pool party Archives - For the Love of Food

Pool Party Jello Cups

Nicole Hood — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 07:03:09 +0000

- - - Blueberry Peach Pie Parfaits from Big Bear’s Wife
    - Watermelon Poke Cake from Semi-Homemade Recipes
    - Ice Cream Bread from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
    - Strawberry Shortcake Fluff from Cheese Curd In Paradise
    - Orange Skillet Cake from A Day in the Life on the Farm
    - Easy Key Lime Pie from Blogghetti
    - Homemade Drumstick Ice Cream Cones from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
    - Pool Party Jello Cups from For the Love of Food
    - Drumstick Cheesecake Cheeseball from Sweet ReciPEAs

These colorful Jello treats are decorated for a summer pool party with gummy candy and paper umbrellas.

Serve this fun snack at your next outdoor summer gathering.

Welcome to this year’s #SummerDessertWeek event hosted by Angie from Big Bear’s Wife. We’ve got 10 spectacular bloggers/ blogs creating some of the best summer desserts this week and sharing the recipes! We will be sharing our recipes on our blogs (some of those recipe links posted in this post) and on social media with the hashtag #SummerDessertWeek

We hope you’ll find some new favorite recipes this week and have fun with us as we celebrate summer!

Pool Party Jello Cups

Ingredients

Blue Jello individual cups
Gummy Bears candy
Peach gummy rings
Sour Ribbon candy cut into squares
paper umbrella decorations

Instructions

Remove top on each Jello cup and place the cups on a serving tray.
Top each cup with a peach ring or a sour ribbon square.
Add a gummy bear on top of each.
Finally, add an open paper umbrella to the center of each Jello cup.
Serve with spoons and enjoy!

I am always excited to host a summer party!

These adorable jello cups were the perfect treat for our summer bingo party in June.

Sweet Summer!

Book Bingo fun at the library.

I am so happy to host two of these fun events at our local libraries every month!

Wrapped “Blind Date with a Book” make the best prizes!

Check out the Wednesday Summer Dessert Week Blogger Recipes!

- - - Blueberry Peach Pie Parfaits from Big Bear’s Wife
    - Watermelon Poke Cake from Semi-Homemade Recipes
    - Ice Cream Bread from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
    - Strawberry Shortcake Fluff from Cheese Curd In Paradise
    - Orange Skillet Cake from A Day in the Life on the Farm
    - Easy Key Lime Pie from Blogghetti
    - Homemade Drumstick Ice Cream Cones from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
    - Pool Party Jello Cups from For the Love of Food
    - Drumstick Cheesecake Cheeseball from Sweet ReciPEAs

The post Pool Party Jello Cups appeared first on For the Love of Food.

Moana Farewell Pool Party

Nicole Hood — Sat, 14 Oct 2017 12:00:00 +0000

We have finally settled into our new home in Texas and I am excited to share our fantastic Moana Farewell Pool Party with y’all. It was the perfect way to end the summer and say ‘see ya later’ to our friends in Louisiana.

My two girls and I love everything Disney and their favorite princess is Moana so we decided to have a Moana themed party at our neighborhood pool.

True to Louisiana weather, it rained lightly the day of the party but that did not stop us from celebrating with our friends! I was lucky enough to work with some of my favorite small shops on Etsy for this special party. Check out all the details and photos below along with the menu and links to order all the items. Please support these wonderful shops and always #shopsmall !

The Invite:

I like to print my own digital invite at home and post on Facebook and hand out to friends.

This design from Gingeyspartyplace comes with matching cupcake toppers and gift bag tags.

Customized poster made by the talented MadEllaDesigns0.
I had it printed and mounted myself. Such a wonderful memento of our time at Ft Polk!

The Menu:

Click links for recipes

Being a food blogger and major foodie, one of the first thing’s

I think of when planning a party is the menu. I was super excited about a Hawaiian/Beach themed menu for this party and had a million and one ideas! Things to remember- it needed to be both kid and adult friendly, feed a crowd, and be served outside easily. I would have liked only finger food {skipping the plastic ware} but made an exception with the pasta salad because it was so darn good!

