Lollipop, Lollipop!

For those of you who aren't keeping track, August starts this Friday.  

Ugh.

I am so not ready for school to begin.  I know I might be in the minority on this but I love having my kids at home during the summer.  

But this isn't a back-to-school post.  Nope, this is a post about my favorite part of August:  my daughter's birthday!

It's hard to believe that this is the third year I've written about her birthday.  (The other posts can be found HERE and HERE.)

This year my girl wants a "candy themed" birthday party.  

(Do you hear that noise?  It's the sound of other parents growling in my general direction.  I apologize in advance for the sugar-induced frenzy for which I will be responsible.)

But today's post isn't about candy-that-is-bad-for-you.  No, no, no.  Today's post is about candy-that's-good-for-lookin'-at.  (Specifically styrofoam lollipops.)   

Because while I'm all about decorating with the real stuff, I also wanted to get my craft on.   

(What? this surprises you?)

So here's the "recipe" for my styrofoam lollipops.

First you get some small styrofoam balls.  You can buy them HERE.

Then you paint them vivid colors.  Honestly, we just used old paint that I had lying around for other projects.  My girls stuck toothpicks in them so they could dry without sticking to anything and then dabbed at them with foam brushes.  They're not perfect, but they're perfect enough for our purposes.  

After the paint was dry, we took real lollipop sticks, put a dab of hot glue on the tip, and jammed them into the foam balls.  

Then we took small cellophane bags, put them over the balls, and twist-tied them closed.  I got my cello bags at DAISO but you can buy yours HERE.

I put these tiny hooks on top (also with a dab of glue) so that I could hang them...

...like this:

Or this:

Or maybe I'll just use them in a centerpiece like this:

Either way I'm sure they'll be a hit with the kids and the parents.  

And as I'm sure you can guess there will be more party posts in the near future.  In the meantime if you have any suggestions for what to do at a candy-themed birthday party (besides eat candy, that is) please be sure to leave me a comment below!