With spring here and summer on its way, party season is here to stay for a while. Here are some great party ideas for this summer as well as some great tips for your next candy buffet.

1. Birthday Party

Birthdays happen year-round, so why not celebrate one with a candy buffet at your next birthday party?! Here at Nuts.com we have a candy by color, which makes it easy to coordinate a candy buffet with the overall theme of the party. You could also match candy colors to a favorite character for a child’s party like yellow and brown for Spongebob or dark blue and red for Spider-Man.

2. Baby Shower

The candy by color feature would be great for a candy buffet at a baby shower as well! You could use a traditional color palette like blue and pink or just go with something fun and neutral like yellow or mint. Make sure to pick creative containers of different sizes and heights for your candy buffet display to make it stand out even more.

3. Bridal Shower

It’s wedding season, so why not add a candy buffet to that bridal shower you’re planning? You might even want it to be in emerald green, this year’s color of the year. Of course, you could also use the bride’s wedding colors or her favorite colors. Just be sure to plan ahead when doing a candy buffet so you can get the colors and products you want.

4. Luau

This is the perfect time of year for a luau or tiki party, and a tropical candy buffet would be the perfect addition to any luau. Nuts.com also has a candy by theme feature, and one of their featured themes is luau. If you wanted to do something a little different, you could start with pineapple, coconut, and mango fruit slices and then add in vibrant colored gumballs, sixlets, or even Mike and Ike’s. Adding a backdrop element to your candy buffet table can help complete the look and add to the theme of your party!

5. BBQ

With Memorial Day fast approaching, the time for outdoor barbecues is here! You could add a color or taste-themed candy buffet to any outdoor get together to add that last special touch. Just plan in advance to buy enough candy for your buffet. We suggest five jars of candy per 50 guests.

Check out our other blog post about tips for candy buffets at your wedding. If you’d like our help brainstorming candy buffet ideas, don’t hesitate to ask our Candy Concierge! Contact us at care@nuts.com or 800-558-6887 for advice.

The color authority Pantone has spoken, and the color of the year is (drum roll, please)… emerald green!

Each year, Pantone chooses a shade to represent trends in fashion, design, home decor and beauty, and 2013’s color is PANTONE 17-5641 Emerald:

Emerald, a vivid verdant green, enhances our sense of well-being further by inspiring insight as well as promoting balance and harmony.

Most often associated with brilliant, precious gemstones, the perception of Emerald is sophisticated and luxurious. Since antiquity, this luminous, magnificent hue has been the color of beauty and new life in many cultures and religions. Also the color of growth, renewal and prosperity, no other color conveys regeneration more than green.

If you are planning a wedding this year, emerald is a beautiful, rich color to use in your style and decor. You can incorporate emerald accents in your flower arrangements, centerpieces, invitations and, most importantly, your wedding candy buffet.

Nuts.com has a wide selection of green candy that you can mix and match to create your perfect emerald wedding candy buffet.

Check out some of these gems:

• Dark green sixlets
• Dark green Jordan almonds
• Watermelon Jelly Bellys
• Green candy color sampler

Looking for another hue? Browse our candy selection by color. 

Spring wedding season is in full swing, and couples are planning the details for their big day. Consider this stylish feature of your reception that’s a hit with guests of all ages: a wedding candy buffet. Who doesn’t love sampling different kinds of colorful candy?

Candy buffet tables photograph beautifully, especially in vibrant spring colors. Shop for candy by color to coordinate the sweet treats with your wedding palette. We also encourage you to explore our Candy Buffet Gallery, which provides many examples of candy buffets in different colors. You’ll see which candies look best in each display. The Spring Candy Buffet and Cherry Blossom Candy Buffet are just two examples of displays that are lovely at this time of year.

Here are a few ideas to consider for decorating your tasty table:

• Small tree branches with blossoms
• Spring flower arrangements or flower petals
• Items that match the theme of your wedding (birds, travel)
• Crafty items (pinwheels, paper flowers)

Pastel colors like purple and light pink are popular for spring weddings, and so are pastel green and peach. If you choose to feature different colors of candy in your buffet, you’ll likely offer your guests different flavors, as well!

