It’s a puppy pawty! This DIY party on a budget came together like a dream, and I’m excited to share all of the Adopt a Puppy party ideas and tips with you!
My oldest daughter just turned 10 (I can’t believe it! I feel so old!). She adores animals and she loved the idea of an “Adopt a Puppy” party, where each of her friends could take home a plush puppy.
Easy DIY Puppy Party Decor
We started with the colors of hot pink, light pink, light blue and black, and then I designed a whole set of party printables to coordinate everything. The puppy party printables package is now available in my Etsy shop, along with some items available individually to suit your needs!
We used these puppy party printables to get the party decor started:
- “Let’s Pawty” banner
- Flag bunting
- Puppy party tent cards
- 5×7 puppy party signs
- “Adopt a Puppy” 8×10 sign
- Puppy party water bottle wrappers
DIY Puppy Party Backdrop
For the party table backdrop, I made a DIY balloon arch using dollar store balloons in our party colors. You could also add in these paw print balloons for a special touch!
If your party table is against a wall, you can hang the balloon arch with removable sticker hooks like Command hooks.
But if your table is outdoors or without a wall behind it, you’ll need something to hang your balloons from, or you could use helium-filled balloons. I used a DIY pvc pipe backdrop stand, which my husband made for me a few years ago. You can find instructions for one through Pinterest.
The second part of the party table backdrop is my DIY “chalkboard” backdrop with paw prints, which was very affordable! I used three black foam boards from the dollar store, created a cardstock paw print stencil with my Silhouette machine, and then filled in paw prints with a white paint pen.
To hold the boards up without a wall, I put wood crates on the table behind them, and then taped them to the crates.
Other party supplies you’ll need for this setup include:
- 6 foot buffet table
- White tablecloth
- Cake stand or cupcake stand
- Serving platters
- Paper party treat cups
- White or black 5×7″ tabletop frames
Puppy Party Treats
I went with two easy store-bought treats and two, fairly easy, DIY treats that go with the puppy party theme.
These “Chew Sticks” are cinnamon straws (flaky pastries) that I bought from the bakery and added some stripes of blue icing to tie in with the party colors.
These “Biscuits” are just delicious chocolate cookies from the bakery!
The “Cocoa Kibbles” are a DIY treat using Corn Pops cereal, Nutella and a few other ingredients. Here’s the recipe I started with, but substituted Corn Pops for the corn chex cereal.
The “Pupcorn” is a twist on my favorite Cake Batter Popcorn — using Cherry Chip cake mix and pink food coloring for an extra pop of color and flavor! These are sooo good!
Sticking to the budget, and also not wanting to use my oven in the middle of the summer, I went with bakery cupcakes and a mini Oreo cake.
I just added some pink cupcake wrappers, and a few little dog figures as cake toppers, and voila, they matched the party theme perfectly!
Puppy Party Activities
Adopt A Puppy
I set up an “Adopt A Puppy” station, with all of the adorable plush puppies sitting in a little pen wearing matching party hats. So cute right?!
The garden fencing is from the dollar store.
I looked all around for nice plush puppies that fit my budget. I found these ones at Winners for a great price and they’re really great quality. They’re called Sad Sam and Honey 🙂
I also found some plush puppy party favors on Amazon and seriously considered them, but the pack comes with more than I needed and they were smaller than I wanted. But they might be exactly what you’re looking for, so I’ve linked them for you to check out.
Next to the puppy pen I set up a small table with a framed “Adopt a Puppy” sign and some matching Puppy Adoption Certificates for each guest to fill out. The girls lined up to choose their pup, and then filled out the certificates with their chosen names and all the details.
Make A Collar and Dog Tag Craft
After officially adopting their new puppy, they made a little collar and decorated a dog tag for it. I set out pre-cut pieces of colorful paracord (from Walmart’s craft isle), plus little round wood keychains from the dollar store.
They decorated the tags using colored Sharpie markers and stickers. This was a really simple craft to prep and make, and the kids absolutely loved it!
FREE Puppy Party Printables!
Bonus for you if you’ve read this far! I’m linking up my plush puppy party hats and the 5×7 “Adopt a Puppy” sign here for you to download, free! Just click the links below to open the files, and then you can download or print them instantly.
And remember, you can get all of the matching party printables from my shop! See the whole collection here 🙂
I hope you enjoyed these puppy party ideas and found some inspiration for your own puppy pawty! Thanks for reading!
If you have any questions about this party please leave a comment below! And if you liked this party, please PIN it to save for later and share the love!
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1 Comment
Awesome ideas. Many thanks for a such detailed description.