Back in 2014, I threw together a Stuffed Animal Sleepover. I didn’t really have any idea where it was going or what I was doing, I just collected people’s stuffed animals and threw them a party before mailing them back to their humans. This time, I wanted it to be next level special. I charged a fee to cover expenses (which still ended up not being enough, I’m terrible with money — #Imperfectboss), got my photographer to come to cover the entire thing, collected specific information about each stuffie like their interests and allergies, got props based on that information and set up glamour shots for each animal. (Stay till the end of the post to see all of them, they’re amazing.) You can see what was offered on the official event page, like the fact that I live-Instagrammed the event so people could get some sneak previews before the professional pictures went up today.

After portraits, we started with a giant group photo, where everyone started to mingle and get to know each other.

Then we moved onto board game time.

We played Twister Moves, Battles Of The Sexes, and Pretty Pretty Princess.

We got everyone together for some much needed relaxation and spa time. I covered cucumber slices in saran wrap and we busted out the nail polish, pore strips, sleep masks, hair brushes, and massage trains! Nice to relax before we move on to all the other activities…… It might be a good idea to get a comfy bean bag sack for the relaxation element of the sleepover party. A bean bag is something that humans and stuffed animals are sure to appreciate.

Like arts and crafts time!

Everyone got in a circle and used pipe cleaners, pom poms, googly eyes, paint, ribbon, feathers, and glitter to make some unique crafts! We share them with everyone before we headed off to …

The black-lit basement, to jump into the ball pit! We had a blast swimming around in there.

All that swimming called for some snacking. We cut up some desserts and passed them around.

Some of our more daring plushies dared to summon some spirits on a Ouija Board!

And some of us couldn’t hold our Chex Mix…

We were exhausted, but not too exhausted for a scary ghost story! (Goosebumps, of course)

Happy Round Two of the Stuffed Animal Sleepover! All of the stuffed animals have either already been returned or are still en route via mail to the more distant locations. We had a ton of different states and countries participate, and I’m so happy and honored to have been able to throw them a cute party here in Baltimore! Each package included some party favors, a unique letter describing the stuffie’s experience, print outs of the photos with them in it, and obviously the stuffed friend.

Among those photos were 8 x 10’s of these amazing glamour shots by Maura Housley, with some of the plushie’s favorite things. Who’s your favorite?

What do you think? Would you be able to part with your stuffed animal for this reason? Thanks to everyone who was game! And to April for letting us use her house for the party.

Photos: Maura Housley