How much candy do you need? How many kinds? We’ve answered a lot of common questions in a previous post, “Candy Buffet Fun.” Jordan almonds and Sixlets are two popular candies that come in a variety of colors, but there are plenty of other attractive options, such as rock candy and lollipops.

If you’d like our help brainstorming candy buffet ideas, don’t hesitate to ask our Candy Concierge! Contact us at care@nuts.com or 800-558-6887 for advice.

What are your tips for designing a beautiful wedding candy buffets?

We’re always honored when publications and blogs feature our nutty products, and we thought you might like to hear about the items highlighted over the past few months. The best part is that you can try these featured products for yourself!

1. Gummy Red and Black Raspberries
Featured in: Brides magazine, Winter 2013 issue

Imported from Germany, these old time candy red and black gummy raspberries are delicious! They’re crunchy on the outside and chewy, sweet, and fruity on the inside. Use them to decorate a cake or fill a colorful candy bowl.

2. Lemon Chips
Featured in: Chocolate Moosey

Carla, the author of this baking blog, describes her Lemon Snowball Cookies like this: “Think melt-in-your-mouth lemon shortbread cookies coated with powdered sugar.” YUM! Here’s how Carla used our lemon chips to add flavor and texture:

The original recipe called for crushed lemon drops, but I used the chips instead. When the cookies are fresh from the oven, they are soft and melted. When they cool, however, they become crunchy.

3. Coffee-and-Cream Espresso Beans
Featured in: Martha Stewart Weddings online

We can’t tell you how excited we are that our candy was part of the dessert table at the September wedding of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds! See the whole slideshow here. Try the coffee-and-cream espresso beans displayed at their Southern wedding, or pick your own candy colors!

4. Organic Bucket of Treats
Featured in: Greatist.com

Our Organic Bucket of Treats was one of 24 gifts featured in Greatist’s The Essential Holiday Gift Guide for Health Nuts. The editors made sure to note, “We weren’t paid or perked in any way for including these items. This is a list of gifts The Greatist Team picked out just because we like them.” Aw, shucks! Here’s what they said:

For all the favorite nuts in your life, order up a healthy bucket of organic treats. This gift includes granola, mixed nuts, trail mix, pistachios, figs, and even organic gummy bears. They even do all the wrapping for you!

5. Sixlets by Color
Featured in: Hostess with the Mostess

Our lime green sixlets filled a gorgeous candy jar on a holiday dessert table and cocoa bar. You can order your own sixlets by color! Here’s the concept behind this holiday display:

“All is Calm, All is Bright” from Silent Night inspired this serene Christmas Dessert Table & Cocoa Bar. Wanting to slow down the rush of the holiday season, Deanna of Mirabelle Creations, crafted a peaceful holiday party full of easy DIY elements like a coffee filter garland and homemade sweets including dainty flower topped sugar cookies.

6. Roasted Macadamia Nuts
Featured in: Martha Stewart Weddings, Fall 2012 issue

Our roasted macadamia nuts topped a cake in a feature on White Wedding Cakes. Here’s the mouth-wateringly good description:

Kick back and enjoy the sweet life with a spread of simple but beautiful cakes. Wendy Kromer used a petal-shaped mold to create these scalloped tiers, which are frosted in velvety buttercream laced with rum and topped with toasted macadamia nuts. Inside? Yellow cake layered with even more cream. Nearby bowls of roasted nuts are not only thematically on point; they also encourage snacking and admiring the mouthwatering confections up close.

Which Nuts.com product do you think should be featured next?

With the leaves changing and weather cooling down, fall wedding season is in full swing! One modern tradition we love is creating a wedding candy buffet on a table decorated in the theme of the wedding.

Jordan almonds are a classic choice for both favors and wedding candy buffets. In Italian wedding tradition, five almonds given as favors to guests in small bags or boxes symbolize five blessings for the health of the bride and groom: health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity.

