{Tips & Hints} Race Car Party

As I pop around the blogosphere each day checking out all the wonderful parties and general inspiration, many times I’m struck by the thought “How did they do that?” I love it when people give a little how-to here and there, so I thought that I’d try to follow up my party posts with a Tips & Hints post on things that might be helpful if you were going to try to throw a similar party yourself.

My race car party was pretty straight forward. Not a lot of tricks to it. But here are a few tips…

Back Drop
For for the back drop, I purchased a 1×2″ and cut it to be the same length as my table. Then I stapled a full size sheet to the 2″ side and rolled the “bar” a half turn, so the sheet was partially wrapped around it and screwed two hooks (one at each end) into the 1″ side. I then lifted the whole thing up and hung the screws on two matching eyelets that I had attached earlier to the overhang of my roof.

Popcorn Cones
Treat cones are showing up everywhere these days. One of the best pieces of advice, I read on Martha Stewart’s site (no surprise, right?! Those gals are on top of everything!) Always use TWO lollipop sticks for each cone. Stick them into the foam base separately. First insert one stick, place your cone on the stick and then, through the cone, insert a second stick. This will help keep your cones from spinning around on the sticks and give them a uniform look and placement.

Cake Pops
I probably shouldn’t have tried these a couple nights before the party. But I have noticed, from reading other people’s blogs, that I’m not the only one with this particular last minute inspiration. If you venture into the land of Bakerella cake pops, here are a few helpful hints…

– It helps to bake the cake and roll the balls the night before you are going to do the chocolate dipping so that they have enough time to chill.

– When Bakerella suggests making the balls the size of a quarter, pay attention. And if you are like me and think you remember how big a quarter is and don’t need to pull one out for reference… just do it anyway. Trust me. Quarters are SMALL! My memory was a little faulty and let’s just say that I mentally confused a quarter with a silver dollar. This, my friends, had a few repercussions. Namely, my cake balls were so heavy that once I dipped them in chocolate, they kept sliding down the sticks. Luckily, if you find yourself in this predicament it is not irreparable. First you can, of course, make your balls smaller. But if you choose not to, just (while the balls are still on the cookie sheet) insert the lollipop stick to make a hole. Pull out the stick. Dab a little chocolate in the hole and put the stick back in. Now wait a few minutes until the chocolate hardens and lift up the pop and proceed with the chocolate coating. Ta-da! Cake pop!

Race Track
If you decide to have a race car party and want to build a track similar to the one we built…

…here’s how you do it: