Paper Cone Favors

I told you I'd come back and tell you a bit about Peyton's 8th birthday party. There is a slide show here but please excuse her raggamuffin hair.  When you dance around like a crazy girl to the sound of "BABY BABY BABY" by Justin Bieber, your hair tends to be a little effected.  ...and to think I spent a half hour culing that thick head of brunette goodness only to have her pop it into a messy bun!  OH WELL!   If you want to check out some other B-days, go here and click on the links.

Those little sparkly things in the photo, all over the table, are "DIAMONDS" I purchased at Pier One...they gave the perfect GLAM-EFFECT!  In the uber-fantastic magazine FLEA MARKET STYLE , they show these sweet little paper cones filled with strawberries for a summer party. Since Peyton was supposed to have an oreo cake (UMMMMmmm, the cake that's pictured in a post a few days ago didn't come out of the pan, thank GOODNESS I made cupcakes too!) and her colors for the party were pink,black and white, I figured that these cones would be PERFECT to hold mini oreos as a cute favor. I'm certainly no stranger to mod podge.  We go way back.  Like all the way to here http://www.whimsyworks.blogspot.com/ Here's how you do the paper cones:

Use a sharp craft knife and score the pages of a book that you will never use. Make sure it's an appropriate sized book and that the pages are thicker in weight (don't use a dictionary, it's too thin). I used a motivational book that my husband got at some conference. We both read that book cover to cover. NOT! Who needs motivation? :-0 You'll need a paint brush or sponge brush (mine is for doing highlights in hair...I snagged it from my sister's stash, shhhhh), decoupage medium like Mod Podge or any other and a surface that you'll be able to rinse off like a cutting board. You will also need various cups to hold your paper cups upright in until they dry. Brush the decoupage medium onto both sides, covering evenly. Then form a cone. The paper will stick onto itself but you may want to put an extra brush stroke over the edge where they over-lap. Let them dry. After they were dry, I put another quick coat on the outside just to make them a bit stiffer. The next day, I made little pink bows and then decoupaged them on as well, just to add a bit of femininity and some color. VOILA' you are done! You can now fill them with anything you want! It would be fun to make these out of some kids picture books from Goodwill or a thrift store too. They'd be so colorful and happy! You could fill with Red Swedish Fish or all kinds of GUMMI goodies.  For a bridal shower you could use an old poem book or a song book and fill with the custom m&m's that have the couples initials on them. 

The other favor was an oreo cakester (the thick cake like oreo's that come in a double pack). My mother in law and I put a lollipop stick into them (that I bought at the cake and candy store, I bought the chocolate coating there as well and sweet little lollipop bags). After the pink "chocolate" was melted, we dipped the cakesters into the melted goodness, covering up all the way to the end. You slowly drip off the excess then slowly twirl them so that they have a smooth finish. I cut holes into the empty cakester box and let the pops dry upright. After they were dry, I layed them on wax paper. I put them in the bags and tied a cool zebra print ribbon on them....Peyton loves Zebra print! Easy peasy and not expensive!   I joined TRASH TO TREASURE TUESDAY because basically that book was trash and DIY at a soft place to land!