When I asked Romy and Piper what kind of 7th birthday party they wanted, they said “a cat and dog party”…what? I was stumped until @kaelireed helped me pull it into an actual idea. Since then, I’ve had three friends throw the exact same party for their kids, with rave reviews, so I figured I’d give it a place to live here on my website.
The way it all came about…
Right now the girls are obsessed with playing with their animals, they try to make-shift a collar and a leash for all of their stuffies, create a home or a nest, and have names for every animal they own. They’re also obsessed with coloring, drawing, and painting animals. We combined all of that for an “adopt a pet” party where they got to choose a puppy or kitty, name it, make a tag and collar/leash for it, add charms, decorate carriers, make a birthday hat for it, and then when they were done they got to paint it! I cut little doors in these “carriers” ($8.99 for a 24-pack), but if you have a bit more budget and time for shipping, I think painting these little houses ($12 for a 12-pack) would also be so cute!
Everything pictured below (literally everything I used for this party) can be ordered here, with quick shipping!!
I was nervous the party seemed cheesy, but it was the sweetest thing to watch the kids get so into it! Even the older kids or boys who came were so cute and focused. It was a million degrees – the girls have yet to have a birthday without a heat wave happening – so when they were done making all of their things, everyone swam and we BBQ’d and then had ice cream cakes that I’d ordered online the day before from Baskin Robbins – the girls’ fav. I “decorated” the cakes with cat and dog figurines that the girls were so excited to have to play with and share with friends afterwards. I think the girls will always remember this party, and I’m proud of myself for going with what they wanted 😉. I’m also so grateful for the friends who came and stayed as long as I begged them to (until bed time – I never want anyone to leave!) and are raising the best little humans for my babies to grow up with!
Everything for the first part was ordered (pretty last minute) on Amazon, and then Kaeli and Korrie created the custom paint kits through their company @whimseylandworkshop. You can reach out to them for a custom kit to fit your party, but I’ll also link some easy Amazon options below.
Literally everything you need to recreate this party is linked here – this was the easiest party I’ve thrown for them yet and I think it was also their favorite! Check out a little reel of the party here.
The ice cream cakes were a huge hit, and so easy because I didn’t have to buy/dish up ice cream with it! The girls LOVED picking their flavors. I chose their “flower garden cake” because it resembled grass and just stuck the animals on it, and I’m not joking when I say that the girls liked it better than any expensive/special custom cake I’d had made for them in the past!
For food, I bought everything from Costco and we grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and served it with chips, watermelon, salad, and baked beans. I always want to feed people because I want them to stay for a while, and a lot of our friends live a ways away so I want to make the drive worth it. To make it even easier, you can have your party at a time where you don’t have to provide a meal, just snacks! I also thought it would be cute to have food that fits the pet theme, but was struggling to know what that would be! Hot dogs? Tuna croissants (cause cats like tuna)? Gold fish? I don’t know…maybe that will spark something for you ;).
The After-Party…
My big “gift” to the girls after the part was to foster a little family of kittens, basically a real life version of the party we’d just had. If you have any capacity to do that, it’s an experience I can’t recommend enough. You can read more about our experience in my Substack here or in this reel. If you want more information about fostering, I’d start by contacting your local humane society. And if you’re local, we fostered through the San Diego Humane Society, and you can find more information about that here.
Hope that helps! if you throw a version of this party, please let me know. I’d love to see how you do it!
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