10 Best Ideas of the Week: A Life-Size Candy Land Game Board, a Paper Flower Installation Created From Parking Tickets, American Express's Puppy Playground

Werther’s Original celebrated National Caramel Day April 5 by partnering with Hasbro’s classic Candy Land game to create a life-size game board at Santa Monica Pier. Guests could fish for bags of caramels at the activation, which was produced by G&C Event Productions.

American Express celebrated the launch of its new marketing campaign—which targets people whose work and personal lives are intertwined—with an event that took place April 9 at Industria in New York. The event, which was open to the public April 10 to 12, featured a number of themed rooms including the “Most Viewed Foods” room. The room featured a wall from which hidden servers offered guests Instagram-worthy dishes including rainbow bagels, cookie dough, and Thai purple noodles. Momentum Worldwide produced the event.

Guests were invited to play with dogs at a puppy playground. North Shore Animal League provided the dogs, which were available for adoption. 

Maggie O’Neill, a Washington-based designer and official National Cherry Blossom Festival artist, debuted her cherry blossom-theme pop-up exhibit March 30. The exhibit, open every Saturday and Sunday at 1643 Connecticut Avenue NW through April 15, features the #FinesInFullBloom installation created from parking tickets. The installation pokes fun at the pink parking ticket that no driver likes to see with a floor-to-ceiling, origami-inspired blossoming structure. The exhibit also features 12 of O’Neill’s pop impressionistic-style paintings, 40 works on paper created specifically for the festival, and cherry blossom-theme merchandise.

Drink Company partnered with the National Cherry Blossom Festival for its second annual pop-up, which serves thematic cocktails in eye-popping rooms inspired by cherry blossoms, Tokyo streets, and Japanese pop culture. The design of each room was led by Drink Company’s special projects leaders Matt Fox and Adriana Aspiazu. A garden room decorated with boxwood, a variety of florals, and 1,300 monarch butterflies pays tribute to Washington in spring bloom. The pop-up debuted March 1 and is open through April 29 at 1841 Seventh Street NW.

The Museum of Selfies opened in Glendale, California, April 1 and will be open for two months. The pop-up museum features a series of interactive installations catered to taking selfies, including a Selfie Throne inspired by Game of Thrones.

California Science Center’s 20th annual Discovery Ball took place March 23. The event, which was inspired by the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922, had a cocktail reception set in the year 1921, when archaeologist Howard Carter and his British sponsor, Lord Carnarvon, were searching for the tomb. Actors in vignettes represented Carter’s crew, searching for the grave in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. Dusty scaffolding and canvas field tents added to the ambiance.

For the seated dinner, the museum’s Samuel Oschin Pavilion was transformed to resemble King Tut’s royal tomb. Video mapping from Bart Kresa Design masked the space shuttle Endeavour, turning it into the dining room’s focal point. The color palette changed throughout the night, from warmer gold tones at the beginning of the evening to shades of blues and purples during dessert service. 

Shutterfly partnered with event planner Mindy Weiss to launch its new line of wedding products with a wedding-inspired event March 28 at the Carondelet House in Los Angeles. A wall with orange mailboxes offered guests invitations to the “bridal shower,” which was held in the next room. 

Photo stations in the “bridal shower” area included a “Something… Blue” station decorated with light blue heels and a life-size wedding dress created with toilet paper.