A Post About a Tired Birthday Party by a Crazy Mama

I mean...A Post About a Crazy Birthday Party by a Tired Mama.

A few months ago, I was watching Extreme Sweets on Food Network. In it, the host visited a candy store where you can make your own chocolate bars. The chocolate is tempered and poured into the candy bar mold, and the customer can then decorate the candy bar with candy pieces. This was the inspiration for a candy-themed birthday party for my 10-year-old.

I'm sure I won't be receiving any thank you cards from any of the moms after they see the bags of candy the girls brought home, but I had fun putting it together anyway.

First, there was the cake, the plans for which changed course many times over the weeks.

When the party began, we played human Candy Land. Even though Michael spent the night elsewhere, he had a brilliant idea that brought the game up a notch. The kids all helped me place lollipops and Smarties on random squares. Alex made baggies for each girl, and they were able to collect candy as they walked along the Candy Land trail. (When I thanked Michael for the great idea, he said, "Well, it's called Candy Land, isn't it?")

Next we made our own chocolate bars. I purchased rather large candy bar molds. After the melted chocolate was poured in, the girls created their own masterpieces. A couple of them actually did create candy pictures; however, for the most part, it became a contest to see who could get the most candy to stick in the chocolate. The next morning, I popped the mammoth chocolate slabs out of the molds, wrapped them in foil, and had the girls design their own candy bar labels which were then taped on.





We also played a little guessing game. Whoever came the closest to guessing 709 got the M&Ms and the pretty glass they filled.


Candy BINGO was next. First place took a large M&M prize. We played down to last place, and each girl got to select a big candy bar. I'm pretty sure none of the moms will ever want to send their girls to one of our parties again.

By this time--and after having pizza somewhere in between lollipops and big candy bars--the girls, believe it or not, turned down cake. So Alex opened her gifts.



After the gifts, they were game for cake.



Then it was movie time. Although Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would have been more apropos for the theme, Alex has seen it a million times and instead selected the second Night at the Museum movie.

After the movie, I tucked them all in, and they went to sleep.


Right. Not really. I finally tuned out the noise around 12:30 and fell asleep. They were on their own. I don't know when/if they went to sleep!