Posh Playdates

Plan a Shopkins Swapkins They Will Never Forget!

As mentioned in my prior Shopkins posh playdate post, Shopkins are all the rage!  And I can see why with their cute, colorful look and collectible nature.  Tiny toys for tiny hands that beg to be bought, Shopkins scream fun!  And for that reason, we hosted not 1 but 2 posh playdates with this Shopkins theme!  This 2nd play date was for bloggers only and included fab moms Mary (and Brinkley) from Downtown Chic Moms and Melissa (and Misa) from JustaBXmom.  Together, we enjoyed perfect weather on our rooftop and giddily watched as the girls got together and celebrated their super fandom.

(As the Shopkins theme song goes,)”We got a plan, the perfect party / There’s so much to celebrate / It’s a surprise, so let’s get started! / How are we gonna make this party great? / Got to make it extra special / No one’s ever seen before /Streamers, sparkles, party dresses / Check out what we got in store! / We’re thinking of fashion fiesta / A party to sweep me right off my feet! / Got to make it extra pretty / No one’s ever seen before / Flowers, glitter, and confetti / Check out what we got in store!”

I basically took our prior decor from Shopkins play date #1 and moved it outside!  Here are some quick notes about how I stayed within budget:

• The paper fans were from Target’s dollar bin.  I creatively customized by adding Shopkins stickers to the center.
• The cake pops are stuck into styrofoam that I wrapped in gift paper and washi tape.
• The Shopkins plushies and costumes which were sent by PR companies were re-purposed as decor.
• I added miniature Shopkins plushies and dolls to silk florals from TJMaxx that I already had at the house.

The tiered snack tray included funtastic fruit that Juliet helped skewer, crunchy snacks and Shopkins branded M&Ms. Each tier was sprinkled with actual Shopkins toys and the top of the display was stickered with Shopkins stickers.  Matching washi tape was used as a decorative border.

Thanks to Moose Toys, each of us bloggers got to keep a Shopkins costume which had the girls smiling from ear to ear. “This is how we party! / Dressing up, throw some flinging / This is how we party! Decorating while we’re singing This is how we party!

Speaking of decorating, that is exactly what the girls did!  They decorated themselves with Shopkins tattoos,  and decorated a Shopkins coloring page with crayons & Shopkins stamps.  Apple Blossom took home a picture of herself, Cheeky Chocolate designed a cheeky chocolate coloring page and Strawberry Kiss loved coloring her own profile pic.

And of course, we had the first trade these girls have ever experienced!  A Shopkins Swapkins!  The girls (at age 4 and 6) were unbelievably nice about giving up items their friends wanted in exchange for new Shopkins they might have had their eyes on.

I barely had to intervene! 

Each girl was given an organizer box which Juliet decorated with Shopkins stickers to stay within theme before all the guests arrived (if you follow along with our IG stories, you got to see all our fun, pre-party planning details!).  I found the teal boxes and Shopkins stickers on sale at Michaels.  As the Shopkins song goes, “what really makes the party is being with all my friends!  Good times, everybody, this party never ends!”  Well OK so after a couple hours, the party did finally end but it lives on in our hearts and minds!

“Good times, everybody This party never ends!”

Shopkins Season 8 is out on the shelves now and features a super chic world vacation theme.  Paris, anyone?

THANKS to our posh play date sponsors without whom our party would not be so fabulous!

RenBeanie PR – Shopkins Kinstruct and Shopkins Plushies

MWW PR  / (Moose Toys) Shopkins toys, tattoos, M&Ms, goody bags, stamps, pens, erasers, costumes and plushies

Baked By Tal – cake pops

Heart N Soul by US- Shopkins surprise rainbow bath bombs

Calming Intentions – Shopkins filled glycerin soap

You know what else is worth celebrating?? Shopkins is launching its first-ever live, theatrical show for Shopkins!  And with our media preview at Shopkins’s 1st-ever pop-up cafe in NYC, we were able to witness the live action with front row access!

Shopkins Live will kick off Sept. 14, with tickets going on sale now.  You heard it here first!  How about planning your Shopkins Swapkins around the show??  Click through our previous (indoors) Shopkins play date for more ideas and inspiration!  And don’t forget to turn it up as you dance to “this is how we party!”

Shopkins Party & Playdate Ideas

Are your kids Shopkins crazed?  If so, they’re not alone!  This cutesy collectible which varies in theme from grocery items to desserts and now travel collections (season 8) hit #1 status in 2015 as the best -selling toy in the U.S.   So hosting a Shopkins-themed posh play date seemed like the only logical thing to do.  Thanks to our many helpful sponsors, we were able to treat our guests to sweets, bath bombs, plushies, stickers, toys and more.

Activities included Shopkins costume dress -up and race down the hallway, Shopkins Trouble (board game), playing with a real-life Shopkins bunny, and searching for Shopkins inside a Play doh ball!

I got the idea to hide Shopkins surprises into a Play Doh ball from one of our sponsors who sent us fizzy rainbow bath bombs which each hid a Shopkins toy inside.  Check out these amazing bath bombs Heart N Soul sent us these to share with all our Shopkins – crazed guests!

It is handmade using natural ingredients (baking soda, citric acid, epsom salt, essential oil, natural food coloring or natural mica colorant, pure organic olive oil and purified water).  And all of us moms loved that!!

After working up an appetite, we munched on kid-friendly snacks (cheese and crackers, hummus, bread, dried fruits and fresh fruit smoothies).  Moms sipped some wine..Ok so that didn’t go along with the Shopkins theme but hey, it’s a party for us too, right?

I made the smoothie with organic watermelon juice, frozen grapes, fresh rasberries and spinach, topping it off with more Shopkins fresh fruit! The real treat of the day however were the delicious cake pops sent to us by Baked By Tal!  In coordinating rainbow colors, and topped with sprinkles, they were a huge hit to the girls who laughed out loud at their blue, purple and red mouths afterwards.

Even though Shopkins has just launched in 2014, it has become a leading property with its tiny toy collectibles, an app, a line of dolls, and licensed goods which can be found at all major retailers, ranging in price from $2.99 to $34.99 MSRP.  Juliet was so excited to be able to share some of these goodies with her school mates that she couldn’t wait to get the party started and gift away.

Stay tuned for more Shopkins parties coming soon!  And make sure to follow along our daily adventures through our Instagram.  Right now, you can view videos from this posh play date through our IG story and if you’ve been following along, you were able to see our sneak peek of the first-ever Shopkins pop-up cafe in NYC where Juliet got to model down the Shopkins runway for all the media there!

 

Thanks for reading and make sure to tag a Shopkins fan and leave a comment below!

 

Special thanks to Ren Beanie PR and MWW PR teams for helping to make this posh play date possible!