Easy Summer Party Ideas You Can Pull Off

by Susie ForesmanJune 2, 2021

Summer just might be our favorite time of the year for parties, and for good reason—the theme possibilities are endless! We’ve rounded up our favorite summer party themes that are just as fun as they are easy to pull off. With a little help from Amazon Prime (plus items you’ve probably already got hanging around the house), these parties are sure to be a hit. Read on to get the scoop.

Glow-in-the-Dark Party

This party might be the coolest reason to keep your kids up after dark. Break out the glow sticks and spend the evening playing glow-in-the-dark games, from a light-up egg hunt to ultraviolet hopscotch. Click here to plan the perfect summer night.

4th of July Party

No summer is complete without a proper 4th of July bash! We’ve got the rundown on how to throw a patriotic party that guests of all ages will love. To get all the details, click here.

Ice Cream Party

Sweeten up an afternoon with a simple ice cream sundae party. Have each guest bring a different topping and let the kids get creative building the dessert of their dreams. Click here for sundae inspiration, plus a few hacks to make the party even easier.

Outdoor Movie Night

Instead of going for overpriced movie tickets (or Netflix on the couch), switch things up by hosting an epic outdoor movie night. From cozy seating arrangements to picture-perfect decor and snacks, we’ve got the scoop on how to make it happen. Click here to get the deets.

Pool Party

If you’ve got a pool, now is the time to put it to use! We’ve got plenty of tips and tricks for you on how to throw the most amazing pool party, complete with kid-approved games, themed snacks and fabulous favors. Click here for all the info.

Picnic Party

Break out the gingham blankets and head to the park (or your backyard) for a sun-soaked picnic party. Click here for our flawless food and decor ideas (think deviled eggs and festive party hats), and click here for a bunch of outdoor games that kids of all ages will love.

Water Party

Get through the dog days of summer by throwing a splash-worthy water party. Stock up on ice cream, tell everyone to wear swimsuits and play some of our favorite water games, from sponge ball relays to water balloon basketball. Click here to get all the details.

Block Party

Get to know your neighbors better by hosting a simple yet festive block party. Hop over to Crazy Organized for a quick guide on everything you’ll need for the party, from when to schedule it to how to make cleaning up afterward as easy as possible.

Summer Reading Party

Your little bookworms will have a blast throwing a summer reading party, especially when you pack it with fun activities like book bingo, trivia games and a book swap. Click here to read up on how it’s done, courtesy of Nerdy Book Club.

Field Day Party

A great party doesn’t have to be fussy or elaborate! Get your kids playing and laughing with a field day party—we’ve got a roundup of our favorite classic yard games to get you started. Click here to let the fun begin.

—Susie Foresman

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Have Your Nestle Cookie Dough By the Bite in New Snackable Bags

by Sarah ShebekJune 1, 2021

No more stealing spoonfuls from the bowl of cookie dough! Nestle is making it easy for you to get your fix with new Toll House Bite-Sized Chocolate Chip Edible Cookie Dough and Bite-Sized Cookies & Creme Edible Cookie Dough! They’re both in eight ounce grab and go bags, perfect for snacktime anytime.

The cookies & creme flavor is made with real chocolate and creme sandwiches, coated in a delicious creamy shell. And the chocolate chip flavor is the original you know and love, now in poppable pieces that are also perfect for decorating! You can buy both bags for $5.39 each at grocery stores and major retailers as they roll out this month.

That’s not all in the arsenal of Nestle cookie dough products! Keep an eye out for the Funfetti Cookie Dough with Rainbow Sprinkles (14 ounces for $2.99), Hot Fudge Sundae Morsels & More (8 ounces for $3.99) and Chocolate Peanut Caramel Morsels & More (eight ounces for $3.99). Basically a flavor for every day of the week (and we promise not to tell if you don’t share).

––Sarah Shebek

Featured image courtesy of Nestle

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Time for an ALDI Run: Unicorn Cones Are Coming

by Jennifer SwartvagherMay 27, 2021

There is always something fun happening at ALDI. Now there are new ice cream varieties to excite kids and adults!

Starting Jun. 16, the Sundae Shop brand’s new Unicorn Cones and Galactic Cones will be available for a limited time.

The colorful Unicorn-themed ice cream confections are made up of raspberry and vanilla-flavored frozen dessert. The wafer cones appear to be lined with chocolate and the ice cream swirl is topped with raspberry flavored topping and rainbow sprinkles.

The Galactic cones are chocolate filled and feature a chocolate and vanilla flavored frozen dessert. The ice cream swirl is covered in raspberry topping and space-themed sprinkles.

Each box consists of four ready-to-eat cones and retail for $3.49.

—Jennifer Swartvagher

All photos courtesy of ALDI

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Funfetti Cookies Are Real & Packing the Fun in a Big Way

by Karly WoodApril 21, 2021

Need something new to satisfy your sweet tooth? Nestlé Toll House has the answer.

The sweet brand is getting ready to drop a bunch of new treats and that includes Funfetti cookies! The refrigerated pre-shaped cookies feature vanilla cake-flavored dough filled and topped with rainbow sprinkles.

photo: Courtesy of Toll House

In addition to the new Funfetti treats, Nestle is also releasing Cookies & Creme Edible Cookie Dough, Hot Fudge Sundae and Chocolate Peanut Caramel Morsels & More products. The only kicker? You’l have to wait until the beginning of June to indulge yourself.

If you can’t wait, you can get your hands on Funfetti Edible Cooke Dough to get you through for $4.99 each.

––Karly Wood

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You Can Buy “Friends” Ice Cream & Could It BE Any Cooler?

by Karly WoodMarch 10, 2021

Ice cream brand Serendipity Brands has just partnered with Warner Bros. Consumer Products and for the best reason: ice cream! The super-premium dessert company is bringing four new pints that are all inspired by your favorite series and movies.

Get ready to dig into Friends Central Perk Almond Fudge, The Goonies Sloth and Chunk Rocky Rooooaad, Caddyshack Gopher Trax and A Christmas Story Oh Fudge! Peppermint Cookie Fudge Sundae. The Friends pint is in the permanent Serendipity lineup, while The Goonies, CaddyShack and A Christmas Story will be limited-time releases.

Sal Pesce, president and COO of Serendipity Brands says “Friends is a pop culture classic that we couldn’t be more thrilled to create a special flavor for! Our Central Perk Almond Fudge flavor is nostalgia in a pint that makes you feel like you’re with your six best friends indulging in a sweet treat at a coffee shop.”

So what exactly are the tasty flavors? Friends Central Perk Almond Fudge pint is made with chocolate covered almonds and fudge swirls that creates a mocha almond fudge ice cream. You can already binge on the Friends ice cream which is available at select retailers and on serendipitybrands.com for $5.99 each, but keep your eyes peeled for the other three later this year.

––Karly Wood

Photos: Courtesy of Serendipity Brands

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The ’70s Are Back with Nestlé Toll House’s Disco Morsels

by Erica LoopFebruary 23, 2021

Grab a pair of bell bottoms, pull out the polyester and go back to the ’70s for a disco-themed sweet treat! Nestlé Toll House’s Disco morsels will bring the bling to your next baking experience.

Like teeny tiny disco balls, the morsels sparkle and shine. Don’t worry about dusting your home with glitter just to bake a batch of disco-themed cookies. These chips are made with the same sparkly stuff your kiddo crafts with––just edible.

photo: Walmart

According to the packaging, this Nestlé Toll House product contains semi-sweet morsels and edible glitter morsels. The morsels are made with 100 percent real chocolate.

The glittery goodies are the perfect addition to everything from your freshly baked chocolate chip cookies to an ooey, gooey ice cream sundae. With a chip this special, your kiddo might just want to get creative in the kitchen. Think disco glitter pancakes, s’mores, brownies, or chocolaty sparkle trail mix. Snag a bag of Nestlé Toll House Disco morsels online at Walmart.com for $2.48.

If you’re still looking to up your baking game, the Disco morsels aren’t your only option. Nestlé Toll House Unicorn Pink and Blue Swirled Vanilla Morsels, Espresso Baking Morsels or Funfetti Morsels. Then again, you could just toss all the chips into one bowl of your fam’s fave cookie dough recipe and whip up a mix-and-match batch of colorful chocolate-filled goodness.

