The Baby-Sitters Club Themed Birthday
This may not be a popular opinion but December birthdays are hard…December birthdays during a pandemic even harder. The point being that we always try to do something special for our December baby that really separates her birthday from the holidays. Usually, this involves family and friends or a special activity but for obvious reasons this year it could not. So that’s where this slightly over-the-top Baby-Sitters Club Birthday celebration came in.
But first, a little context…Lucy has always been our bookworm and as a huge book lover myself, I have actively encouraged this hobby. However, for the last 10 months her book reading has really turned into an obsession or perhaps more like a coping mechanism. She reads incessantly and this past summer fell in love with The Baby-Sitters Club series. She loves both the original books and the graphic novels so when I came across a themed Baby-Sitters Club birthday idea (borrowed from @baileyquin) I filed it away for Lucy’s birthday. This past Fall when the virus was still raging and she asked for some more Baby-Sitters Club books for her birthday I knew we had to pull this off.
Aside from my make shift birthday sign and a cake that Sweet Mandy B’s knocked out of the park the main premise of this party was that the gifts were from the main characters in The Baby-Sitters Club series. Each gift was based on the characters’ personality so in theory she could pretend that she was surrounded by her friends for her special day. One could easily adapt this (in non-COVID times) so that party guests dressed up as their favorite book character (or wore BCS t-shirts like this or this), brought a gift based on that character, ate candy and watched the new Baby-Sitters Club Netflix series together. It’s been a while since I read the books so to prepare (and to screen it for Lucy) I binge-watched the entire season to spruce up on my knowledge and I’m happy to report that it was quite enjoyable. Read on for my TAKE on The Baby-Sitters Club themed birthday.
The Birthday Sign - We have a few birthday signs/banners that we reuse every year but I didn’t feel that any of them resembled our theme so I picked up some pre-cut card stock (blue and gold) and paint pens. My goal was for the letters to look like the lettering on the cover of the original books but my freehand didn’t exactly nail the effect. A trip to the craft store for some red vinyl sticker letters might have solved for my shaking hands but I’m avoiding most stores these days.
The Cake - I have to say the birthday cake design turned out better than I could have imagine, it seriously pained me to cut into it! Sweet Mandy B’s is our favorite in the city and I just emailed them an image of the original block lettering and they were able to replicate in the message of my choice. I’m sure loads of local bakeries could do this or something similar!
The Gifts - Planning what each character was going to “gift” Lucy for her birthday was certainly the most fun and over-the-top part of planning. There were five gifts from the five main characters (Kristy, Mary Ann, Claudia, Stacey and Dawn) with a tag giving a little hint to what they might be. Each gift also included one of the books i.e. Kristy’s gift, included the book, Kristy’s Big Day. Usually our gift giving is a little bit more low key so I’m hoping next year we can get back to more experiential celebrations but for this year, this was fun! Also in hindsight, I totally failed on theme coordinated gift wrapping. Some brown kraft paper and power blue or red ribbon would have done the trick perfectly but I’m doing my best to let some things go these days!
Kristy - As the BCS president, Kristy welcomed Lucy to the club and gifted her with a clear see-through phone just like they used in every variation of the show. Of course, I wanted one of these as a kid and luckily with the renewed popularity of the series I was able to find one on Etsy! The kids were fascinated with the novelty of the phone…I’m not sure they have ever seen one with a cord (nor have we ever had a land line in our home) and when Lucy asked me what the button “flash” meant I seriously had to think about it! In case you’re wondering, we fully plan to set the phone up! If you didn’t want to go the phone route, Kristy’s an athlete…so sports equipment or a jersey could be another gift option.
Mary Ann - I had the hardest time with Mary Ann. In the Netflix series she wears overalls ALL the time and seemingly loves musicals…so overalls and or tickets to a musical would be great ideas. Lucy has new overalls and theatre isn’t an option right now so I did some research on some fan sights and polled a couple of friends. It turns out that Mary Ann loves to knit and read…she sounds exactly like my daughter! Lucy learned to knit in a virtual class this Spring and we had recently purchased some more yarn so for Mary Ann’s gift she selected a Wizard of Oz crochet kit and Unicorn craft kit…perfect winter indoor activities.
Claudia - This was one of my favorites as Claudia is an artist and loves all thing ART. Having spent the last 10 months at home we are stocked on art supplies but Lucy is currently into “tracing” pictures so Claudia gave her a Crayola Light Up Tracing Pad, a Faber Castell Face Drawing Set and black drawing paper.
Stacey - Stacey is into fashion and clothes, so she gifted Lucy the most 2020 related gift there is…a new sweatshirt, sweatpants and some cozy socks! Who doesn’t want to be comfy for remote learning?
Dawn - In the series Dawn comes to live in Stoneybrook, Connecticut from California. So as an homage to Dawn’s CA roots, she gave Lucy a skateboard and a pack of stickers to decorate the bottom of the board. Lucy loved selecting her stickers for the board! A new pair of Van’s slip ons or roller skates and knee/elbow pads would also be fun!
Again, this was so fun to plan…perhaps it was a diversion from reality that I liked so much or perhaps I relived a little bit of my childhood! Either way, I know Lucy loved it as she spent all afternoon (even her birthday lunch) with her nose in her new retro set of BCS books! Finally, which Baby-Sitters’ Club member are you? I’m totally a Kristy with a dash of Claudia and Stacey!
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