Dog Birthday Party Ideas!

Ginger, my dog, turned 4! Yes, we have some kind of party every year to celebrate her birth and the turmoil joy she brings into our lives. Is it over the top? Yes. Kind of. But, I've also been helping my friend throw her dog's birthday party which is a month before my dog's birthday and so that allows me to get two parties out of one effort. Poor Ginger didn't get a cake this year it was all about the humans but she did get a toy skunk for her present:)

We had scooby snacks on the top, puppy chow on the next level, and pup corn on the bottom level (which was filled with kettle corn....yummmy!) Toilet water was also served a.k.a. bottled water with water bottle wraps. 

 Hand stamped napkins.  Can't have a party without those!

And without further ado, the birthday girl herself, Ginger! Isn't she pretty. Poor thing, she's all beauty and no brains. Lol. But we love her and is the best kid dog ev.er. Happy 4th birthday, Ginger.

Update 2015: I now sell the puppy chow labels as a digital download in my Etsy shop.

Hand Stamped Napkins

Here are some paw hand stamped napkins I did for an upcoming dog party I was throwing.  I know.....I'm crazy! But when I have a vision there is no stopping me and now with Pinterest it is a dangerous world I live in.  I saw these napkins first here and knew I had to do them. I bought a regular o'l ink pad but it didn't give me the look I was going after.  I wanted it dark (saturated). I then tried regular craft paint that you can get at the local craft store.  It looked more like I was envisioning but I had only had dark grey and I wanted black.  Again, I've got issues but that is a whole other story. Lol. I've got a bunch of craft crap stuff so I went looking through it and found some screen printing ink that I had bought and it was black so I gave it a go and it was just right.  Let me warn you if you try this it is messy.  I did mine in my storage room on the concrete floor so if it go messy I could clean it up.

Here they are all layed out drying.

Cat Poop Cake

Ok, so for the upcoming dog party I made a cat poop cake.  Why?  Because every dog I've had loves to eat cat poop.  It is SO gross!  But since dog's really don't know it's their birthday I wanted to gear this party towards the kids. The dog's owner has two young boys. Boys love anything gross, apparently.  I wouldn't know but am learning since I have two girls.  I found this from here and she gives great instructions so I didn't feel like repeating them. By the way I copied her's exactly. You can get all the details there. I don't think she gave the cost of the litter pan and scooper (bought at Wal-mart). I paid $3.00 for the litter pan and $1.00 for the scooper = $4.00 for great presentation.  It's all about the looks, right?

Dog Party Invitation & Dog Cake!

Well I can't believe a year has already passed and so that means it's dog party time - again.  Our sweet friends love their dog. I mean really l.o.v.e. their dog.  Well at least the wife and kids do. The jury is still out for the husband.  I only say that because he thinks it is absolutely ludicrous to throw a dog a birthday party.  And while I agree it is a little outlandish I too have been known to throw my own dog a birthday party and she has also been known to get presents under the tree at Christmas just like the really babies do.  We call her our fur baby so I understand that's why I enable help her:)

Here are the invitations I came up with this year.  I used the same Weimaraner silhouette I used last year because I still think it is adorable and really the "dog" doesn't know.

Ginger's Dog Party!

 I told you Staples engineering print was my go to party decoration, right?  Well here it is again but, this time they were out of paper for the machine so instead  they printed it out on the poster machine and only charged me for the engineering print.  It definitely is a heavier weight of paper and has a glossy finish.  I would suggest this if you wanted to keep your print but for what my purpose was it was a nice "freebie" but wasn't really necessary.

 This is the best shot we could get of the birthday girl.  After this she scratched my husband and outside she went for a time out.  Then she was allowed her birthday cake.

This was her tablescape.  The cake was exactly like the previous dog cake I made (hence the whole reason she got her own dog party this year).  I just have too many things going on the week of her party.  Sorry, Ginger.  I made some chocolate paws for my girls to eat.  While I was at Hobby Lobby shopping for my other parties I saw the mold for I think under $2.  Since, I knew I had chocolate left over from the golf party I knew it would be quick and easy.

Update: I sell the banner and poster in my Etsy shop.

Dog Birthday Pictures!

I made this as a trial run for a bigger project that I'm doing for a birthday party.  It turned out great!  I was going to add a border around the edge but was too lazy to go back and have another one printed.  This was the first time I created a vector image (an image you can get really big or really small without losing quality) using Inkscape.  I thought that this silhouette of a Weimaraner really resembled the birthday dog.  I printed it at Staples using the engineer print and it cost only $3.59 and it's huge (24 x 36).  So, if you want something cheap but has big impact this is for you.  Just remember to use a vector image or it will look really pixelated and you will NOT like it.

Look at that adorable birthday card another party guest made.  I think that is a picture of their Weim and his paws on the card.   So cute! 

Can you believe I didn't get a good picture of the birthday girl?  But, I did snap this one of her with her new birthday bone!

Dog Birthday!

Our dear friends wanted to celebrate their dog's first birthday.....and who wouldn't? So, we helped out and made some of the party goods. I thought that was the least we could do since we did tag along when they took her home for the first time.  Here is the cake I made using the recipe below.  Super easy and I modified it to work with the stuff I already had in the kitchen cabinet. Easy peasy.

2-½ cups water

½ cup canned pumpkin

1 egg (slightly beaten)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup peanut butter (chunky)

3-½ cups whole wheat flour

½ cup oats

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix water, pumpkin, egg, vanilla, and peanut butter. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, and cinnamon. Mix wet and dry ingredients together and stir well. Spoon into a greased 6 inch pan till about 2/3 full. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until firm (but not too brown). Cool completely and store in an open container or paper bag in the refrigerator. I used my daughter's first birthday cake pan (a 6 inch round) and it made two of those.

As always though use common sense and don't let your pup eat the whole thing. Moderation is key. I made this and only let my dog and its guest eat a small amount. I got a cute picture of her eating it for a photo then took it away and gave her only a small chunk. Of course, they would like to eat the whole thing but it "could" upset their stomach. Since, this is different than their normal everyday diet.

I also made a little cake stand.  Guess how much?  Less than two bucks.  The plate is from Walmart less than $1....I think 86¢ to be exact and $1 candle stick from the Dollar Tree.  I spray painted it with some spray paint I already had and hot glued it on the plate. 

Here's the invite. I sell them now in my Etsy shop. She didn't want anything too formal so she just emailed it to the party goers. Personally, I would have printed those dudes out and mailed'em off. With matching envelope liners, of course. Stay tuned for pictures of the actual party.  I loved helping out because this makes it so easy for my own doggies party coming up in April.  Hard work is already done!