I used a few of my go to recipes, like my sweet chicken salad for the Tamatoa Crab Sandwiches and my Crock-Pot Hot Dogs {fix it and forget it!} for the Aloha Hot Dogs. Then I added some new recipes like my Hawaiian Pasta Salad and Pineapple Mango Salsa. I like to always serve snack mix of some kind and fruit salad or like we did here, Watermelon Pops! Also another winner every time: lemonade and punch! I find these to be much more affordable {and long lasting} than juice boxes or sodas and they look prettier on the food table too!

Printable Food Tent Cards by AddSomeCharmBoutique

Printable Condiment Labels by CraftsMadeByRachel

Moana Cookies from Keichel Cookies

Pua Pineapple Mango Salsa

Seashell Hawaiian Pasta Salad

How Far I’ll Go Jell-O

Aloha Crock-Pot Hot Dogs

Demi God Donuts

Kakamora Watermelon Pops

Ocean Water Punch

Boat Snack Mixes

Tamatoa Crabwiches

HeiHei Taffy

Don’t you just love this crab bowl?!

I found it at the farmer’s market back home in Pensacola!

Heart of Te Fiti Hawaiian Rollups

Luau Lemonade

The Clothes {and Accessories too}:

Both my girls were decked out in Moana outfits, jewelry, and bows!

They were so stinkin’ cute and I know these handmade items will be worn many more times!

Green Moana Dress: YourAngelsAvenue

Heart of Tefiti Necklace: JustJoysBOWtique

Moana Leotard: OnceUponATutus

Moana Necklace: My LilSunshineBows
Leis: KidsPartyPrintables

Stella also modeled a knit Moana outfit at the party.

This was so adorable and is perfect for dress up!

Custom Crochet Outfit from : LoopsyDaisyDesigns

Floral Hair Pin from HiyaPapayaIsland
Moana bow from: MyLilSunshineBows

Moana pillowcase dress from FancyFlarebyMarilyn.
Headband from SewEarresistible.
Hei Hei Doll from: TheFreckledFoxx
Kakamora Doll from: ThinkOfftheHook

How Far I’ll Go Moana Tshirt from DoodleDeeTees

Ava loves wearing her Moana apron and purse at home for dress up and helping me in the kitchen!

Check them out at SewingShelley

Moana Painted Canvas Shoes from LakesBoutiqueCo

Personalized Moana Bracelet from Castleminis

We love Mouse Ears and my girls and I changed ours out through out the party so we could wear them all!

Moana Custom Mouse Ears from ImajineArtEars

Painted Heart of Te Fiti Rock: CraftedForHisGlory

Hawaiian Nights Tropical Mouse Ears from EnchantedbyGi

Pua the Pig and Tamatoa the Crab Wire Mouse Ears from makingsofadreamer

Couldn’t start my day with a cup of coffee to get me going!
Moana Travel Mug from Tamara Porter
Floral Hair Pin from HiyaPapayaIsland
Peg Dolls from HappyCamperKids

The Decor:

Hand painted wood sign from : TheRoyalScripts

“ALOHA” Moana Character Letters from: NikkisCloset85

Painted Wooden Maui Fish Hook from Homemade Learning

Knit Hei Hei Doll from The Freckled Foxx

I purchased the Moana poster at Walmart {and it is cleverly hiding the pool rules sign}.

I bought Moana and tropical themed table covers at Walmart and Party City along with matching plates and napkins.

Ocean is Calling Banner from PandLProjectShop

I pick up fun beach party decor whenever I see it on sale.

Party City, Walmart, Michaels all have a great selection.

I mean, come on, we had to have paper umbrellas!

These cups are still one of my faves from the whole party!

Each child picked out one, customized with Moana vinyl decals, and it doubled as a cup for their party drink and a favor!

Moana Cups from: CraftedForHisGlory

Instead of a guest book I like to have friends write a note in a storybook my girls’ can always keep!

I used fresh fruit as food, bowls, and decor!

