Sleepover & Craft Party with American Girl Fleece sleeping Bags

A few months ago we celebrated my daughter's 8th birthday.  She had her heart set on a sleepover party, but I wasn't quite ready to have that many little girls sleep over, especially when we had a busy day planned for the next day.  We did compromise with a pajama party and having one little friend stay over for the night.  It worked out great. 

I wanted to have plenty of crafts and projects for the girls to do and we went with the pajama party theme.  While the girls were waiting for everyone to arrive, I gave them yarn and bowls of fruit loop cereal to make their own cereal necklaces.  We tied the strings and the girls were able to snack on them throughout the night. 

When it was time to eat, the girls were able to make their own creations at our Cereal Bar. 

We had a choice of yogurt or milk as a base and lots of cereals to pick from and mix. I let the girls choose their own toppings of dried fruits, chocolate chips, marshmallows, and berries.  Lots of interesting concoctions were made.  I served other fruit on the side as well as donut hole kabobs.  How fun are they!  I found these sprinkle rolled chocolate donut holes.  I simple stuck two of them on the end of a skewer.  The girls loved them, of course.

Everyone had their own drink and snack bottle as well.  That way no one would lose their cup.  I found these at the dollar store and the bottom unscrews to hold a little snack.  The girls picked their favorite juice and filled the bottom with extra cereal.  I wrote their names on their cups before they got there with a paint pen.  They could take these home after the party for a little favor.

After our Cereal Bar dinner, the girls celebrated and sang Happy Birthday with our Rice Krispie Sleepover Bed Cake!  It was really yummy and a fun change from traditional cake.  Easy to make too!

A craft all the girls made were these Washer Washi Necklaces.  I had a bunch of stickers and some washi tape that they used to decorate some washers any way they wanted to .  I attached a length of ribbon to make it a necklace.  All of them had their own way of decorating.

They also got to decorate small wooden jewelry boxes that I found at JoAnns for $1.  They used paints, washi tape, and stickers to decorate them.  Again you could see how different everyone was in how they chose to use the supplies. 

The girls also made their own flip flops.  I had precut tons of small strips of tulle.  The girls simply tied the strips on to their flip flops creating little poofs of fun however they wished. 

The final and best project were the fleece sleeping bags we made for their dolls and stuffed animals.  I precut two pieces of fleece.  I chose two coordinating fabrics, one for the front and a different one for the back.  The front piece should measure 20 in x 18 in.  The back piece should measure 28 in x 18 in.  I laid the two pieces of fabric on top of each other.  I cut out a piece of cardboard 3.5 in x 3.5 in to use as a guide.  I cut out the bottom two corners of both pieces of fabric. 

Afterwards, I cut fringe across the bottom and up both sides.  The cuts were 1 inch apart, and 3.5 inches long, making them the same length as the cuts in the corners. 

At the party, each girl took their fleece pieces and tied the front and back pieces together.  Be sure to start at one end making your way across so that the right pieces stay matched up together.  If you have older girls, I'm sure they could do the whole process themselves, but I knew having it ready to tie would be much more age appropriate for this group. 

My hubby and our smallest dog even got into helping with the tying process. 

After tying all the front and back pieces together, we tied the remaining pieces from the back into their own knot to make it look uniform. 

The Fleece Sleeping Bags turned out great and were the perfect size for an American Girl doll or any favorite stuffed animal.  The sleeping bags as well as all of the other crafts we made were great party favors to take home.  I found some reusable bags that the girls could use to take home all of their crafts.  The important thing is that my daughter had a great time celebrating her birthday with friends.