The Ultimate Play Date: Celebrate a Birthday with a Dolly and Me Party

This party was for my daughter’s 7th birthday and she’s really been into dolls these last few years. I recently gave her my old doll to play with from when I was a little girl. Once I had the theme, I designed the invitation through Evite’s Design Your Own invitation. The invite sets the mood for the party. It gives guests ideas for the birthday boy or girl, as well as an idea of what colors will be used and what to expect as a whole. When the invite is done, I can build the party around that and continue designing the printables to go along.

When styling my parties, I have a few important stations: food, drinks, dessert, favors and, if it’s a kids’ party, maybe even an activity table. I like to spread the tables out throughout the venue because this gets guests to walk around and mingle. A trick to keep in mind when styling your own parties is to have the favors and dessert stations close because typically your guests will take a few desserts home with them. I also like my child to coordinate with the theme so I had matching shirts made for my daughter and her doll.

In keeping with the theme, I provided pink lemonade as an option for the drink station. I added the straws to each cup and added a glittered star to each straw. I love the giant lanterns and honeycombs, so I used a few here to add more pink tones.

I rented a kids’ table along with chairs. The two different plate designs were from Createurplate.com. They’re great because you can purchase plastic or glass plates, stick M8’s on the backs and you have a custom plate design for each of your parties. Also at the tables, I added these beautiful topiaries. I made these from dowel rods, fake flowers, pots, floral foam and round styrofoam balls I found at craft stores. They are very easy to put together — all you need are wire cutters for the flowers and a hot-glue gun.

For the dessert table I wanted to bring in that “doll house” feel. I found some great doll-like shadow box frames from a local craft store. These were great because after the party I hung them on my daughter’s walls in her room. It’s a win-win when I can reuse what I purchased. Down at the bottom of the table was a doll house that I used that to fill with snacks for the kids (other than dessert). I put them in tiny cups and displayed water bottles as well. I used doll books as risers and decorations throughout the party. A beautiful ombre cake was served along with mini cakes, OREO Cookies, cake balls, Madelines, chocolate stars, candy kabobs and macaroons. I pulled in stars, flowers, my daughter’s initials and age. This helps keep the look cohesive throughout the table. I loved using the ombre pinks so I ordered a dyed linen with that ombre effect to match.

I rented furniture for the favor station. I had a clothes trunk for my doll from when I was a little girl so I brought that out as a prop next to the favor station. I made doll-sized tutus, doll party hats and bookmarks for each of the girls who attended. These were really fun and easy to make. I found the easiest “no sew tutorial” online for how to make a 18-inch doll tutu. It took me less than 10 minutes to make each one. I also laminated bookmarks for favors (Note: you don’t need a machine to do so either. At local craft stores, there are self laminating sheets.).The doll party hats I cut out myself using a hat template, then I glued a star and those little puffballs on top. Then I punched a hole on each side and put some twine through so the guests could adjust the sizing to their own dolls. The kids really loved all of these. Crafts for the kids were at their seats. I had a wand making kit, party hats and necklaces for each girl.

Start inviting your kid’s friends and their mini-me’s to a doll party with the free Evite invitation below or another one from the Design-Your-Own invitation gallery.