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My youngest was recently baptized- so bittersweet. Where has the time gone? I know everyone says that, but it really is mind-blowing. His older brother had donuts at his baptism, and as a result every time I asked him what he wanted for refreshments he would say, “donuts!” I tried to get him to think outside the box but his heart was set on donuts. You can see the donut bar we did for big brother here. I wanted to make it a bit different than brother’s, however, so it wasn’t just a complete repeat. So I’m here to share some fun ideas for a Great to be 8 event, a baptism or an 8th birthday party. And don’t worry, I’ve got printables too.
Planning the Donut Bar
My idea for the donut bar this time around was to make everything individually packaged, more grab-and-go style than less time. I just thought that would make it easier for little hands to grab, and more sanitary too. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the donut stacks from last time, but this was just a fun twist to try and makes it great for large or small-scale events since things are prepackaged and ready to go.
Where & When to Get the Donuts?
One of the trickiest parts of a donut bar is where and when to get the donuts. As we all know donuts are on a ticking clock from the moment they are made! Stale donuts are a real bummer to say the least. Last time I ordered all my donuts from Krispy Kreme and picked them up the day before. They stayed pretty fresh I thought and overall I was pretty happy with it.
Tips for Ordering Donuts from the Walmart Bakery
This time I ordered all my donuts from the bakery counter at Walmart. Did you know you can do that? I didn’t- that was news to me! You can tell them what you want and what day to have it ready. I went in about a week ahead of time (though I think just a day ahead of time is enough) and placed my order. I ordered a dozen of almost every type of donut they had (that has a hole in the middle, not the filled ones), and two dozen of the maples because they are my sons favorite. We ordered: Plain glazed, sugar, chocolate, chocolate with sprinkles, and maple. I believe I ordered 60 donuts in total. You can tell them what day you want them ready and they will add them to their normal bake that morning. My son was being baptized on a Sunday so I asked to have them ready on Saturday. I think the day of would be even better (the fresher the better with donuts!) if your baptism is not on a Sunday.
On Saturday morning I picked up all the donuts, and then on Saturday evening we assembled everything. By Sunday morning the donuts with frosting (the chocolates and maples) were starting to get melty so we stuck everything in the fridge until the baptism. If I did this again I would stick everything in the fridge from the beginning as long as it was sealed up tight so they didn’t dry out. I also got all of our donut holes just from the bakery section there at Walmart.
Assembling the Donut 8s
The night before the baptism we (my Mom helped me!) assemble all the 8s for the baptism. Again, I think the donuts with frosting would be easier to work with if you put them in the fridge to harden up for a bit before attempting to assemble them. The donuts were easy to work with at first, but as they warmed up it became more challenging. That being said there are just a few steps: skewer 2 donuts onto a kabob stick, put them in a cellophane bag, tie the bag closed, and stick the sticker on top. You can see a video of me assembling them here.
I recommend using 10 inch kabob skewers for full sized donuts. If you’re doing mini donuts you could probably use a 6 or 8 inch skewers. I did different combos of donut flavors for the skewers to make it a little more fun. These 4X9.5 inch bags were the perfect size to fit our 2 full size donuts on the 12 inch skewer. It was a little tight to tie them at the bottom so getting bags a little longer might be helpful, but these worked. I just used regular curling ribbon to tie the bags at the bottom. And I made some fun stickers that said “it’s great to be 8” to go on top that are available for purchase by adding to cart below.
Assembling the Donut Hole Cups
Grab-and-go party desserts
In addition to the donut kabobs, we also had donut hole cups. Again, going with the prepackaged theme, I found these cute little cups that I filled with donut holes and added a sticker that said, “thanks a hole bunch for being here”. I discovered that about 5-6 donut holes is perfect for each little cup, so do the math accordingly depending on how many cups you want to put out. I think I put out about 20 or so cups. This video also shows how I assembled the donut hole cups. I think it’s nice to have a little something for all those wonderful people that come out to support you and your family. Especially if it means getting in your church clothes in the middle of a Saturday, that’s no small ask!
And of course what are you going to serve with donuts but milk? We had both regular and chocolate milk. Here are some fun glass jars that would be perfect to serve the milk in. And I also put a tray of just regular donuts (with all my leftover donuts) in the middle of the table. The two 8X10 printables are also available for purchase in my donut printables pack.
Baptism Donuts Printable Pack
The Baptism Donuts Printable Pack includes 8 pages of printables for your event including:
- 1 page of “great to be 8” stickers intended to be printed on avery 2 1/2″ diameter sticker labels template 5294
- 1 page of “thanks a hole bunch for being here” stickers intended to be printed on avery 2 1/2″ diameter sticker labels template 5294
- 1 page of “you are the sprinkles to my donuts” stickers intended to be printed on avery 2 1/2″ diameter sticker labels template 5294
- 1 8X10 “great to be 8” print
- 1 8X10 “thanks a hole bunch for being here” print
- 1 8X10 “you are the sprinkles to my donut” print
- 1 8X10 “donut bar: treat yourself” print
- 1 8X10 “all you need is love and donuts” print
You can purchase this bundle by adding to cart with the button below. And if you’re looking for more fun ideas for your baptism event you can check out these posts. And if you’d like more donut inspiration check out this donut bar.
