meg and I were in charge of favors and since Sarah (you know her as my matron of honor) is obsessed with sugar, we went straight for her sweet tooth.

curious about how these little guys stood up so straight? be sure to read below for a complete “sweet love” candy bar how-to.

swedish fish in a fish bowl + tropical skittles + hershey kisses + fruity taffy

one of the girls designed these adorable wine glass tags

we knew we wanted some sort of sign for the table, but the burlap “sweet love” banners are a pretty common thing at weddings these days and we wanted something unique. we made this sign ourselves out of wood blocks and letters.

these mismatched flags hung on both walls and above the candy buffet (i take no credit for this DIY adorableness!). we fell in love with the quaint italian restaurant that hosted the shower. the brick walls added such a cool element to our theme.

i bought these chevron straws and matching chevron goodie bags in a variety of colors from a shop i found on Etsy. the hot air balloon centerpieces were a DIY project, too, though again, i take no credit!

we wanted to display the shower invitation for sarah to see, but the odd shape made framing it nearly impossible. meg and i picked up three of these oversized wooden clothespins and painted them pink and blue. we thought this was a creative way to display the invite on the candy bar without straying from the look and feel. it was a huge hit. the two remaining pink pins bundled together the chevron goodie bags (shown below) on both sides of the table.

up, up, and away! the bakery designed the chocolate and peanut butter cake to match our invitation to a tee!

candy bar how-to

supplies:
wood glue; acrylic paint; paint brush; 4×4 wooden blocks; wooden letters that spell “love” and “sweet” (the sweet letters should be thick enough to stand on their own while love should be very thin); a thin styrofoam sheet cut into rectangles and covered in saran wrap; wooden clothespins; jars in various sizes and shapes; lots of candy!

sign instructions:
step 1: paint the blocks, letters and clothes pins with a few coats of the acrylic paint (tip: take apart the clothespins before painting)
step 2: glue the l-o-v-e on the blocks with a bit of wood glue
step 3: stand the s-w-e-e-t letters on top of the blocks (no need to glue)

candy bar instructions:
step 1: collect jars in all shapes and sizes and pick up a few square or rectangular white appetizer plates
step 2: collect the candy! twizzlers and swedish fish are sarah’s favorites so those were a must, but we bought these, these, these and these to enhance the theme. we also bought hershey kisses, peanut butter M&Ms, york peppermint minis, fruit taffy, three large swirly pops and wilton pastel pearls.
step 3: for the lollipops, cut a thin piece of styrofoam to fit your appetizer plate and cover it with saran wrap (so the candy remains edible). place the sheet on the plate and begin poking holes with your lollipops so they stand upright. cover the entire dish and styrofoam with the pastel pearls to hide the styrofoam.

Easy as pie, sweet as candy!