I volunteered to do the snacks for my daughter’s Girl Scout troop as they bridged from Brownies to Juniors. I supplemented some of my own ideas with some Pinterest finds and was very pleased with the results! One thing that I really need to improve on is photos. I didn't get one picture of the assembled table - boo! I hope that you find the text helpful anyway and I promise to try to do better with pictures.
I invested in a great folding table at my daughter’s last birthday. It was a Craigslist find for $25 and it was worth every penny. The legs fold up and the table folds in half AND it has a carrying handle, so it’s perfect for setting up on the go. It fits right in the trunk of my sedan. Rather than relying on the picnic tables at the park, I used my folding table and it was a good thing that I did. It was a very hot, sunny day and all the picnic tables were getting full sun. My chocolate-y treats would have melted away! Instead, I was able to set up under a nice big tree and take advantage of the shade.
I put a lot of thought into how I was going to set up my treats in advance, even going so far as to draw a diagram. It really helped me to understand what I needed in terms of serving pieces and supplies. This proved to be very helpful since the event was not at my home and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get anything else after I reached the park.
The table was covered with a large white plastic tablecloth and topped with iridescent green cellophane tissue paper. (I could have used fabric, but I knew that after the ceremony was done I would be tired and would just want to wrap up the trash and go. It worked out really well.) I scattered glass gems in different shades of green plus green and white starlight mints all over the table for fun / visual interest / added weight to fight the breeze. I also came prepared with tape, which I used to attach the table coverings to the table legs - also a good idea because of the breeze. All of these items came from the Dollar Store - $5!
I went with green and rainbow colors (green is the color of the Junior vests and rainbows are on the bridging patch) and tried to work in scouting references wherever possible. Here’s what I made:
Water bottles with custom labels: I did it myself to save money using a great tutorial that I found here – DIY Water Bottle Labels. I found mini water bottles at Big Lots for $2.50 a case.
S’Mores Snack Mix: So easy and yummy and scout-y. Golden Grahams cereal mixed with jumbo chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. Served this in a wooden salad bowl and provided a plastic scoop and tiny white Dixie cups to hold it.
Thin Mint Truffles: I confess that I cheated here since we didn’t actually have any Thin Mints left from last year’s cookie sale and wouldn’t see any new boxes until November. So I used Keebler Grasshopper cookies. Don’t tell! The recipe is basically Oreo Balls or Oreo Truffles, but made with mint cookies instead. 1 box cookies, 1 brick cream cheese, green candy melts. Pulse cookies in food processor until you have crumbs. Mix in softened cream cheese. Pop in fridge to chill a bit or it will be difficult to roll the balls. Melt your candy melts (I use a mug) and thin with Crisco if needed. Roll cookie-cream cheese mixture into small balls and dip into candy melts. Place on wax paper-covered plate and sprinkle with white sprinkles. Place in fridge until candy melts are hardened. To serve, I went fancy and put them in gold mini-muffin cups grouped on a platter.
S’Mores on a Stick: Melt some chocolate, dip a lollipop stick in about a ¼”, stick into a marshmallow, dip the marshmallow into the chocolate, roll in graham cracker crumbs. Once hardened, bag the marshmallow in a clear cello bag and tie. I was very proud of how I served these. I bought 2 small tin buckets at a thrift shop and 2 styrofoam balls at the Dollar Store. The night before, I used a spare lollipop stick and punched enough holes on the top of each ball to hold the S’Mores sticks. On the day, I put the balls in the tins, put the sticks in the balls, and covered the balls with green and white starlight mints, also from the Dollar Store. I saved both the tins and the balls to use again.
Chocolate-covered pretzel sticks: This was more of a filler / height-adder. I used green and white sprinkles for these and served wrapped in cello bags and standing up in more tin buckets.
Green apples: I placed a single apple on each platform of a many-armed cupcake holder. Again, I did it for filler/height, but was pleasantly surprised that many of the girls did eat an apple.
For a “favor” of sorts, I found boxes of movie-sized Junior Mints at Wal-Mart, which I gussied up with kraft and scrapbook paper personalized labels and my floral punch.
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