Printable sign from: ThePaperGiraffeShop

All the kids wanted to take these little wooden dolls home!

Moana Peg Dolls from Happy Camper Kids.

Tropical floral decor from KidsPartyPrintables

Aloha Banner from LetsGetDecorative

Featuring the music and lyrics for “How Far I’ll Go” this sheet music was cute framed on the favor table and can then be given as a prize or kept at home and hung up!

Moana Sheet Music from AmourPrints.

Decorative Moana Paper Lanterns from JumpingOlives

Cupcake {or snack cup} Picks from Gingeyspartyplace

Sign Board from MadEllaDesigns0

Stella loves to snuggle with her knit Pua Doll from ThinkOffTheHook

The Favors:

I was so excited for the fantastic handmade goodie bags and gifts for both the kiddos and the adults who attended our party! Check them out and be sure to comment and tell me your fave.

Everyone was greeted with a Hawaiian Lei necklace and bracelet to wear.

Find them at: KidsPartyPrintables

The favor table was the cutest!

The favor bags- oh these bags, y’all. They were the cutest.

I actually kept some to frame for Ava’s room because they are that special!

White favor bags from: CindysThemesAnThings

Moana/Maui bags from: FiestaStyle

Printable Gift Bag Thank You tags from: Gingeyspartyplace

For the Mom gift bags I included one of these too cute Moana themed

bath bombs along with a Moana bookmark.

Bath bombs from: PixieDustGrotto

All the kids got to take home their own personalized cup as a favor.

Moana Decal Cups from: CraftedForHisGlory

Another cute favor idea are these small Moana pins from SweetestNerdyDreams

Games and Crafts:

I was torn on planning games for this party. I never want the kiddos to be bored but luckily with a pool party everyone was having fun in the water and didn’t want to do much else.

I purchased pool items like floats, beach balls, and a floating ball toss game.

The kids were entertained and I saved some time on not organizing a bunch of games!

Pool party fun!

We did have to have at least one game and that was the hand painted Pua and HeiHei Pinata.

I filled it with floating water balls, bracelets, and lollipops.

The kids loved pulling the string {much better than beating it with a stick} and sweet Stella pulled the string that made the prizes fall out for everyone!

Hand Painted Moana Pinata from LuisasPartyShop

I did give one craft as a party favor and that was Heart of Te Fiti Necklace Kits. Easy to make and all the supplies were packaged separately so they could take home.

DIY Te Fiti Kit Party Favor Necklaces from Stick2love

I love photos, as you can clearly see on my blog!

So all the parties we throw have a photo area either with a background, poster, and/or props.

Here are a few of our favorite photos using the fun props from LetsGetDecorative.

I filled a bowl with photo props on sticks for guests to use to take silly Moana themed group photos.

The sturdiness and quality of these props can’t be beat. They were beautiful!

Moana Photo Booth Props and Banners from LetsGetDecorative

Of course the wooden Maui hook was a popular item to pose with too!

Wooded Maui Fish Hook from Homemade Learning

Thank you to all the wonderful, talented Etsy shops who worked with me and provided items for our party. Please remember to #shopsmall and check out their handmade items by clicking on the links under the items.

Check out my Moana Gift Guide here!

I was sent items in exchange for my review. As always, all opinions are my own.

The post Moana Farewell Pool Party appeared first on For the Love of Food.

Earth Day Party and Blue Raspberry Slushies

Nicole Hood — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 22:46:00 +0000

I, like many people, try to do my part in taking care of our precious environment. I recycle, reuse, don’t litter, and try to conserve. I still to this day boycott Exxon after their horrific oil spill (not to mention the more current BP oil spill too). I started doing this as a little girl when my Dad would take me to do the biannual beach clean up in my hometown of Destin, FL. It was and still is hands down the most beautiful beach in the world but people continue to litter the sand with trash and destroy the fragile environment for the nesting turtles and delicate sand dunes. But we can make a difference and teach our children to make small changes to help our Earth too!

Today we celebrate Earth Day and together we can make a difference and protect our planet!

