Summertime is here and it’s time for a pool party. A CANDY POOL PARTY! This day and age you can find a pool float shaped like pretty much anything. I’ve seen pizza floats, ice cream floats, giant unicorns, and so much more. When I was cruising these fun floats online, I came across the inspiration for this whole party theme…….a gumball machine! I decided it would be fun to throw a candy themed pool party. And now, I can help guide you through setting up your own candy pool party. We will break it down into decorations, activities and food.
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The overall aesthetic of the pool party was focused mainly on primary colors and a little bit of rainbow. I used mostly red, yellow and blue, with a little bit of green. Depending on where you have your party or how your pool looks, you might be using a table and chairs to have your things. In my situation, I had a pool with a table and umbrella nearby. But, whatever you have will work. Nothing’s stopping us from partying at the pool.
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Candy Pool Party Decorations
For the candy pool party decorations, I wanted to keep a little bit on the candy side and a little bit on the pool side. So, I incorporated things like beach balls and candy shaped items. One thing I made is a candy shaped decoration made out of a beach ball and cellophane.
First, blow up your beach ball. I used a regular 12” beach ball, but you could also use smaller ones and put them around your table! Once your beach ball is ready, just roll the cellophane over it and cover it all around. Tape down the edge so it stays put. Here comes the surprisingly challenging part, tying the ends. If you have a second person, that will certainly help. I used ribbon to tie each end close. It’s starting to look like a little plastic wrapped candy. Because the scale of the beach ball was huge in comparison to the little tiny ends, I cut a piece of cellophane to wrap around the ends. This made the ends bigger and the look more like a candy!
I made a banner and printed out some letters to spell “Candy Time”. You could use it to spell out whatever you want. It includes A-Z, 0-9, !, ‘, and a blank and pattern piece. I used a thick rope I found at Walmart and tied it to the umbrella in a couple spots. It was pretty easy to hang.
Finally, I used some other items from the party pack that I made as decorations around the table. I printed out and framed the two art prints. I also print and cut out the photo props, but used them as table décor in between place settings. You can check out all the paper goods in the EventOTB Candy Pool Party Pack.
Candy Pool Party Food & Table Setting
Being a candy themed pool party, my food consisted of candy! Shocker! I know. Full of surprises here. Anyways, I made a few “food” items with candy.
“Fruit” Skewers
The first is candy “fruit” skewers. These, as it turns out, are quite simple. I found a bucket of fruit slice themed gummy candies at Walmart and I got skewers at the grocery store. It’s as easy as pushing fruit slice candies onto skewers. Now, there will be a significant amount of gummy goo on the skewer after you push them down. You can use paper towels dipped in hot water to help wash off some of the goo, or you could just fill it all the way up! Which is what I did, because duh. Candy.
Candy “Sushi”
The second option I had was a candy “sushi”. This turned out super cute and wasn’t hard to complete. I took a Rice Krispie from a box of them that I bought at the grocery store. There’s one good thing about portion sizes being so tiny nowadays, the Rice Krispie is the perfect small size! I placed a Swedish Fish on the Rice Krispie and then wrapped it in a rainbow sour belt. I folded it so the ends are underneath the “sushi”. This turns out super cute and ALSO delicious.
Candy Cupcakes
Finally, I bought cupcakes. I wish I was an awesome baker with beautiful pastry skills, but, alas, that specialty eludes me. So, I bought cupcakes. I found some super cute red and white icing, delicious strawberry shortcake type mini cupcakes. I purchased these super fun candy toppers. One, of course, is a gumball machine. There’s also a lollipop and regular hard candy shapes. They’re made by Dylan’s Candy and available at Party City. I surrounded them with rainbow candies and lifesavers! (On theme, as always).
For the place settings, I used tissue paper as a place mat. We are at the pool, so it’s super easy to clean up. Just pull up and throw away! I folded my tissue paper in half to get a triangle, mainly for dramatic effect. Monochromatic place settings is how I decided to decorate my table. I used one color for tissue, paper plate, straw flag, and party favor. I also found glitter mason jars at a craft store. All these pieces together make for a bright and colorful set of place settings.
Candy Pool Party Activities
One favorite past time at any party in recent years is the photo booth, or selfie station. But, this being a candy pool party, you don’t even have to have a selfie station. It’s called the pool! But either way, whatever you choose, photo backdrop or pool, you can still snap away selfies! I made some photo props to keep on candy pool party theme. I taped them to the same skewers that I used for “fruit” skewers. Thrifty Lauren, I know.
Also, there are pool floats. Like GUMBALL pool floats. If you want to go all out, you could get the gumball, tootsie roll, or sprinkles beach ball. Ok, back to the gumball float. This is the float that inspired this whole theme! By the way, if you get this float and are blowing it up, take breaks. TRUST ME. It takes a lot of air.
And finally, the world’s cutest Candy Bingo Game that you can get here from Moodyness. The Moodyness shop is full of awesome bingo cards, snapchat filters, and other items perfect for celebrating. This candy bingo card is perfect for kids, or even adults. Let me tell you, I have had some super competitive, ridiculously fun bingo games with adults. And once you get the bingo cards, all you need are some M&Ms or Skittles or little candies to be your bingo pieces! Although, let me warn you, buy more than you think you’ll need because people WILL eat their bingo pieces. So grab your bingo cards and get to playing!
Alright! Candy Themed Pool Party! Now, on a serious note, you may want to be careful about eating a ton of candy and then jumping in the pool. Our moms are right. Wait a minute to swim after you eat. Not speaking from personal experience at all….
Candy Pool Party Pack
If you want some of the fun things to help you along your party planning, you could pick up the Gumballs at the Pool Party Pack. It includes 14 items that you can use to throw your party! Just add food and the gumball pool float! The items included in the party pack are:
28-Page Ebook with tips, activities & games, mood board and more
Banner (3 Colors – Blue, Red, Yellow)
Stickers
Straw Flags
Invitation
Art Prints (2)
Water Bottle Wraps
Photo Props (13 items)
Playlist Sheet
Food Tags
Gift Tags
Grab your floaties! Grab some candy! And let’s get to the pool! If you’d like to stay up to date on the blog info and receive periodic emails (no spam! Ew), then sign up below! You will also get a FREE download of the stickers from the party pack!
