Olympics on the Go

I love my little store...I really do.  But I admit, being here 24/7 is kinda hard sometimes.  I feel like I miss out on a bit of fun.  Fortunatly, I can make my own hours, so I don't miss everything.  I won't get to miss the Opening Ceremonies, but I will miss some of the best Olympic action since I don't have cable or a tv at the store.

I'm a little partial to the swimming events.  Maybe it was because I dreamed of being an Olympic swimmer...maybe it is me still dreaming of reaching that AAA in breaststroke.  Maybe it's just an exciting event with lots of great action.  And who doesn't mind watching Michael Phelps (both in and out of the water?)

Even though I'll be away from the TV, I don't have to miss all the action.  And in case you'll be out and about too, here are a few quick ways to catch all the excitement, glory, tears, and thrills of the Olympic games.

In case you have access to a computer with internet, you can go to www.NBCOlympics.com   They will have all the news, videos, and information on all your favorite sports.

Or you if you have a smart phone, NBC has two apps that you can download and use to catch all the fun.  They have the Olympics App and the Olympics "Live Extra" App.

The NBC Olympics App has all the news, medal counts, videos, and updates from London.  Plus, it looks like you can follow your favorite athletes and events so you won't miss all the swimming, diving, gymnastics, or track and field fun.  You can even interact with all your favorite social media platforms right from the app, so you can cheer your team on in full social media fashion!

The NBC Olympics "Live Extra" App lets you watch ALL 302 events so you can see some of the rarer events that don't get as much TV action as you might like.  Plus, access is free for subscribers to access is free for subscribers to a cable, satellite, or telco TV service package that includes CNBC or MSNBC.

Olympic Ring Dessert Plates

I guess every young child dreams of going to the Olympics some day.  When you are out practicing for hours on end while other kids are playing, the thought of some day standing on the podium while the national anthem plays keeps you going.  

Now that I'm an adult, I realize that I was never going to make it to the Olympics.  I just wasn't that good.  But I certainly had my dreams of out swimming Michael Phelps.

Now that I'm older and reality has set in, I empathize more for the mothers of all those Olympic athletes.  I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment as each of those athletes enters the stadium and enjoys the opening ceremonies.

This year, I'll be imagining my own children out there and we'll cheer each athlete that wins and mourn with each that misses the gold.

But while we are doing that...we'll enjoy lots of sweet treats. After all, the Opening Ceremonies are LONG! It takes a long time to walk that stadium and we'll need lots of energy to keep us going.  But we have to do it in style.  So today I made some Olympic Ring dessert plates for our Opening Ceremony viewing party.

I started by buying these clear plates from Dollar Tree.  I suppose I could have saved a few steps and just bought colored plates from Walmart, but I'm a cheapy and didn't want to spend $2.50 a plate.  I did buy a black plate and 4 clear plates.  Dollar Tree had yellow and green plates too, but they were more of a mustard and sage color than the bright colors I wanted.

Normally when I'm making cake display stands, I go with the small candle sticks, but I wanted to try something different, so I found these candle vases and picked up 3 of them to give my Olympic rings some height.

I spray painted the bottom of my plates in red, yellow, blue, and green.  By spraying the bottom of the plate, I wasn't worried about the color coming off on the food and being unsanitary. Now if you don't have these colors already on hand, it might not save you money by going this route, but since I have a strange love of spray paint, I was set.

At this point, I usually glue my plate to my candlestick, but wanted to try something new.  I wanted my plates to be interchangeable down the line so I could use the bases and not have to buy new ones.  But just placing the plate on the stand didn't make it very secure.  So I found some velcro circles that I had laying around from another project. 

I put one of the sides in the center of the plate and one on the center of the upside down vase.

This gives the back rings some height so everything on my dessert table isn't eye level.

Lastly, I laid the plates into the colors of the Olympic rings.  Now they are ready for LOTS of treats and the games to start!

Olympic Shopping

Since opening the Candy store last month, I feel like most of my life has been consumed by work.  I get up, go to the store, come home, colapse in bed....not much interaction with my family.  I think they are beginning to wonder if they still have a mom.

I love having the store...it's been a lot of fun and I've met some amazing people, but I admit I miss my family a little okay, a lot.  So I think, I'm going to plan a fun weekend of Olympic excitement.  We are going to start with a kick off dinner and Opening ceremony viewing party and go from there.

When I start my party planning, I do a lot of "window shopping" on Etsy.  It really helps to give me ideas on things that I want to make for my party.  I'll admit, I was suprised how little Olympic party ideas there were to look at.  I managed to find a few that if you were to order today, you should have in time for the Opening Ceremonies.

Go check them out and support the small businesses of America and the world.

'Go for the Gold Olympic Party' 

All the necessities to help you have a fun Opening Ceremony Olympic party!

