Yesterday was Maggie’s 8th birthday, and this year she decided on a stuffed animal party theme.  (Legos were a close second, but in the end stuffed animals won.)  She sleeps with a menagerie of furry friends each night, and spends copious amounts of time rearranging them in her room each day, so we weren’t terribly surprised.

For the invitation,we gathered all the kids’ stuffed animals and set up an ET style photo shoot.  Can you find the 8 year old?

The party started at Build-a-Bear, which is a surprisingly fun place to have a quick birthday celebration.  As a parent you set a budget for each guest, and the party consultant makes sure the kids stay within their range.  The birthday child’s animal is free, and they give lots of discounts so it’s actually very affordable.  All the kids made a wish for Maggie and placed it inside her bear before it was stitched closed, and everyone left with a new furry friend.  I’m glad the kids haven’t outgrown playing with their stuffed buddies yet!

After Build-a-Bear everyone headed to our house for pizza and play.  We planned a few animal-themed activities (stuffed animal hokey pokey, charades, tea parties, or hide and seek) but in the end the kids just wanted to play outside.  Even better!  Today they set up a stuffed animal school, so we have some smart critters in the house!

The cake was a teddy bear – I found the idea on Pinterest.

It’s a pull-apart cupcake cake – I love these because they make serving a snap!

Instead of gifts, everyone brought donations to Friends of Pets.  We can’t wait to drop off all these goodies this week!

It was an easy party to plan, and our birthday girl loved every minute of her special day!