I teamed up with these amazing Earth friendly companies to host a Earth Day Healthy Baby Picnic for my friends last week. We enjoyed a casual lunch with our kids by the pool in my neighborhood. All the ladies took home goodie bags filled with samples and coupons from sponsors Seventh Generation, Happy Family, Zarbee’s Naturals, and Stonyfield. I had Earth Day coloring pages and recycled crayon flowers for the kids and other fun Earth Day themed fun! Since this was my first outdoor party of the year I wanted to make a fun drink that was both kid and adult friendly. My Blue Raspberry Slushies served in Mason Jars were bright and fun and most importantly delicious and refreshing for our earth day party! Check out the recipe below along with some Earth Day Party tips and come back tomorrow for more recipes and pictures from my Earth Day Picnic!

Help make a difference!
Create a healthy home for your family and reduce chemicals of concern in our environment.
Watch the video here: healthybabyhomeparty.com and sign the petition at www.fighttoxins.com/healthybaby.

Blue Raspberry Slushies

Makes about 4-6 small cups/jars

Ingredients:

4 cups of cold water
1 cup of sugar
2 tbsp Raspberry Flavoring Syrup (or use approx 2 tsp Raspberry Extract)
4-6 drops of Blue Food Coloring, or other color of your choice

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine water and sugar and stir until sugar is
completely dissolved.
Add in raspberry syrup and stir well.
Follow with 4-6 drops of food coloring to achieve your
desired color. Stir well.
Pour into your ice cream maker and turn on and
run according to ice cream maker package directions.
Let run for approximately 20 minutes or until desired consistency is reached.
Scoop into chilled mason jars or cups and serve immediately with a colorful straw!

*No worries if it melts some! The raspberry “juice” is delish!

Recipe adapted from Love From the Oven.

Start by combining water and sugar in a large bowl or measuring cup.

Stir well then add raspberry syrup and about 4 drops of blue food coloring.

Pour into your ice cream maker (make sure the ice cream bowl is fully frozen- about 24 hrs in the freezer – I made that mistake the first time and my Slushies never got icy!). Run for about 20 minutes and voila! you have icy, tasty Slushies!

I tried to use blue, brown, and green Earth color for my decor, food, and drinks at the picnic. Don’t you love these cute mason jars with flower lids? I found them at a local craft fair.

After a little while my leftover Slushies turned into an icy Blue Raspberry drink.

No biggie to me! It still tasted delicious!

Earth Day Party Ideas!

How cute are these FREE printables?

I framed one to display on the tables and the circles I printed on card stock, cut them out, and tied them with green raffia to my goodie bags. Find them here.

You can always use silverware from home but I also love these recycled festive forks and spoons. I found these through Groopdealz but also check out Etsy.

I stay away from Styrofoam items but I used Tupperware and reusable bowls and trays for the food and I had a collection of mismatched leftover paper plates from previous parties for everyone to use. This way they weren’t wasted and I was able to use up a variety of leftover partyware!

I always serve water in a cooler for my party guests but I made sure to have a recycle bin for the empty bottles and plastic.

Always remember to RECYCLE!

Here are my goodie bags filled with samples and treats from the Healthy Baby Party sponsors.

I used recycled, simple brown paper bags, added a sticker from Seventh Generation to the front, and punched a hole on top to add an Earth day card with a note to each guest (from the free printable above) tied with green raffia.

I picked up these Earth Day color sheets from my local Army post, Ft Polk for the kiddos.

Here’s a great way to reuse! I used broken pieces of Ava’s crayons and melted them in a silicone flower shaped tray.

Simply place in the oven at 200 degrees for about 2 hours. Place in the freezer to cool, then pop out of the tray and you have cute crayons to give to the kids!

An easy and beautiful way to decorate your picnic area: potted flowers from your home! I potted these plants for my front patio a few days before my party and these were the perfect decor for my Earth Day Picnic.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for more pictures and recipes

from my Earth Day Picnic and Healthy Baby Party!

The post Earth Day Party and Blue Raspberry Slushies appeared first on For the Love of Food.