Princess & Prince Dress Up Boxes

This princess dress up post is courtesy of our contributor Katelyn…Well, it comes as no surprise to anyone; kids love to get dressed up in costumes! From the time my little girl learned to walk, she has been trying on shoes, placing fancy hats on her head, and posing for the camera. Not to mention having an older brother who loves to find cowboy hats, sunglasses, and big coats and say how “cool” he is. With many holidays and birthdays coming and going; it gets so hard to decide which toys kids are liking, what is affordable, and what size they are wearing. Introducing – The Tickle Trunk Gift Box.

With a little imagination, any little girl can be a princess.

Princess Dress Up Box Ideas:

To build a kit, simply find a box. No matter plain, or decorative, they will be holding all your treasures. I chose a nice purple print tall hat box and two smaller boxes that say “believe” & “imagine”.  Side note: Make sure that they can hold at least one or two large clothing items for each child you intend to gift to.

Next Step: Head out to find costumes. Believe it or not, I was able to get eleven clothing items, including some fantastic leopard print fur coats, tutus, scarves and other fancy costume props for just under $30.00. This was enough to give to four beautiful little girls. I try to buy a size up, as kids are constantly growing! Where did I go? Value Village. Seriously – Do you know what kind of brand clothing I was able to find for pennies? Perfectly excellent used condition jackets for $2.99, hats for $1.50 and more. Secondhand stores are the perfect place to grab and go with costumes and accessories, because in little to no time, they are already in newer, bigger items.

Accessory Shopping – what a cinch! I love going up and down the aisles of the dollar store grabbing crowns, flowers, headbands, necklaces, sunglasses, army helmets, clips, capes, and so much more! Seriously, they are going to love it! I also went through my old jewelry for costume jewelry that I never wear; hats and things of the same nature. The kids can use them and play pretend.

How to make it stylish and unique to every child. Okay, so here is the tough part. Each child is so unique and different and, in my case, one of my tickle trunks was created for a group of three girls (Aged 7, 2, and 1)! Buy 1-2 clothing items in a size up for each individual child. Try to stick to the same color pallets and style for your items. For example: One box had only purple items including a wool jacket, headband, matching cape, purple sunglasses, and a few flower accessories.

With each box, the child can continue adding and replacing items as they grow. It is a gift that stimulates imagination, creativity, and the type of fun that many of us can remember from our own childhoods. I certainly can remember back to when I would grab an oversize dress, find a tiara and pretend that I was a queen for a day.

Inside each box I placed a poem. This poem is cute and simple; and hopefully can save some mommy time in this future craft project:

WELCOME TO YOUR DRESS UP BOX, IT NOW BELONGS TO YOU.
A PRINCESS NEEDS ACCESSORIES, NO MATTER OLD OR NEW.
YOU WILL FIND (IN DEAR TIME) THAT YOU WILL START TO GROW.
FILL THE BOX EACH YEAR WITH MORE, AND IN TIME IT WILL SHOW.
A PRINCESS ALWAYS SHARES WITH FRIENDS, AND ALWAYS PLAYS PRETEND.
WISHING YOU SO MUCH FUN, WITH THIS GIFT WE SEND.

The poem is easily changed for a boy with a few simple words. For example line one “WELCOME TO YOUR PRINCE SUITCASE” and line two “A PRINCE NEEDS MANY COSTUMES” always swapping princess for prince! Finish your box by wrapping, leaving plain, or adding a decorative lock or ribbon.

BONUS TIP: If it calls for it, you can add a disposable camera to each trunk. This way the kids can take photos of their pretend play, and save memories! I hope you found this tip helpful; I certainly had fun creating these for the little girls in my life! Hope you get a chance to try these out for your little ones.

We’d like to send a big thank you to Katelyn for sharing these creative ideas with us. You can find Katelyn styling beautiful parties over on Events By Kate. Be sure to follow her on Facebook and Pinterest for even more creative ideas! Here’s just a small sample of adorable party styling by Katelyn.