How to Throw A (Faux) Sleepover Party!

Photos by Morgan Bayard

My daughter wanted a sleepover party for her 7th birthday, but I wasn't into the idea. Seven seems too young, right? Sure, I had had my own sleepover birthday parties for years when I was growing up, but 1) I think I was slightly older when I had my first one, and 2) I remember every single one devolving into an us versus them scenario with half of my friends mad at the other half--and one of those halves stamping off in the middle of the night to go sleep in another room. By breakfast time, all was usually forgiven, but did my kid really need all that drama so soon? Nope.

Around that time, my cousin happened to mention that "faux sleepovers" were really popular in her area, and it sounded like just the thing. For anyone who doesn't know what that is (I didn't), it's all of the fun of a sleepover--the pjs, the movie, the popcorn, the bonding--but none of the sleeping! Everyone leaves to go to bed at their own home. Genius! My daughter was into it; I was in love with it. Faux sleepover party, it would be.

And it ended up being the easiest party I've ever thrown! Decorations were simple. I went with a pink-and-gold color scheme and just hung a few balloons and banners. I also hung up a piece of printable art from Etsy that said "Sweet Dreams." Etsy printable wall art is one of my favorite ways to decorate for a party, because 1) It's cheap. (This one cost just a few dollars.) and 2) It can be repurposed as wall art for her room after the party. As a bonus, this Etsy artist also shrunk the art down for me, so that I could also use it as favor tags!

When it was party time, the girls arrived in their pajamas and got to work on an art project: decorating pillowcases. I bought fabric pens and cheap white pillow cases from Amazon, and the girls really loved making them. 

Next, came the movie. My daughter had chosen the new Adventures in Babysitting. (This was after we considered the original Adventures in Babysitting--one of my favorite movies back in the day--but thank god we gave it a preview watch. Thirty years later, it seems really sexist, and even racist in parts--definitely not for a seven year old. My daughter deemed it "boring" anyway.) 

And can I just stop and sing the praises of movie-watching at a party? WHY DID I NEVER THINK OF THIS BEFORE? The kids sat there quietly for 2-plus hours, while my parents and a few friends and I sat upstairs drinking wine. I'm usually running around crazy-stressed at my kids' parties, but this time I was practically bored! 

During the movie, the girls munched on popcorn topped with candy from a candy bar I had set up. (I had worried that I had bought too much candy, but the girls ate ALL of it. Many of them had more candy than popcorn. Sorry, parents.) Halfway through, we brought out pizza and they ate that while watching, too. 

(Side note: We had been worried about being able to pop enough popcorn for all of the girls at once, so we went ahead and splurged on this big, old-time-y popcorn popper. We expected we'd re-sell it after the party or something, but turns out, we use it all the time now! Weekend movie-watching popcorn has gotten a serious upgrade. The kids love it!)

I also had a hairstylist from The Glam App come to braid their hair during the movie. (She set up a chair in the room, and one by one, the girls would come up to get their braids.) This was a big hit, and I'm so glad I did it! The hairstylist even brought ribbons to weave through their braids, which was really cute.

After the movie, we had a gorgeous, sleepover-themed cake created by GoodieBox Bake Shop, and then finished up with a dance party. The girls went nuts dancing and singing. It was so cute!

Favors were pink fleece blankets tied with gold ribbon and a cute "Sweet Dreams" favor tag, along with a bag of milk and chocolate chip cookies. (My mom made the cookies!) Then, everyone left to sleep...somewhere else.

A good night, indeed.

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So, tell me: Are these faux-sleepover parties popular where you guys live? (I've heard they're also called "Sleepunders.") I hadn't ever heard of them before, but I love them now! So smart for girls who are fascinated by sleepovers, but really too young to go to them.

VENDORS

Cake: GoodieBox Bake Shop
Happy Birthday bunting: Amazon
Pennant Bunting: Amazon
Pink fleece blankets: Amazon
Sweet Dreams printable: BlueSkyWhimsy on Etsy
Favor tags sticker printable: LilRbwKreations on Etsy
Fabric pens: Amazon
Pillowcases: Amazon
Pink plastic tablecloth: Amazon
Gold sequin table runner: Amazon
Gold star paper plates: Meri Meri
Rose-gold forks: Amazon
Pink/purple napkins: EtsyStudio
Gold candy bowls: Amazon
Popcorn boxes: Amazon
Old-time-y popcorn popper: Amazon