Poodle Party: Huxtable's 1st Dog Birthday

Huxtable's 1st birthday / Dog Birthday Party.

Toy Parti Poodle birthday party

I wanted to do a little something for baby Hux's first birthday. At first I planned to do a shindig at the park with a few of Hux's "friends" from the neighborhood as well as the dogs of friends and family, which would have totaled to about 10 dogs. But I later decided to make it a small and intimate gathering this year, with only family dogs.

Color / Theme: Baby blue, gold, and white.

Location: Originally, when it was going to be bigger I planned to have it outside at the park down the street, but when it was decided to be a family gathering I had it at my mum's place. She hasn't had a "kids" birthday party at our family home in years so I knew it'd be a sentimental and thoughtful gesture. (she loooves Huxtable, lol)

Decor: I wanted to be hands on with a lot of the decor as well as keep myself on a budget. While planning I got some inspiration from online, particularly Huxtable's "Dog Birthday Party" Pinterest page. For example, I made the tassel garland by hand from tissue paper and twine. It looks much better than anything I could have bought from a store and I was able to personalize it with the theme colors.  The "Huxtable" sign, was a spur of the moment last minute addition, that we were able to make from tissue paper and streamer paper! It made as a super cute backdrop for photos. Another original idea I had was to spray paint dog bowls gold (a soft latte gold), then spray paint them again with gold glitter spray paint, and finally I added the paw detail that was made from baby blue felt. Other items of decor included the table cloth, streamers, and balloons. Oh and how can I forget my vintage gold and mirror perfume tray that I used to display the dog cupcakes. 

Wardrobe: Huxtable and his guests wore little dog bow-ties. And we made party hats made from scrap book paper and tassel garland (that was made from tissue). 

Party Favors: Squeaky dessert dog toy and gourmet dog cookies, wrapped in a gold dog bowl. 

Food: Dog cheese puffs (pupcorn), gourmet dog treats, and peanut butter organic dog cupcake from a local bakery. (Human food: Kept it simple and dog-themed with a variety of hot dogs, chips, scooby snacks, and cupcakes from the local bakery). 

 Hux & his cousin Meko eating their organic peanut butter and carrot dog cupcakes from a local bakery, OMG Cupcakes. His other cousin and "uncle" who are much bigger were outside running around when we were taking photos, lol.  

All in all it was a fun time. Hux's party was a great excuse to have a family gathering :)

As mentioned above, while planning Hux's dog birthday party I created a board on Pinterest for inspiration. I found great photos of other birthday party for dogs (from simple single dog parties to over the top large ones) as well as general diy party decor ideas, you can check it out here. I got most of the items from Michaels, Party City, and Dollar Tree. I honestly didn't realize how much stuff Dollar Tree's had, I remember reading about a woman who decorated her entire wedding from there and I can totally see how as long as you have a good eye. Plus, I love how everything was literally a dollar! This is probably common knowledge to most, but I had no idea, lol, it was fun to finally explore a dollar store. Also, Michael's online coupons came in handy, I was able to double up and get 40% off my most expensive item as well as 30% the entire purchase. I was even able to get the food at a discount (cupcakes from a posh bakery and gourmet treats from a high-end dog store) by using deals from Scoutmob and Loafdeals-- both are "groupon" type websites that give discounts to local places. For example, you pay $10 for $20 worth of food or merchandise, which is like getting half off. And it just so happened that all the human food I wanted was also on sale, "Buy One, Get One" at Publix, so that meant that it was also half off.  I was able to have a darling little party for my dear little boy at a reasonable cost.

Dog birthday balloons, Emma Doodles All-Natural dog treats (cheezy-chic, cheezy-beef, peanut butter, and wheat free honest which ended up being Hux's favorite), and a few of Huxtable's gifts! Gifts are definitely the unexpected bonus to having your little pooch a birthday party.