Food is always a tricky choice when it comes to children’s birthday parties. It’s hard to find foods that picky eaters will enjoy, are sensitive to those with food allergies and are quick to serve and easy to clean up. One of my son’s closest friends requires a gluten-free diet. We wanted to make sure his friend didn’t feel left out and also didn’t feel as if he were being treated differently, so we took a special trip to the grocery store to find a treat worthy of our celebration that all our guests could enjoy.
We were so thrilled when we found Blue Bunny’s Rainbow Sherbet cups in Dierbergs‘ freezer section. The bold colors of the sherbert, especially the green and bright red, fit our Mario theme perfectly. The individually cups made it a win for me. As we brainstormed in the store, we decided to make each cup resemble a traditional birthday cupcake by using whipped cream to top the cups and brightly colored sprinkles from Dierbergs’ bakery to make it special.
A few days later I was in a craft store and walked down the Wilton aisle. I saw the star shaped candy molds and bright yellow candy melts. The stars looked just like the stars you can earn in the Mario Party games, or if you made different colors, like the stars you collect in Super Mario Galaxy. They were so quick and easy to make, the boys really loved that it was an edible topper on the cupcake.
If you choose to make your own candies for a party using the Wilton supplies, don’t forget to purchase the plastic bags designed for melting and squeezing the candy into the molds. They make the process more enjoyable as it’s easier to direct the melted candy and you can just toss the bag when you are finished instead of washing a bowl. Here’s a slightly better photo of the star, as it’s sliding down the whipped cream:
Don’t forget to make more stars than you need, the kids will ask for more of these tasty candies. Did you miss Monday’s post about the party hats? Stay tuned for the upcoming party activities post.
Not this year, but last year Scottie had a Madagascar party. I made chocolate lollipops in animal shapes. We had a fella with allergies we had to be careful with as well, so the chocolate lollipops went on top of rice crispy treat hills instead of cupcakes. We had to use specific rice crispies, marshmallows, and chocolates to keep the allergies from becoming an issue. At least the popcorn and soda at the theater wasn’t a problem and his mom gave me candies to trade out with the ones they got in the kids pack to be sure there wasn’t an issue there. It can be a lot of work, but it is well worth it to make everyone feel involved. I loved the individual ice cream cup done up to look like a cupcake, really adorable. I will be filing that away for future birthday parties.
Here is a picture of the rice crispy treat hills with animal lollipops.
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Very cute! Johnny just had a Mario party (you can see the post on my blog from last week). I made Mario mushroom cakes. I like your idea better I think!