Do you want a unique birthday gift idea for a child? Check out this homemade and affordable birthday gift idea!
We have a special tradition around here. For our girls’ birthdays we make a homemade gift. We’ve had some wonderful gift ideas but this recent one is my new favourite!
My youngest daughter loves hosting “parties”. In fact, almost every day, she’s having a party for one of her dolls. In fact one day, she told me she really wanted to have a party for her favourite doll, Joy. I made it my mission that day to host the best doll party ever. We decorated the room, blew up balloons and even had little gifts. The effort was worth it… my daughter was beaming for the rest of the day.
So, it shouldn’t be surprising that for my daughter’s fifth birthday, we made her a “Birthday Box”, so that she can host fancy birthday parties for her dolls whenever she wants.
I had a blast creating the various elements for this gift. In fact, it was such a big project that my husband and oldest daughter contributed to the birthday box as well.
Are you ready for the big reveal?!
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I modelled the “Birthday Box” after our own birthday traditions and decor. For instance, I have a handmade fabric birthday banner that we hang up in the kitchen for every birthday celebration.
I used scrap fabric and sewed a simple birthday banner. My hubby, who has impeccable penmanship, did the lettering.
Also, each of my daughters has a birthday tablecloth which we take out every year to sign with fabric markers. I sewed a white “Happy Birthday” tablecloth to include in the bin.
My husband cut and sanded some scrap wood. He drilled holes into the four blocks for a place to put the candles (wood dowels).
I painted the cake and candles. Doesn’t it look yummy?!
My oldest daughter wanted to get in on this project too. I put her in charge of designing the invitations. We laminated them for durability. The wonderful thing about the laminated invitations is that my daughter can write on them with dry-erase markers too!
I included four felt envelopes that I had sewn as well. I attached velcro to the back of the stamps so they would be removable.
What’s a party without games?! My husband designed an adorable miniature pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game. Isn’t it cute?!
The other elements in the Birthday box include:
- plates and cups
- party hats (which my husband made smaller so they could fit on doll’s heads)
- small paper gift bags
- assorted small boxes
I placed all of the contents of the Birthday Box into a clear plastic bin.
This was a very affordable gift. Practically everything was made with materials and scraps we had around the house. The only things I purchased was the plastic bin ($3) and the party hats ($1).
Isn’t it fun! I just love it! It wasn’t as laborious as the play kitchen or the Mr. Dressup Tickle Trunk but I’m sure it will provide many hours of fun!
My mom would die for this! She’s an artist/art teacher and she loves to give “surprises boxes” as we call them, and they can have themes or not. Either way, I’m loving this creativity and how inexpensive it was. I was happy that Scarlet didn’t want plastic toys for her birthday on Saturday. She wanted experiences – a concert with Cassidy (which wasn’t cheap but ah well.. you only turn seven once) and she wanted to go leggings shopping with me. We did!
We had such fun making this for my daughter! I can’t wait for her to open it up tomorrow. *sob* My baby is going to be five!!
I have never thought of a birthday box before. That is really neat. Madison isn’t having a birthday until January but will be keeping this in mind. btw you did an amazing job with that birthday banner and everything else came out perfectly!
We try to come up with new ideas for every birthday. We had such fun with this one though! I can’t wait to give it to her tomorrow!
Wow! This birthday box looks incredible! I’m so glad you showed us the completed project! :)
Thanks! We had a great time making it!
How fun!! I am currently trying to plan for my daughters third birthday.. these photos are stinkin cute! <3 – http://www.domesticgeekgirl.com
I can’t believe my youngest is going to be five tomorrow! FIVE!?! Thanks for stopping by Gingi!
This is a great idea. My daughter spends a lot of time taking care of her “babies” and having parties for/with them. She would love this #shine
Thanks Jeremy! We had such fun putting this together for her… and it was a hit! She’s been playing “birthday” off and on all this morning!
I love that you make gifts for your kids Jennifer. It’s so thoughtful and personal. The box is a fabulous idea!
Aww thanks Tiffany! I love making gifts for them.
This is really cute and clever. My daughter is big on pretend play and dress up right now… might need to look into this soon!!