When my two turned four, they wanted two different birthday parties. I split the difference by creating a dress up birthday party, so each girl could dress in the theme of her choice. Their friends came in costumes, and wore ours, adding loads of jewelry. It was a blast, so I’ve re-created the party to share it with you.

Buy the Dress Up Party Plan

Call it a dress-up party, call it a princess party (because this is a great way to have a princess party that’s not character-driven), call it a fashion party — I promise your birthday girl and her guests will be giggling for hours.

I started with the party space, the eclectic and wonderful Salon Bastille. The salon is done in turquoise with pops of pink and yellow — a color palette I couldn’t resist. (HUGE thanks to Ashley for loaning me your space!)

Printables

Heather of Chickabug custom-designed all the printables for this party — wheeeee! It was so much fun working with Heather and I love what she created. You can find the printables through her shop. Heather had the best ideas and added so much to this party!

Here is what I love about working with Heather: I ask for a bottle label, and this is what she sends me back — it’s so clever that Heather designed a Food Facts label! She goes above and beyond and every surprise was a wonderful one.

Dessert Table

I set up our dessert table in the center of the salon on a round table. The table was draped in a fuchsia pintuck tablecloth. Behind the table, I set up a folding screen as our backdrop. The dressing screen was in keeping with our dress-up theme and held the birthday girl’s initial in pink, glittery fabulousnesses.

I choose desserts that were pink and had fashion or jewelry inspiration. Our cake was a vanilla ruffle cake, which I selected because the ruffle reminded me of dressmaker details. Budget tip: If your Target has a bakery, take them a photo of my cake and ask them if they can recreate it. My Target charged me $18 for this three-layer cake. I topped the cake with a wooden doll made to look like the birthday girl. Find the cake toppers at Sweetie Pie Cake Topper.

Chocolate cupcakes with the same pink frosting as the cake were topped with custom designed 3D fondant toppers from Edible Details. Little shoes, purses, and pearls – so cute! I stacked two cake stands to create a cupcake stand, and sadly it wasn’t tall enough to accommodate all of Brittany’s amazing toppers. Each purse and pair of shoes was different and stunning. I’ve kept them all. I’m thinking of putting them in a shadow box in my imaginary dream office.

Cookie pops were made to match our invitation by Sweet Goosie Girl who seems to be able to design anything and never disappoint. These cookies just took my breath away. And cookies on a stick are just more fun.

Our other sweet treats included:

• White chocolate covered Oreos drizzled with pink chocolate from Sweet Tooth Sweetie.
• Chocolate buttons and corset lollipops from The Frosted Petticoat. These ladies are way too sweet and I’m using them again for our next party.
• Sugar jewels from Candied Cakes.
• Ring pops.
• Candy bracelets.
• Pink and blue candy sticks.

Dining/Activity Table

In the lobby of the salon, I created a dining/activity table at a coffee table. The girls sat on floor pillows. From a turquoise chandelier above the table, I hung pink tissue poms. Our centerpiece was a pink, dress form-style jewelry holder that displayed one of our finished craft projects. And I couldn’t resist adding a “Tiffany” box with a bling ring to each place setting.

Jewelry/Craft Station

I had five activities planned for this party:

1. Dress up in costumes and accessories
2. Have a fashion show
3. Make tulle roll “dresses”
4. Bead “bubblegum” necklaces
5. Make sugar hand scrub

All the components needed for these activities and crafts were housed in a metal cabinet. I lined the shelves with the same pink paper place mats used on the dining table. From the cabinet doors, I draped pink and turquoise bead garland.

In the Jewelry Station, I purchased an open frame and added black foam core, then pinned gloves to the board. We also had necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, and feather hair clips. The rings were displayed on white mini mirrors. On either side of the cabinet were clothes trees that held our dresses and feather boas. For the birthday girl, we had a special pink beaded crown.

In the Craft Station, we had the tulle dress, necklace, and sugar hand scrub supplies.

Our Fashion Show …

Each girl could change costumes and accessories as much as they liked. They took turns walking our Pink Carpet.

Dress Making …

If you’ve ever made a toilet paper wedding gown at a bridal shower, you understand how to play this game. I used tulle to make things easier for little hands.

Necklace Making …

I asked Daizy Bugz to design a necklace for this party. Each girl had her own necklace craft kit in our party colors.

Party Favors …

At end of our party, each girl received a costume award. These were all non-competitive awards, like “Most Layers” or “Pinkest.” I made these by altering inexpensive award ribbons from WalMart and adding a Chickabug printable circle. I also made purses from dollar store bags, a silk flower, and a Chickabug thank you tag. The girls used the purses to take home their party favor rings.

I hope you like the party! If you’d like to recreate this for you daughter, please consider my easy-peasy Dress-Up Party Plan.

Vendor Credits

• Party Styling and Party Plan: The Party Teacher
• Photography: Viridian Images Photography
• Printables: Chickabug
• Bubblegum Necklaces: Daizy Bugz
• Cake Topper: Sweetie Pie Cake Topper
• Chocolate Covered Oreos: Sweet Tooth Sweetie
• Cookies on a Stick: Sweet Goosie Girl
• Candy Buttons: The Frosted Petticoat
• Corset Lollipops: The Frosted Petticoat
• Jewel Candy: Candied Cakes
• Cupcake Toppers: Edible Details
• Blue Rhinestones: Simply Sassy Source
• Sugar Scrub Tutorial: One Good Thing by Jillee
• Flowers: Linden European Gardens