BACKYARD OLYMPICS by The Pro... theprojectbox $24.00	Olympic Party Invitation, Pr... HausofAriella $5.00
OLYMPICS TICKET INVITATIONS ... nowanorris $9.00	Olympic Wreath BumbleBasset $25.00
Cupcake Liners - Baking Cups... CakesAndKidsTo... $4.80	Photo booth Props. Olympic P... MaroDesigns $11.95
Olympic Mason Jar Tumbler Dr... bittersweetlem... $105.00	Blue Ceramic Serving Platter RedClayCo $39.00
Olympics Party Decorations -... BostonPaperCom... $24.00	Paper Straws - Olympic Rings... CakesAndKidsTo... $9.50
Olympics Gymnasts - Set of 2... TheBirthdayHou... $12.00	American Flag Headband Olymp... ThreeBirdNest $22.50
Olympic Gold Medals Machine ... EmbroideryGard... $6.00	Olympic Rings Headband MyLittleGrouse... $7.00
Celebrate London 2012 with 1... Garton1Creatio... $25.00	Handmade Olympic chess set r... plastercraftin... $25.50

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Hello Kitty Decoration

It's been hard trying to find inspiration on decorating for a Hello Kitty party out in blog land.  Fortunatly, I finally found this Hello Kitty party from Pirates & Princesses.

I love the AWESOME factor in this easy decoration.  It's simply cardstock cut into shapes, ribbon tied into a bow, and pipe cleaners glued onto a dollar store lantern decoration.  Simple, easy, and a definite WOW factor.

Hello Kitty Sweets

I guess now that I officially own a candy store, I did tell you that right? You will probably see a lot more candy in my parties and post. Okay, so you already did, but now I have access to so much more...

so many more colors...

We have pink colored Milkie candies in our shop (and lots of other colors too!)  What are milkies?  They are a cheaper, yummy M&M substitute.  You can have the taste and color of M&Ms at a cheaper price.

so many more styles...

We have lots of Hello Kitty speciality themed candy treats perfect for you to give as party favors.  We're working on getting other fun treats perfect for parties.

and so much more chocolate!

I LOVE all the new chocolate treats we can now offer.  If you've never had a chocolate covered oreo, you will not be sad at adding these to your party...until they are gone.

I guess you can expect to see a lot more candy added to the shop and to our parties with the addition of our new brick and morter store.  Come check us out for some sweet additions to your party!

Hello Kitty Cake Pop

So the Bakerella in me hasn't quite expanded enough to make these Hello Kitty cake pops, but they do look amazing enough to warrant having at our Hello Kitty birthday party.  I may actually give them a go this weekend...in the meantime, go check out Bakerella's version!

Or maybe not, then you won't laugh so hard at mine....

Hello Kitty Seeds

Since I'm still on my kick of making my Candy Toppers (Yea, sorry guys...may not stop this habit anytime soon.), I had to make some Hello Kitty ones for our birthday party.  


I'll be honest, I don't know much about Hello Kitty or her story.  I did check it out on Wikapedia, and I do remember when I was young and she first came out, but I was never a big fan.  I guess I was too much of a tom boy to be interested in Hello Kitty stuff.


But I made these using hot pink milkies (a gourmet M&M substitute).


They are now available in our retail store and in our online store.  They would be a fun addition to your Hello Kitty birthday party as a party treat or party favor.


You can find the download HERE and the treat HERE.

Happy Independence Day!

I LOVE the fourth of July.  I am so proud to be living in America, which I still consider, depsite all it's flaws and problems, to be the greatest country in the world. 

This Independence day I want to say an emotional "thank you" to the inspired me who drafted and signed the Decleration of Independence so very long ago.  May we as American's remember their courage in standing up to say "no" when things were wrong.

Birthday Shopping with Hello Kitty

I had a customer come into the store last week and tell me she was going to have a Hello Kitty birthday.  I couldn't imagine a better theme to help me get back in the swing of things, so I went shopping with the little businesses of Etsy and found some fun ideas to kick off Purr-fic birthday party.

Celebrate your Hello Kitty birthday with a lot of fun party favors, decorations, and sweet treats to make it Purrrr-fic!

HELLO KITTY Inspired MINI Bo... BowliciouslySw... $25.00	Ultimate hello kitty stemles... Jdboutique $70.00
Candy Bar Cake - Hello Kitty... SweetAssumptio... $49.95	Hello Kitty Birthday Banner CreativePartyP... $28.00
Hello Kitty chocolate mould ... bestsale $4.50	Hello Kitty Cupcake Topper SugarArtBakery $18.00
Hello Kitty Thank You Cards ... yellowbeatlebu... $10.00	Hello Kitty, Cherry Blossom ... kellystreasure... $40.00
10 - Hello Kitty party favor... DaintyCraftSho... $22.50	Hello Kitty Photo Booth Prop... PAPERandPANCAK... $15.00
Hello Kitty Sugar Cookies TheSugarCo $25.00	Hello Kitty water Bottle wra... luisa11040 $5.49
HELLO KITTY - 108 count Hers... Beyonddiaperca... $7.99	Hello kitty Birthday Hat TheCaterpillar... $14.00
Hello Kitty Hot Pink Tutu Cu... LittleLoviesBo... $50.00	Hello Kitty Die Cuts, Custom... snippylous $18.00

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