Each year my children go to dozens of birthday parties and as a mom of two children who play very differently and live in a house with more clutter than I’d like, buying a child’s birthday gift is no simple task.  To simplify choosing the right gift I have a little three step process of gathering information before I head to the shops.

For this particular birthday girl, I asked her dad in the hall what she was into lately.  He listed a few things uncertainly and then mentioned that she liked to design fashion for her dolls.  I thought perhaps I could find something for doll fashions.  I knew there were some books and kits by Klutz and Creativity for Kids, but that wasn’t exactly what I was looking for.  I wanted something a little more hands on and a bit more flexible because I didn’t know if she was designing clothes for Barbie (or Ken for that matter) or any of the many different sizes and ages of  dolls who, in our house are all Baby.

I had a leftover storage box from my recent organize the house frenzy (Container Store similar to this Bigso Box).  I also had a trip to Ikea where I found a few other great additions to the kit (a cork trivet because I didn’t need all three and an artists’ wooden figure drawing thingy)

The trivet became an “inspiration board” and acted as a bulletin board which was stuck into the inside of the box lid.  I bought a few “fat quarters”, some cute “doll clothing” printed fabric, and a gift certificate to local fabulous all things sewing, knitting, embroidering (Gather Here).  I love giving certificates to a local store because it might introduce someone to a new place that they’ve never been before and it supports small local businesses.