Puppy Dog & Kitty Cat Birthday Party

Sidney turned 4 earlier this month and Ava turns 6 in April.  Somehow I got away with combining their birthday parties this year!  It helped that the themes they chose went well together.  Puppies and Kitties!  To be honest, I wasn't very inspired by the themes at first.  I was content to just get some good food and a nice cake and forget about all the decorating and activities.

Then I thought to myself, "I'll just take a peek on Pinterest and see if there are any easy, cute ideas."  Of course there are!!!  What was I thinking?  Everything snowballed from there. I couldn't stop myself.  Here's what I came up with...

PART 1: PET STATIONS

Station 1: Ava and Sidney's Pet Shop

The kids got to choose a dog or cat to adopt from Ava and Sidney's Pet Shop. 

Once they found their new pet, they filled out their Certificate of Adoption.

See below for info about purchasing the templates that I created.

Station 2: Ava and Sidney's Pet Supply Store

The Pet Supply Store has all the things you'll need for your new pet including cat snacks, dog treats, leashes, collars and ID tags!

I added some cat stickers to the snack baggies filled with Goldfish crackers.

Clara couldn't care less about all the cute dog and cat stuff, but she was VERY excited to have her own giant bag of Goldfish!

And I added dog stickers to the snack baggies filled with Scooby Snacks.

I used our Rainbow Loom to make the collars and I bought the charms (i.e.; ID tags) at Hobby Lobby.

To make the leashes, I used ribbon, 24MM split rings, swivel lobster clasps and Liquid Stitch (in lieu of a sewing machine).  It was super easy - I made them one night while watching my DVR'd shows.

This is how it looks put together.

Super cute - I loved how they turned out!

Station 3: Sidney and Ava's Pet Grooming

At the Pet Grooming station, the kids got to pick a wash bin to clean their pets.

The spray bottle was empty.

I found the pink bins, spray bottle and blue sponges at Dollar Tree.  The rest of the stuff I had at home.

The kids got to take home their pets and other goodies in their wash bin.

Station 4: Sidney and Ava's Animal Hospital

At the last station, the kids got to take their pet to the Vet for an exam and shots (yikes!).

I collected all our toy doctor tools from home - stethoscopes, thermometers, blood pressure cuffs, tongue suppressors,  medicine dispensers, tweezers and shots - for the kids to use during the exam.

As the kids did their exam, they could fill out a check-up report for their pet.

The whole sha-bang:

I set up the four stations on small tables in our Sun Room.

PART 2: PHOTO BOOTH

The last thing I made was a Photo Booth.

To make the back drop, I found brown shipping paper in rolls at Dollar Tree.  Then I used circle hole punches and black card stock to make cat and dog paw prints.  I double stick taped them to the brown paper and hung it on a wall.

I used the cat ears that I made for Ava's Hello Kitty Party.  To make the dog ears, I cut dog-shaped ears out of felt, leaving a small rectangular piece at the top that I hot glue gunned to a head band.  Then I cut out small circles from different colored felt and used Liquid Stitch to adhere them to the ears.  If you need more help, follow this guide.

It turned out pretty cute!

I also made a runner for the table with the extra brown paper.

And as you can see, I hung pictures of the girls during the past year all over our kitchen.  They LOVE to see pictures of themselves and ask a million of the same questions: "When can we go strawberry picking again?" "When can we go to the beach again?" "When can we go to the Cardinals game again?"  You get it.

PART 3: OUTFITS

I got lucky and found Ava and Sidney's outfits at Gymboree on sale!  They happened to have a cat line of clothing this winter that had a matching tutu.

Purple is Sidney's favorite color too!  The tights were my favorite - there is a little cat face on the bum!

Then I went back to Gymboree a few weeks later when their spring clothes came out and they had this cute puppy dog birthday outfit with a matching tutu on sale!

Pink is Ava's favorite color - it's like Gymboree is in my head!  I bought some pink leggins to go under the skirt too.

PART 4: DESSERT

And last but not least, the cake!

I leave this to the professionals!  There is a great bakery near our house, McArthur's, and they make the most delicious cakes.  The dog and cat toys came from our Dora the Explorer doll house stuff. 

PART 5: TEMPLATES

If you'd like to purchase all of the PDF templates that I used:
1. Click the link below to my Paypal account to pay the $5 for the templates
2. Leave your email address, the name of your son/daughter (so I can edit your files) and the files you're requesting in the PayPal comments. 
My turnaround time is 1-2 days.  
I can also tailor the files for other animals if you are not using dogs and cats.

Click this link: https://www.paypal.me/CReeves/5

One last thing...

Just like last year after Sidney's Painting birthday party, we got SNOW!  In late March!  At least this year it was not as much as last year though!  Regardless, I think we are overdue for summer, or at least spring.