4322

The Dalmatians -2yr- Dalmatian Spotted Balloons

July 2002

Jennifer  in Flower Mound, TX

My daughter Riley just turned two. For her birthday party we used a Dalmatian theme.

We had it at a local kids' gym that is primarily red. The gym provided the invitations, but I added Dalmatian stickers and dots to them to go along with the theme. I printed the labels in red and added a paw print. 

The gym has a VCR in the lobby area so I rented a Disney Sing along Dalmatian video. It was hilarious! I made a huge banner on white bulletin board paper that said Happy 2nd Birthday Riley! It was red with black spots all over. I decorated with the Birthday Express Dalmatian spotted balloons. They were the perfect touch.

I acessorized with red solids. There were helium balloons on every chair and throughout the gym. (The balloons were wonderful! They arrived quickly and with no hassles.) I didn't love the 102 Dalmatians partyware so I purchased the napkins and used black and white plates and red silverware.

I had red bowls for the kids to eat their puppychow from. The puppy food was a chex mix, cocoa puffs, chocolate rice krispies, and mini Oreo cookies. I bought the Dalmatian cups from the local party store. We served red Kool-Aid.

The cake was incredible! It was a dog bowl that said Riley across the front. Then, in the bowl, there were sugar cookies. Each cookie was a dog bone that had a child's name on it. I also served cupcakes. Some were paw prints and others had white chocolate dog bones on the tops! They were so cute!

Finally, party favors. I took headbands (bought from the local dollar store - cheap!) and hot glued Dalmatian ears onto them. I made the ears out of white foam. I painted the spots with black paint. I also cut out dog bones from the foam. I wrote each child's name on the "dog bone" then ran a red plastic string through it.

The kids wore them as dog tags. They were precious. I put the cups, dog tags and dog-ears into white paper bags that I also added spots to.  The girls that work at this gym were fantastic. They had games to play with pretend dog bones. They had the kids run like Dalmatians. Even the gymnastics part tied into the theme of the party.

To top off the day, we had a Dalmatian piñata. I had the kids put all of their candy in a big bowl them I divided it up evenly. There was such a variety of ages, that was the fairest way.  All in all, it was a wonderful party. Thank you notes were pictures of the child covered with Contact paper. I added stickers and the thank you to the back.

Months later she still talks about the puppies and her "'nastics" party. Thanks for all of the ideas!

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