Call me cheesy, but I think activities at birthday parties (or any party for that matter) are a lot of fun! Anything that gets people involved and having a great time is a good thing.
I didn’t have a particular theme in mind when planning Ellie’s 2nd birthday party. All I knew is that I really wanted to create a tutu – actually a “two-two” – making station and have all her little friends make and take a tutu of their own creation. The play on words was too good to pass up (again, call me cheesy)!
First step was to make a tutu myself to see how much time (and skill) was required. I hoped for not a lot of either. Here are the steps I followed:
I sewed an elastic waistband using 1/2″ elastic and using this size guide (approximate):
18 months = 16”; 2T = 16.5”; 3T = 17”; 4T = 18”; 5T = 19”, 6T = 20”
I used 6″ spools of tulle and wrapped it around a strip of cardboard so that I could cut it quickly. The cardboard was twice as long as I wanted the length of the tutu to be. In my case it was 23″ long, creating a tutu that would be about 11″ long.
I slipped the elastic band over a small chair and started looping the tulle through, piece by piece. Once I had gone around one time, I went around again, filling in anywhere I could to make a full tutu. Ellie’s tutu took about 50 yards of tulle.
What I learned: Level of skill required was pretty low but time required was higher than I thought so I decided that I’d have to start each tutu for the girls.
I recruited my Mom and my sister to help in the days leading up to the party. We rolled and cut all the tulle and then my sweetheart of a Mom did a thin layer of tulle on all the little girls’ tutus.
I used the same guide to make waistbands for each little girl. Then I tagged it with their name. We had two lengths of tulle – 17″ long for the 2 older girls and 11″ long for the 2-3 year olds.
The activity was a hit! The little girls loved the idea of customizing their own tutu, and with the help of their moms (and MY dad, funny enough), they were made pretty quickly. Some of the older girls even used tulle as headpieces and jewelry – extra points for creativity!

Because there were little boys invited to the party as well, I extended the two-two making station to a two-two and bow-tie making station. I was originally going to have them make their own bow-ties but in the end, I just ordered some adorable handmade bowties from Etsy and the boys were totally fine with that.
I’m so happy it was a success. The moms seemed to enjoy doing the special activiy with their little ones. And I really can’t think of a better party favor than a tutu, am I right? 😉
very cute little angels! very lovely with their tutus!
Thank you! Who doesn’t love an adorable tutu? 🙂 🙂
Oh my gosh, this could not be cuter! What a great idea, I bet all the gals loved it!!
Thanks Jessy! They really seemed to! So relieved it worked out 🙂 🙂
That’s so adorable!!! Such a great idea!!!! :)) Love all your pretty pics capturing it all too!
Oh my goodness this is perfect, I love it!! My little one is turning 3 in a couple of months and is absolutely obsessed with tutus – this would be the perfect birthday party for her! Thanks for sharing
Yes! You should totally do it! And if you do, let me know or tag me on instagram or whatever, haha. Love it!!
This was such a fun idea and you set it up beautifully! Seeing the girls so excited about their “two-twos” was adorable…so much so I was thiiis close to making one for myself! ?
So cute, right!? Wish Ellie allowed for a proper picture of all of them. Oh well, we know how cute it was! 🙂 🙂
I wish I would have known how to do tutus when I was a kid! This is the cutest, seriously! 😀
You’re making me want to have another baby (who is a girl) just so I can throw a birthday party like this. Too cute!
Chels
That might be the best compliment ever! Your little guy is super cute! You could throw a “bow-ties” themed party 😉
Oh my goodness, this is adorable! What a fun idea for a little girl’s party! And I love the bow ties for the boys, too!
Thanks Chelsea – it was a fun activity, so relieved that it turned out so well! XO