Joy filled my house this week as a group of my closest and most amazing friends gathered for a party where I thanked them for all the sweet things they do for me. We spent the afternoon crafting handmade Chocolate Boxes filled with Extra Sweet Treats including Extra Gum as part of a Give Extra, Get Extra event sponsored by #CollectiveBias and Extra Gum. #ExtraGumMoments
Each year I host a huge Halloween party and couldn't do it without the help of some fantastic friends. They cook, bake, decorate, paint, build props, run games, greet guests, and more. They even stick around to help clean up, and believe me when I say 80-100 guests can make an incredible mess.
I could not pull off such an amazing party without their help.
These friends devote time and energy to make the Halloween party really wonderful, and I am eternally grateful for all of their help. So, to show these ladies just how much they mean to me, I invited them to join me for an afternoon of fun.
The afternoon started out with lunch. It's always so nice to just sit and chat for a while, to relax and share details of our lives with each other.
We were all having such a good time talking that is was hard to pull them away from the dining room, but I had a really fun project to share with them.
My friends really love it when they have the opportunity to make chocolate in my candy kitchen, so at the party I showed them all how to make and decorate their own chocolate boxes filled with handmade chocolates and Extra gum.
Each party guest got to choose just how they wanted their own box to look and taste.
I selected a few different flavors of Extra Gum and had ingredients on hand so the women could make their boxes using complimentary flavors. They could choose to make a peppermint, berry or plain chocolate box.
To make the boxes, I gave my party guests a two piece candy mold to use. One piece creates the base and the other the lid. Being it's the holiday season, I set out some Season's Greetings and Happy Holiday lids along with some plain ones.
For those that chose to make peppermint boxes, they mixed red and green peppermint bits into either white or dark chocolate, poured the chocolate into the molds, refrigerated them until set, then un-molded them.
Those that wanted raspberry flavored boxes, used freeze dried raspberries that we crushed and stirred in to the chocolate. There were a few purists in the group that chose to create plain chocolate boxes.
Once their boxes were ready, they decorated them using luster dust and dragees.
They really enjoyed seeing their chocolate boxes transform into beautiful works of art. I thought it was cool to see how everyone created something different.
It made me feel good that I was able to do something extra special for my friends who give extra to me all the time.
Everyone left that day with smiles on their faces. I was happy to have brought some joy to those who do the same for me. I really do have Extra Sweet friends!
If you are looking for some clever ways to thank your Extra special friends, check out the Give Extra, Get Extra Pinterest Board.
Joy filled my house this week as a group of my closest and most amazing friends gathered for a party where I thanked them for all the sweet things they do for me. We spent the afternoon crafting Chocolate Boxes filled with Extra Sweet Treats including Extra Gum as part of a Give Extra, Get Extra event sponsored by #CollectiveBias and Extra Gum. #ExtraGumMoments
Each year I host a huge Halloween party and couldn't do it without the help of some fantastic friends. They cook, bake, decorate, paint, build props, run games, greet guests, and more. They even stick around to help clean up, and believe me when I say 80-100 guests can make an incredible mess.
I could not pull off such an amazing party without their help.
These friends devote time and energy to make the Halloween party really wonderful, and I am eternally grateful for all of their help. So, to show these ladies just how much they mean to me, I invited them to join me for an afternoon of fun.
The afternoon started out with lunch. It's always so nice to just sit and chat for a while, to relax and share details of our lives with each other.
We were all having such a good time talking that is was hard to pull them away from the dining room, but I had a really fun project to share with them.
My friends really love it when they have the opportunity to make chocolate in my candy kitchen, so at the party I showed them all how to make and decorate their own chocolate boxes filled with handmade chocolates and Extra gum.
Each party guest got to choose just how they wanted their own box to look and taste.
I selected a few different flavors of Extra Gum and had ingredients on hand so the women could make their boxes using complimentary flavors. They could choose to make a peppermint, berry or plain chocolate box.
To make the boxes, I gave my party guests a two piece candy mold to use. One piece creates the base and the other the lid. Being it's the holiday season, I set out some Season's Greetings and Happy Holiday lids along with some plain ones.
For those that chose to make peppermint boxes, they mixed red and green peppermint bits into either white or dark chocolate, poured the chocolate into the molds, refrigerated them until set, then un-molded them.
