ONE DOGGONE BIRTHDAY

The Ten Party Project will be just as it sounds: I'll host ten parties in 2010. The parties will range from small dinners to all-out celebrations. All will have similar set-ups including: invitations, entertainment, food, decor, and budget. I'll recap (and sometimes plan) them here on the blog with full budget breakdowns.

For party #5, we celebrated the birthday of our one-year-old border collie, Jazz. As I mentioned previously, I'm not usually one to make a big deal out of pet birthdays, but this was just too good of an excuse to have a party and also cater to a unique crowd -- dogs and their owners.

The Birthday Boy - surviving the heat -- and the humiliation

Party #5:

Doggone Birthday Party

Invitations:

I designed the invitations myself using Adobe Illustrator and InDesign and printed them out on thick cardstock. I used a set of A9, pool-colored envelopes and lined them with blue wrapping paper. Most of our invitees were our neighbors (who see Jazz most often), so it was very easy to hand deliver them two weeks before the party.

Entertainment:

Dogs are pretty entertaining in and of themselves, but I was fortunate that one of my coworkers was able to attend with her two dogs. Gloria has a golden retriever, Jake, and a sheltie, Joey, who are both obedience and agility competitors. So, Gloria and her husband brought their agility training gear and set up a little course in our backyard. Joey did a little agility demonstration for our guests and then all the other dogs were encouraged to try jumping the jumps, weaving the poles and running through the tunnel.

I also set up a little crafting station where people could decorate a picture frame with sharpies and lacquered dog bones to put a photo of their furry friend.

Jazz and our neighbor, Molly (they play soccer through the fence together)

Craft frame table set up

Food:

This was the most fun part of the party planning for me. For human food I just did simple snacks from my local bakery with the addition of a birthday cake I made and decorated. For the canine treats I found some of the cutest snacks at our local PetCo Treat Bar -- many that looked like human treats! You can get a variety for $4.00 a pound. I also went to Paws Cafe, a local pet store that makes %100 fresh/ human grade pet food, and picked up some food patties that I transformed into pupcakes. These were basically shredded cooked chicken, peas, carrots, and gravy. I made the icing by mixing a little plain yogurt with some cottage cheese and then piped it onto the pupcakes --- and topped with a cherry-like treat.

A decorated table full of yummy goodies

Doggy treats

More yummy doggy treats

Decor:
I made an inexpensive garland from twine and tablecloths (from the Dollar Tree) that went all the way around our fence. There were also some fun colored table linens with party hats scattered around for people/dogs to wear if they felt so inclined.

Marley, one of our canine guests

Favors:

Each dog got a "thank you" bag from Jazz that included some treats and a couple of toys. Some of the toys I purchased from the Dollar Tree, but I also made each dog a toy from some fleece and a plastic bottle (tutorial to come)

Pupcakes!!!

Jazz's Birthday cake - complete with mini-bunting and a mini-Jazz

Budget Breakdown:

Invites

Paper = on hand
Envelopes = $4.00
Liners = on hand

Total = $4.00

Food
Human Treats (brownies, cookies, cake & ice cream) = $10.00
Doggy Treats (from PetCo Treat Bar) = $5.00
Pupcakes = $7.00
Total = $22.00

Drinks
Sweet Tea = $2.00
Lemonade = $2.00

Hose water for the dogs = FREE

Total = $4.00

Favors
Dog toys = $8.00

Homemade Dog Toys = $3.00

Total = $11.00

Grand Total: $41.00

$41.00/17 guests (human & canine) = $2.41 per guest

Lessons Learned:

1. Not all dogs are social dogs. We are very fortunate that Jazz is a very social puppy. Not only was he happy to have lots of other dogs in his yard, but he even took them on a tour -- "Haaay guys! Lets go to the front yard! Here's my tree, here's the potty spot, here's a bush, here's my pile of sticks....". But, we had several dogs who opted not to attend because they don't do very well in large groups of other dogs. This wasn't really a positive, or negative, thing, just an observation and I'm grateful to those owners who took responsibility of their dogs.
2. Extreme heat can complicate even the best of parties. In an odd summer heatwave (98 degrees in Seattle??? WHAT?!?!?) it was a little tough having an outdoor-only party. The sun beat down on our backyard pretty hard and people retreated to the little shade we had early in the afternoon. Even the dogs spent most of their time sprawled out on the grass near the water bowls. The warm summer sunshine just made the cold ice cream taste that much better ---- if you could eat it fast enough before it melted!
3. I'm still doing a horrible job of taking photos at these parties. Amid all the hostessing, I forget to grab the camera and get photos of even the little things. This time around, I remembered to get photos of the food before it all got eaten, but I was too busy playing with the dogs to get photos of them. Perhaps I shall hire an assistant for the next party to ensure I get lots of photos....and perhaps that assistant's name will be Davey.

What are your thoughts on throwing parties for pets?

How would you handle a bunch of furry guests?