There are plenty of other colorful candies to choose from, as well! Our candy by color chart helps you pick from a broad palette, and our color samplers include a variety of treats. For example, our orange sampler contains candies including Chocolate Covered Sunflower Seeds, Pastel Creamy Chocolate Apricots, and Peach Fruit Slices.

Here are a few ideas for how to create a wedding candy buffet:

• Add seasonal touches to the candy buffet table, such as autumn leaves for a fall wedding or wildflowers in the spring.
• Choose two colors of candy that represent you and your partner (such as each of your favorite colors, or the ones you’re wearing in the wedding) and blend them together to symbolize joining together in marriage.
• Fill large glass jars with a single color of candy, or create layers different colors.
• Send guests home with colored candies tied up in little tulle bags as wedding favors.

What are your ideas for creating a festive wedding candy buffet?

Labor Day weekend is coming up soon! How do you plan to celebrate? We see it as the last hurrah of summer, and we love to throw a barbecue every year, complete with some treats that remind us of summers past. Old fashioned candy never goes out of style, and we love to see the younger generations enjoying it just as much as we do!

No selection of old fashioned candy would be complete without salt water taffy. This ultimate summertime treat reminds us of vacations at the seashore. Our delicious salt water taffy is available in an array of colors and flavors, including watermelon, blueberry, chocolate and maple.

Other selections that we just have to include in our old fashioned candy buffet are sweet and tart lemon drops. Gummy bears are always a big hit with guests young and old, and with so many varieties to choose from, you’ll always have some to suit every taste! Soft fruit slices are available in a variety of flavors, including lemon, orange, lime, pomegranate, watermelon and pineapple. Chocolate pretzels and Jordan almonds are two favorite treats that we just can’t forget.

You don’t just have to stick to those treats! Be sure to take a look at our full selection of old fashioned candy to select some of your family’s favorites.

Once you have your selection of old-fashioned candy ready to go, make it even more fun by supplying guests with bags and bowls so they can make their own sweet mixes. You can even provide ice cream or frozen yogurt and convert the old-fashioned candy buffet into a sundae bar. The choice is yours! Sharing some old time sweets is great way to wrap up a day of barbecuing, swimming and fun in the sun.

Are you hosting a summer wedding, shower, or other celebration? Our nutty family loves parties, and there’s nothing sweeter than treating your guests to a candy buffet!  To inspire you, we’ve put together a candy buffet gallery.

If you’re looking for a wedding candy buffet, we’ve got wedding candy galore! With our candy by color selection, you’re sure to find the perfect match for your theme, whether you’d like a classic white candy buffet, an outdoor candy buffet, or a dazzling hot pink candy buffet. We have a large selection of personalized candy favors, too, in case that’s the treat you’d prefer for your guests.

If you’re planning a baby shower, we’ve got you covered, too! Regardless of whether it’s a boy, a girl, or a surprise, our candy buffet gallery has something for everyone: a baby girl shower candy buffet, a baby boy shower candy buffet, and a green candy buffet (and that’s just the start!).

Take advantage of the warm summer months with a spring candy buffet, a summer candy buffet, or a rustic snack buffet. Or, throw a birthday party decorated with a classic birthday candy buffet, a beach candy buffet, or a carnival candy buffet.

Candy Buffet Planning Tips

1. Start with an inspiration board for your buffet – photos of candy buffets that you like, candies, decorations, and fabric swatches.
2. You need about 1/4 to 1/2 pounds of candy per guest, but keep in mind that you should get enough candy for your table to look full and opulent. You may want to draw out a plan for how you will arrange the candy containers on your table.
3. Consider starting with 5-10 different types of candy. More variety of candy adds color and character to your buffet.
4. Don’t forget a backdrop!  For more dramatic effect, you can set your buffet against an interesting wall, in the middle of a room, or outside. Or purchase an interesting fabric and pin it on the wall against which you’re planning to display your buffet.

Check out even more of our candy buffet tips.  And, if you need help designing your candy buffet or candy favors, our Candy Concierge is here to help! Contact our specialists at care@nuts.com or 800-558-6887 for advice and support.

Have a sweet celebration!

