candy

Fabric Wrapped Suckers

November 2, 2012 by Sharon Garofalow 2 Comments

Here is how you take some super awesome fabric and wrap your boring old suckers to make them next level. Sure you can hand a kid a lollipop and they will eat it. But you can also hand your kid a decorated lollipop and watch their eyes light up even bigger. Ahhh, to be young…

Yes that is acid washed denim, thanks for asking. You don’t HAVE to use the denim but then your suckers won’t taste like the 80′s. Just grab some fabric, some sort of adhesive (I used Glue Lines) suckers and scissors.

Cut a small piece of fabric, use your Glue Lines to make sure that the fabric sticks to the sucker stick (or else it will slide right off the end) and use a second piece to secure the fabric to itself after you have wrapped it around the sucker. Sure you can leave the excess and make it more like a sucker flag. But am I alone here? I dislike party stuff that just gets in the way for the sake of trying to jazz something up. By keeping the fabric cut short, it adds a nice amount of decoration without being a nuisance.

I first used these at one of my son’s birthday parties. This is a great way to add in whatever color scheme you are trying to use, cohesively, to the party favor or food table. And I didn’t do it to ALL the suckers in the jar. Just enough to add some visual interest. I’m not totally cray cray. (I’ve never used that before, did I pull it off?)

Now I have to go listen to some Bon Jovi.

Filed Under: Craft Ideas, Family Life, Food, Oh you fancy huh, Party Inspiration, Tutorials Tagged With: candy, craft, diy, stripes

Surprise! Allergy Friendly Easter Treats

March 13, 2012 by Sharon Garofalow 1 Comment

I made an early morning run to the grocery store today. Because I didn’t have the kids with me, I was able to peruse the holiday candy aisle. Do you avoid it with your kids like I do? I try not to give them too much candy (although my candy cupboard would say I like to keep it close by) but also, my oldest son always wants what he can’t have. With his food allergies, he can usually not have the holiday staples like candy corn at Halloween or conversation hearts at Valentine’s Day. Jelly Beans are also sometimes hard to find. But then I saw these Dum Dum suckers! They have a jelly bean inside! I am very fond of the Dum Dums as I know that they are allergen friendly. My heart swells when I see them at kid hair salons, the bank or kid’s sports snack bars because I know that for a minute, my kid gets to have the same treat as everyone else. AND they are delicious. AND they are small, so kids usually eat them all up before they get tired of them and they end up stuck to the back of my shirt or a chair or something.

The bag has about 10 lollipops in raspberry, grape, watermelon, apple and “mystery” and the inside of each pop contains a jelly bean! So fun! These would be perfect for an Easter party! And don’t forget to keep a stash of the everyday Dum Dums at home for your next pinata or party for those kid’s with special dietary needs.

My youngest son was my tester.

It made him this happy!!! Dum Dum suckers are made by Spangler Candy company and I heart them. They make a few other candies that are also allergen free (I’m looking at you Circus Peanut - which to date, are the only peanut my son has ever eaten). Jump over and take a gander at their allergen info. Sending you a telepathic hug Spangler Company!!!

Filed Under: Family Life, Food Allergies, Holidays, Party Inspiration, Things I Love Tagged With: candy, Easter

Nerding out over Martha!

March 7, 2012 by Sharon Garofalow 3 Comments

As you know I am in NY right now at the Martha Stewart offices for some workshops and fun. We were told that if we wanted to put an item in the gift bag we should put 100 of them together and send them on over. I decided to send some treats with a modified version of my business card.
It took a few hours but I managed to get them all done and out in the mail in time. Trust that I had to fight off my kids for the nerds for about half that time.

Would you nerd out over Martha? (Since I am posting this before I actually leave for the trip, I feel like I’m going to be able to hold it together. I’ll let you know what really happens. Fingers crossed that I don’t cry and shake like I just won Ms. America.)