🎉 Letting My 12-Year-Old Plan Her Own Sephora Birthday Party (And Honestly? She Crushed It)

This year, Paige asked if she could plan her own birthday party.

Not just pick a theme—she wanted full creative control. The snacks. The decor. The vibe. The glam. And I figured… why not? Give the girl the clipboard and see what happens.

Turns out, she might just have the party-planning gene I didn’t know I passed down.

And truthfully? This isn’t her first rodeo. Last year she created an entire Snack Shack party from scratch—complete with menu boards and DIY food stations. It was such a hit that I knew she could handle it again.

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(PS: I might just have to share the Snack Shack throwback in a full post soon. It’s worth it.)

This year, her vision was all things Sephora: pink, preppy, glam, and snack-loaded.

Here’s how it all came together:

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🛍 The Cake That Deserves Its Own Spotlight

Paige wanted a pink, makeup-and-skincare-themed cake—something girly, glam, and over-the-top fun. And Magic Box Cakery (@magicbox.cakery) absolutely delivered. She created the most perfect Sephora-style cake with a black-and-white shopping bag, pink tissue, and edible makeup details like lipsticks, brushes, palettes, nail polish, and more.

It was gorgeous, detailed, and honestly—people didn’t believe it was real.

Cake of our dreams by Magic Box Cakery.

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🛒 The Grocery Store Takeover

We took a trip to Kroger to get all the party essentials—and Paige was in charge. She picked the snacks (chips, candy, donuts), the drinks, the plates, and even the napkin designs. I just pushed the cart and tried to keep up.

Birthday girl on a mission.

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💄 Dollar Tree Makeup Station = Tween Gold

One of Paige’s best ideas was setting up a full DIY makeup and skincare station—on a budget. She hit the beauty aisle at Dollar Tree and found lip glosses, blush, highlighters, mini foundation bottles, sponges, nail polish, and even face masks.

The girls did blindfolded makeup challenges using eye masks and swapped roles doing each other’s makeup by feel alone. It was chaotic and absolutely hilarious.

$1 finds + tween creativity = success.

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🍬 Candy Bar Heaven

Paige was very specific: she wanted a full candy bar with clear containers, scoops, and plastic cups for scooping. She picked out all the treats herself—M&Ms, Sour Patch Kids, gummy worms, and our favorite: TruFru chocolate-covered strawberries and raspberries.

We lined it all up and let the girls go wild.

Welcome to the sugar station.

Sweet chaos in every scoop.

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🧀 Snacks, But Make It Pretty

Most kids just dump chips into a bowl. Paige lined them up—Goldfish, Lays, Doritos, Cheetos—in neat rows across the counter like she was prepping a snack display for a commercial shoot. I have to admit, it was oddly satisfying.

Chip curation by Paige.

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🍗 Chick-fil-A Always Wins

We kept dinner super simple and ordered a nugget tray from Chick-fil-A, plus waffle fries and sauces. Not a single person complained—and definitely not a single nugget was left.

Elite birthday dinner move: Chick-fil-A everything.

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💬 Final Thoughts

Letting Paige take the reins on her birthday party was one of the best things we’ve done. She had a vision, made a plan, and pulled it all together with just a little help behind the scenes.

Was it Pinterest-perfect? Maybe not.
Was it perfectly her? Absolutely.

Watching her light up as her ideas came to life was the real gift. And that cake? It’ll be talked about until next year.

🎂 Huge thanks again to Magic Box Cakery for the most jaw-dropping Sephora-themed cake we’ve ever seen. If you’re local and need a showstopper, she’s the one to call.