—Erica Loop

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Smucker’s Unicorn Magic Shell Is Everything Your Ice Cream Needs

by Erica LoopFebruary 10, 2021

Magic is coming to your ice cream bowl! Smucker’s recently announced the grand debut of a new magic shell flavor—Unicorn.

The popularity of unicorn-everything endures. After scooping up ice cream, cookies, and candy in fanciful sparkling rainbow hues, now you can top your kiddo’s (or your) sundae in a glistening blend of pink, blue, and purple.

photo: Courtesy of PRNewsfoto/The J.M. Smucker Co

Smucker’s Unicorn Magic Shell features a super-sweet white cupcake flavor that, like other Magic Shell varieties, freezes on top of your ice cream in mere seconds. Ali Brown, Director, Smucker’s Brand Strategy, said in a press release, “We’re excited to sprinkle some fun for the whole family and their ice cream sundaes with our enchanting, unicorn shell ice cream topping that is sure to delight those of all ages.”

Brown went on to add, “New Smucker′s Unicorn Magic Shell topping brings a little magic to birthdays, Friday nights or any excuse to have ice cream.” You can create your own dessert-style magic right now. Pick up Smucker’s Unicorn Magic Shell from retailers nationwide or on Amazon.

—Erica Loop

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Disney World to Allow Adult Costumes for the First Time

by Karly WoodSeptember 1, 2020

Even thought Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween event has been cancelled this year, there’s still plenty of fun to be had this fall season at Walt Disney World. The special time of year will run from Sept. 15 to Oct. 31 at the Magic Kingdom where you’ll not only be able to soak up all things autumn, but you’ll be able to dress the part, too!

That’s right––for the first time ever, adults will be able to dress up during regular operating hours! Usually, only guests 14 and under can don dress-up duds but this year the parks are allowing everyone to get in on the fun.

Per usual, adults will still not be able to wear costume masks and required face coverings are still a must. If you’re unsure what will be acceptable upon arriving at the park, check out Disney’s Know Before You Go page and Costume Guidelines.

In addition to the exciting costume news, Disney parks are also prepping for fall with a new Halloween-themed brood of characters in their own costumes. And as always, lots of tasty treats that include a Pumpkin Spiced Waffle Sundae, Not So Poison Apple Cupcake and Orange and Black Sugar Churros await.

––Karly Wood

All photos: Courtesy of Disney

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Instacart Scoops Up the Coolest Ice Cream Trends

by Jennifer SwartvagherAugust 6, 2020

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream. Summer ice cream season is in full swing and Instacart searched buying data to understand buying preferences and predict the next big ice cream trends. Are people meaning towards the tried and true favorites or are they stepping out of their comfort zones and trying something new?

Instacart found that while there’s something nostalgic and comforting about traditional ice creams from our childhood, consumers’ carts show that preferences are changing and people are gravitating toward something a little less vanilla these days. Non-traditional ice creams formats and categories such as Keto-friendly, vegan, plant-based and by the bar are beating the competition.

The low-carb, powered-by-fat Keto diet continues to take the country by storm. Instacart data confirms Keto’s surging popularity with consumer searches for “Keto ice cream” increasing 1,175% year over year.

“As more and more people experiment with the Keto diet, the demand continues to increase for Keto-approved products. Ice cream brands have also taken notice,” said Laurentia Romaniuk, Instacart’s Senior Product Manager and Trends Expert. “The number of ‘Keto’ or ‘high fat’ ice cream products available on Instacart has increased 93% year over year and purchase data shows that the category grew more than 561% within the same time period. In particular, we’ve noticed unprecedented growth for Keto-approved Rebel Ice Cream — in fact, the indicators we’re seeing with Rebel look a lot like what we saw with Halo Top before it burst onto the ice cream scene”

Instacart reports that according to the FDA upwards of 50 million people are lactose intolerant in the United States. So it is no surprise that non-dairy ice creams are rising in popularity. Customer searches for “dairy-free ice cream” on Instacart increased 25% year over year.

