Cupcake Wishes & Birthday Dreams: {Party Styled} Merry & Bright Christmas Candyland

I was so excited to be featured in the most recent issue of Everyday Party Magazine last month. I shared a link, but wanted to show you all the details here as the holiday grows closer.

I came up with this Merry & Bright Candyland themed Christmas party idea while doing a little after Christmas shopping last year. These bright, jewel toned colors were so different and cheerful and I was just drawn to them. It didn't hurt that I got all of my colorful decor for less than $20 (hint: shopping after Christmas sales not only preps you for the following year's theme, but will also save you big bucks!)

You will notice, that for this party, I didn't use printables, I just loved how all the colors looked and didn't feel adding printables was necessary. So, I found a lot of use for gift wrap and yarn pom poms as my decorative elements. To create this a wintry scene I used a simple white pair of canvas curtains I had on hand to create a clean backdrop. I also added a length of 'snow' fabric over the table. I ordered a white Christmas tree for $20 on Walmart.com and it arrived just in time for this shoot. The over sized bulb garland was another amazing after Christmas find that added a great splash of color against the white backdrop!

The colors of the bulbs and garland, along with an adorable Christmas Elf who I lovingly nicknamed, Mabel, gave me the idea to create my idea of a Christmas 'candyland' of sorts. I called on my good baker friend, Fresh Dizicheh of Fresh Bakes to make candy inspired cookies and delicious macarons. She's awesome and came through as always.

Have you been wondering why I don't share my cupcake creativity that often? Well.....I gotta fess up......ya'll my oven is broke! You know I am a girl who loooves to bake delicious cupcakes and decorate them....but, until we get that oven replaced, I'll have to settle for someone else's tiny tasty cakes! So, instead of going without, I purchased cupcakes from my local grocer's bakery, added these edible candy cupcakes as toppers and presented them on a glass platter that I decorated with coordinating beading and a glittered snow flake!

I also filled glass jars with candy and treats to coordinate with my color scheme. Delicious salt water taffy (my fave), Whirly Pops and sugar swizzle sticks from local candy shop, Candi's Candy in Old Town, Alexandria also had a featured spot on this table. The taffy was packaged in these favor bags that I made by adding glittered paper and ribbon as toppers to clear cellophane bags. Wrapping chocolate bars in wrapping paper to look like little packages is kinda fun too....you know it is!!!

Some other decorative elements that pulled this table together was a fun wooden gingerbread house display case I found. I painted it to match the decor and placed a few pieces of taffy on it. Wrapped Styrofoam forms were to look like gift boxes and made for some pretty adorable props. I'm sure if you have been following me wee blog you're fully aware of my obsession with yarn pom pom garlands. I created one for the table that are available in my Etsy shop.