We love candy buffets! They’re an absolutely perfect addition to any big day or party, such as a wedding, birthday party or baby shower.

Sweet candy buffets give your guests a great treat, and with the right design, they can pair beautifully with your party colors and theme. Our candy buffet gallery offers some wonderful suggestions for colors and themes that will make your candy buffet sparkle! Each photo in our candy buffet gallery includes design tips and a list of featured sweets. Dig in!

What could be sweeter for a baby shower than a Baby Girl Shower Candy Buffet, with pink, green and white sweets, or a Baby Boy Shower Candy Buffet, with sophisticated and whimsical treats and colors? A Birthday Candy Buffet, packed with treats like lollipops and rock candy, will please kids (and adults) of all ages. And a classically lovely White Candy Buffet looks just perfect at any wedding reception. It’s the sweetest way for guests to remember your big day!

Of course, you can also design your own masterpiece. Our candy by color section makes it easy and fun to select sweets that pair perfectly with your theme and event colors. We even have some candy buffet tips for first-timers. You’ll have a blast creating your sweet candy buffet with Nuts.com’s premium treats.

You may also want to include candy favors in your event. Our candy favors are available in both ready-to-order and personalized varieties. Check out the favor combinations we’ve put together or assemble your own using our easy personalized candy favors creator. Choose your container, candy, candy color and label for custom candy favors that are just right for your big day!

If you need help designing your candy buffet or candy favors, our Candy Concierge is here to help! Contact our specialists at care@nuts.com or 800-558-6887 for tips and advice.

Have you ever designed a candy buffet? What are some of your favorite themes and color combinations?

St. Patrick’s Day is just a couple weeks away, and we have some fantastic treats for the little leprechauns in your life! If you’re planning a St. Patrick’s Day party or candy buffet, consider including some gorgeous green candy. These sweets are as tasty as they are pretty, and they’ll lend a festive air to just about any get-together.

Leprechan’s Delight (otherwise known as kelly green chocolate covered sunflower seeds) is just perfect for St. Patrick’s Day. One of our favorite uses for this lovely treat (besides eating it by the handful) is using it to top cupcakes or ice cream sundaes, along with some green sprinkles. Leprechan’s Delight also makes a wonderful substitute for chocolate chips in your favorite cookie recipe. Give it a whirl!

If you’re making goodie bags, you may also want to incorporate some of our other varieties of fabulously green candy. We love green treats like gummy frogs, dark green M&M’s, green apple gummy bears, Jelly Belly watermelon and green apple licorice twists. If you’re feeling nostalgic, you may want to check out classic sweets such as sour apple fruit slices, lime candy sticks and green rock candy sticks. You can see our full selection of green candy in the candy by color section of Nuts.com.

What are some of your favorite green goodies for St. Patrick’s Day?

Wow, do we ever love a good candy buffet! Our friend Brenda from Nova Scotia, Canada, recently emailed us pictures of a simply gorgeous fall-themed candy buffet that she and her daughter, Amber, created for her son’s wedding. Working with their theme colors of burnt orange and brown, Brenda and Amber built an autumn-themed display that we just love! Brenda said that the buffet was a hit both with the guests and with the happy couple! (We can see why!)

The buffet featured some of our favorite NutsOnline treats, such as candy pebbles, milk and dark chocolate sea salt caramels, pomegranate salt water taffy (a favorite of the groom, Colin), jumbo gourmet buttercrunch mix, orange slices, orange shimmer pearls and french burnt peanuts. They also layered Jelly Belly A&W root beer, Jelly Belly tangerine, Jelly Belly sizzling cinnamon and Jelly Belly french vanilla jelly beans in a clear dish, and offered up red, orange and brown rock candy sticks. What a sweet selection of goodies!

Many congratulations to newlyweds Colin and Natasha, and thanks to Brenda for sending us these wonderful pictures!

Do you have photos of a candy buffet that you designed for a special event, such as a shower or wedding, using NutsOnline’s products? We’d love to share pictures of your amazing creation with all our friends! Email photos of your display to CustomerService@NutsOnline.com.