Here are the top five fasting-growing non-dairy ice cream brands, according to Instacart purchase data:

Chloe’s Pops
Magnum (non-dairy line)
Enlightened
Hakuna Banana
Cado

With two plant-based ice creams in the top five list, Instacart dug deeper to see if these varieties are rising in popularity. Searches for “plant based ice cream” are up 658% this year as compared to the same period in 2019. Additionally, avocado-based ice cream Cado shows 122% growth over the past year while Hakuna Banana has experienced a 117% rise in year over year sales via Instacart.

Next Instacart wanted to see what the preferences were regarding pints, popsicles, sandwiches, cones or bars. Somewhat unexpectedly, ice cream bars have caught the attention of dessert enthusiasts with the category experiencing a nearly 92% increase in items ordered from January to June this year. Coming in behind ice cream bars are sundae cones (18% increase) and frozen fruit pops (14% increase). In comparison, growth for traditional ice cream by the pint remained relatively stable with the smallest swing in overall fluctuation.

“We believe the bigger appetite for ice cream bars may be related to the onset of COVID-19 and the stay-at-home order issued in mid-March,” said Romaniuk. “We saw the first spike in ice cream bar sales on March 13 and the category has experienced tremendous growth since then. When consumers are looking for a quick snack for themselves or to satisfy their kids at home, grabbing an ice cream bar is an easy option — often preferable over a container of ice cream because they are pre-portioned and have a fixed amount of calories.”

These are the top five fastest-growing ice cream bar brands according to Instacart purchase data:

Binggrae Ice Cream Bar
La Michoacana Ice Cream Bar
Kaurina’s Kulfi Ice Cream Bar
Sundae Shoppe Ice Cream Bar
PICS Ice Cream Bars

There’s no doubt about it, no matter how you serve it, people love ice cream.

—Jennifer Swartvagher

Featured photo: Patrick Fore on Unsplash

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Bomb Pop Launches “Middles” with an Ice Creamy Outside and Gooey Middle

by Jennifer SwartvagherMay 13, 2020

Thoughts of summer evoke memories of the ice cream man. Bomb Pops are a popular summertime staple. Bomb Pop Middles, from the makers of the iconic Original Bomb Pop feature an ice creamy outside and a gooey decadent middle.

Bomb Pop Middles ($4.99–5.49 / box of 10 pops) come in four radical flavors that will deliver the fun to your freezer, including:

Chocolate Caramel Sundae – Chocolate Caramel Sundae combines gooey caramel and ice creamy chocolate frozen dessert for an unforgettable collab.

Strawberry Raspberry Taffy – Strawberry Raspberry Taffy combines the flavors of creamy strawberry and stretchy raspberry for frozen dessert deliciousness.

Chocolate Creme Sandwich – Cookies are a lot more fun when they’re frozen — and on a stick! Chocolate Creme Sandwich is like everyone’s favorite cookie, except colder.

S’mores – A fresh take on the classic campfire recipe, reinvented for your freezer. S’mores has a gooey, marshmallow center and ice creamy graham cracker frozen dessert dipped in chocolatey coating.

“Summer is right around the corner and we want our fans to have it all — whether it’s the sundae bar or the great American campfire s’more — on a stick,” said Jeremy Hrynewycz, Senior Brand Manager, Bomb Pop. “All your favorite desserts are coming to this poolside party, and the flavor and texture game is strong.”

Bomb Pop Middles will be popping up all summer long through super cool social activations meant to celebrate tweens’ various interests and passion points, including a TikTok #NotOneThing hashtag challenge, Twitch “Squad Up for Bomb Pop Middles” Squad Stream fan-engagement, and Soundcloud “Bomb Pop Middles Summer Jams Contest,” along with other engaging activities on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.

To get your hands on Bomb Pop Middles, head over to the freezer section of grocery retailers nationwide.

ML Interest Tag: sundae

Easy Summer Party Ideas You Can Pull Off

Glow-in-the-Dark Party

4th of July Party

Ice Cream Party

Outdoor Movie Night

Pool Party

Picnic Party

Water Party

Block Party

Summer Reading Party

Field Day Party

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