Those that wanted raspberry flavored boxes, used freeze dried raspberries that we crushed and stirred in to the chocolate. There were a few purists in the group that chose to create plain chocolate boxes.
Once their boxes were ready, they decorated them using luster dust and dragees.
They really enjoyed seeing their chocolate boxes transform into beautiful works of art. I thought it was cool to see how everyone created something different.
It made me feel good that I was able to do something extra special for my friends who give extra to me all the time.
Everyone left that day with smiles on their faces. I was happy to have brought some joy to those who do the same for me. I really do have Extra Sweet friends!
If you are looking for some clever ways to thank your Extra special friends, check out the Give Extra, Get Extra Pinterest Board.
Be sure to check out all my fun Christmas Recipes!
- Mini Basketball Cheeseburgers - February 15, 2023
- Snowman Popcorn Bucket - December 24, 2022
- Peanut Butter Popcorn - December 20, 2022
Sugartown Sweets
What a fun "Thank You" lunch with the added bonus of making adorable chocolate boxes. These are so awesome! I was wondering what you used for the color on the letters..luster dust! :o)
beth
It really was a wonderful afternoon. I love spending time with my friends and they love getting a chance to make chocolate.
David Dial
What a fun party! Those chocolate boxes look awesome, too. Thanks for sharing this fun idea! #client
beth
Thanks, David. We really had a great time and it was wonderful doing something nice for my friends who do so much for me.
Imane Daher
Thank you so much Beth for your help. Happy Holidays. May all your wishes come true.
Imane
beth
You are welcome, Imane. I didn't even think about the fact that these molds are no longer being made when I had my friends use them. I'm so happy I was able to find some on-line for you. Have fun with them and have a wonderful holiday too.
Imane Daher
Love the candy box. Tried to find them on line but didn't know how to search for them. I would appreciate if you could help me. Thank you in advance and Happy Holidays
beth
Hi Imane, I was able to find both of the molds at Sugarcraft.com.
The Season's Greetings Candy Bar lid mold is #733 http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/holiday/xmas/x-molds.htm
The bottom box part is -#1408
http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/candymolds/M-candybox/M-candybox.htm
Both items are about midway down the page. There is also a Merry Christmas mold and a Noel mold listed below the Season's Greetings mold. They both will fit the box.
Patricia Meadows
Love the candy box. Use to make them years ago. Didn't have that mold,would love to know who makes it and the mold number.
beth
Thanks, Patricia. Sadly, the company that makes that particular mold has gone out of business in the past year. I was really hoping another company would pick up their mold designs. You can still find some of them on-line. The base mold is I.L.A. 1408 and the lid is I.L.A. 733. I've had these molds for over 20 years, but know they were still selling them just last year, so you may be able to still find them on-line. Have fun!
Tavette Tavetta
Well I feel a teensy-tiny bit better knowing you do get some help in the kitchen. Still have you down as "Wonder Woman" none-the-less as you have the absolute best ideas ever. All of us in blog-land would love to live next door to you to see what you're up to.
The boxes are great. Luster Dust made the coloring on the lettering? Wow. The boxes would be good for birthdays, Valentines Day, etc. Where did you buy your box molds? (maybe there was a link & I was just so excited I didn't notice).
It was fun to see the ways the ladies all did their boxes so differently. One looked like a midnight look at the mountains and the others were daylight images. Nice choices. Tell your lady friends they're all so unique and it will be hard to decide which to make. Ah....just make several. 🙂
Thanks also for the tip on freezing and crushing the raspberries. Did you start with fresh raspberries or dried raspberries that come in a bag?
Tavette - S. Fla.
beth
I'd love to have you as a neighbor too. My neighbors do get a lot of treats!
I love how each woman created a different box too. It was so nice to see their creativity come out and they all really enjoyed making the chocolate.
I added a link in a comment below for the molds.
The raspberries were actually freeze dried. I got them at Trader Joe's in a pouch. They are the kind of raspberries that are put in dry cereal. If you crush them to a fine powder in a food processor they are a wonderful coating for chocolate truffles too.
I have a few more boxes to decorate to give to some more friends. Busy, busy!
Jessica Coleman
We love you Beth an thank you for such a great lunch!
beth
Love you too, Jessie. I'm glad you were able to join us for lunch and truly am so grateful for your friendship:)