Monday, July 22, 2013

puppy party for Reed’s 4th birthday

treats

Hope you had a great weekend!

I’ll be honest. I am dog-gone tired {pun-intended}. We had Reed’s birthday party on Saturday. It was inspired by all things puppies. He is pretty much obsessed with all things dogs these days, so when I asked him what kind of birthday party he wanted and he said a blue {his favorite color} dog party, this is what I came up with.  I really do love hosting and coming up with creative ideas for food, activities & decor, but putting it all together is still tiring nonetheless. I always think I am going to make it “simple”, but I just can’t. It’s not in my nature, ha ha.

I thought I would share the details of the party. I thought things turned out really cute. We had it at our home, because I think there is something so lovely & comforting about opening your home to your guests {despite recently moving in}.

I found these really charming evites through paperlesspost.com. Finally, an online invitation that looks like you could actually send it in the mail {and some of the designs you actually can}.
So this is what the receivers saw when they opened their invite {with their respective names, of course}:

Puppy Party invite envelope{used the ASPCA “stamp” that dontates 5 cents for every invitation sent}

Puppy Party Invite

puppy party invite message   {we decided a couple years ago that receiving gifts at the parties is just all too much…and frankly, spending the time with people you care about is the best birthday gift of all, and you know what? Reed not once asked where any gifts were}

  
pawty sign
{little sign at the top of the hill to direct guests through our back gate}

dog house copy {Jeff built this out of two cardboard boxes, we have a few of those around here…and I decorated it}

banner 
Table {set up the long table on our screened porch and dog faces & ears on balloons, by yours truly…the sad artist that I am…}

Reeds Pawty Sign 
adopt a puppy

treat table 
treat table 2

bark {Barefoot Contessa’s French Chocolate Bark recipe}

bones 2 {bone shaped rice krispie treats}

fetch sticks 2{pretzel rods dipped in chocolate with bone sprinkles}

puppy chow 2  {everyone has heard of puppy chow, right?}

bone sippy cups

reed and puppy 2  {happy guest of honor with his new adopted "puppy"}

I think everyone enjoyed themselves, kids & adults alike. :) We had hoped to have more of the party outside with it being summer, but it was sooooo ridiculously humid. The kids played outside a bit in the dog house and then we hid some “dog bones” made out of poster board and gave the kids clues where they were hidden, but other than that, they played in the playroom we created on the first floor and upstairs in Reed’s room while the adults hung out in the kitchen where the food and beverages {if you know what I mean"} were. :)

28 comments:

  1. What an adorable party! I am definitely stealing your "adopt a puppy" idea for favors. We are having a Hello Kitty party for my two year old and I will do an "adopt a kitty". Thanks for the inspiration! Having friends that volunteer at our local Humane Society, I also appreciate the sentiment in lieu of gifts.

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  2. Thanks! Hope your Hello Kitty party goes well. I remember Hello Kitty when I was growing up. Glad to see the "classics" are still around. :)

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  3. My daughter is OVER the moon for this idea you've created! You've thought up adorable ideas for this theme! She's turning 6 in december and adores dogs! May I ask where you found the dog water bottles? Thank you!

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    Replies
    1. Oh I am so glad she is excited about having a dog party. I found the bone water bottles at Birthday Express-http://www.birthdayexpress.com/Bone-Cup-8-oz/50965/PartyItemDetail.aspx
      Hope the party goes great!

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  4. I am doing a puppy theme for my sons bday party and found this on Pinterest, I love your ideas! Where did you find so many stuffed animals and those water bottles?? I'd really appreciate the tips!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Nicole. I found the stuffed animals at Stuffed Safari-http://www.stuffedsafari.com/Stuffed-Dogs-and-Plush-Dogs-s/1.htm. They have a great selection and amazing customer service. The water bottles came from birthday express-http://www.birthdayexpress.com/Bone-Cup-8-oz/50965/PartyItemDetail.aspx.
      Hope your son has a great party.

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  5. I absolutely love the adopt a puppy party favor. cutest thing ever! Just pinned.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Allison! What young child doesn't love a stuffed animal, right?

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  6. Hi Heather,
    I can't thank you enough for these amazing ideas! My daughter is turning 8 in two weeks and is so crazy about dogs (even though we don't have one at home). I found your blog through pinterest and will be "stealing" some of your ideas for our party if you don't mind. Thank you!!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Gabi, I don't mind at all. Hope your daughter has a great party! :)

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    2. Hi Heather. where did you buy the dog stuffed animals and approx. how much were they each?

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  7. Mr & Mrs Smith,
    I found the stuffed animal puppies at stuffed safari online. I think they were about $5 each. Some less, some more. Hope that helps.

    Heather

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  8. Like the others, I saw this on pinterest. I am planning an Animal party for my 9 year old daughter. We are actually touring the Mansell Humane center as part of the party. Saw the address on your evite - such a small world! Love the puppy adoption idea!

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  9. Hello,

    My name is Christal and I'm an editorial assistant at Red Tricycle, the local and national digital guide for parents. We would love to feature your amazing Puppy Party for our Wild Animal Birthday Bash round up.

    The story will feature several animal themed birthday parties, and we'd love to include yours! We would publish only one photo without a watermark, but will link readers back to your site for the full story and credit you as well.

    Let me know if this is okay with you! If it is, may we get a copy of this photo: http://lh4.ggpht.com/-uh1ruyOffPE/Ue2BrV_pDDI/AAAAAAAAEAE/aozhxkMkTJU/adopt%252520a%252520puppy_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800 without the watermark?

    I look forward to hearing from you. You can also reach me at christal@redtri.com

    Best,
    Christal

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  10. Hi Heather!
    I'm a writer at SheKnows.com working on a post about 20 great kids' birthday party ideas. Your puppy party is beautiful and I was hoping I could include one photo of the party from your website, as well as links to your website and 1-2 tips from you from your site on how to make this theme work.

    I look forward to hearing from you -- thanks! Lisa

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  11. HI there...could you please share where you got the puppies? Thanks

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  12. This puppy party theme is great and I liked your donation ideas for dogs. My child too love puppies and want to have similar theme for his birthday party that I will be arrange at one of local New York venues. Definitely he will love it.

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