Magpie Monday - A Plan for Ivy's Birthday

I bought two really nice men's casual shirts from the charity shop this week for £1 each but that is not the subject for my Magpie Monday post. Instead, I am writing about a plan I have.

I have always admired my daughter Ivy's quirky sense of style. That's her posing in the middle of this family photo taken on Brighton beach in 2008.

Ivy is going to be 20 years old next month. She is not a one for big parties. No doubt she will celebrate in ways that I will turn a maternal blind eye to with her friends at University, but when she's home, her birthday will be marked with a family dinner with all her favourite food.

To make this party a bit more personal and a fun, I have a plan.

I saw an old friend a while back and she explained that her teenage daughter was at a party. The format of the party was that a bunch of girls were let loose in Primark with a £10 budget. Their mission was to put together a complete outfit that would later be modelled with fashion show flourish and the clothes themselves could be taken home as an elaborate 'party bag'.

I have decided to modify this idea for Ivy. I will let her loose in the local charity shops with a budget (yet to be decided!) Her mission is to stamp her style on ALL the dinner guests with an outfit or accessory chosen by her.  I expect she will enlist her sisters to help. I might extend the theme by having all the table ware as charity shop finds too. This means that I get to go with her on the forage and won't miss out. It could be a lot of fun and will certainly provide interesting photo opportunities as well as supporting the good work that the charity jobs do.

As a bonus, it will certainly provide me with good material for a future Magpie Monday!