Holiplay Holiday party at Ollie & Me

Dec 24

Categories Holidays + Entertaining, playdate ideas

Happy Christmas Eve to everyone! Thought we’d share some photos of a very sweet charity playdate organized by Isobel of Bel and Beau and Kelli Murray for their kiddos and friends. Perfect way to remind us all that giving is so much more satisfying than receiving.

Here’s a bit about the inspiration for the party from Isobel:

When Christmas decor starting popping up everywhere at the end of December, Holden could not stop talking about Christmas…specifically what he wanted for Christmas…about twenty times a day. I knew I needed to change the conversation because two months of hearing “I want” on daily basis was going to drive me crazy. We started discussing the true meaning of Christmas which led to Holden expressing interest in helping other children that weren’t as fortunate as he, specifically bringing them toys.

So together, with friends Kelli Murray and her daughter Rylee, we came up with the idea to host a holiday party and toy drive, which we called Holiplay Holiday, for parents and children to party, sing, dance, craft, and give back. We hoped that by inviting kids to our fun event, that we could encourage other children to get involved in giving back this holiday season.

We collaborated with some amazing vendors, brands and businesses to create this wonderful event and when it was all said and done, we had hundreds of donated toys. The day before the event, we heard that the Salvation Army in San Diego had a shortage of toys, so we decided that was where we wanted to donate the toys from the event and we were able to donate two huge carloads of toys to the Salvation Army.

Aren’t those desserts by Hey There Cupcake just insane!?

To encourage people to come out to the event and donate to our toy drive, we partnered with some amazing brands and businesses to giveaway some great products for both the children and mothers in attendance.

The first 25 guests to arrive at the event received a Petunia Pickle Bottom Shopping Tote stuffed with fun goodies from some of our favorite brands, including Steam Train, Dream Train from Chronicle Books, a reindeer from Build-A-Bear, a puzzle from BabyLit, sunglasses from Roshombo Baby, a pair of socks from Pals Socks, a hat from Grom Squad, bubble bath from Babyganics, and free lashes from Ciao Bella.

Throughout the event, we ran giveaways for those that donated a toy including

Solly Baby Wraps and Swaddles

Freshly Picked moccasins,

Strider Bikes,

A playtent from the Land of Nod,

Scooters from Micro Kickboards

A nights stay at The Holidays Camp Community

A necklace from James Michelle

A Rudolph necklace from Gunner and Lux

A blanket bundle from Little Giraffe

A gift certificate to UnderBelly Restaurant from Please and Thank You Liquor Bar