When thinking of a theme for Emma Grace’s first birthday party, we wanted to choose something that reflected something that brought Emma joy. It was an easy answer: a puppy paw-ty! Our little dachshund, Mia, and Emma Grace have been the best of buds ever since Emma Grace was born. Emma Grace loves to pet (or hit) Mia and other dogs, and loves to bark in her dainty, high-pitched little voice.
Once we decided on the theme, we (I) got to work searching for ideas on Pinterest. We really wanted to relate every detail to the theme and keep the cost down through DIY projects and by using Etsy vendors. So, here are some snippets from the party!
All vendors are listed at the end of the post. 🙂
We placed 3 wine barrel cocktail tables from The Olive Bench throughout our backyard for adults to gather around, enjoy conversation, and watch their kiddos. We also wanted to provide entertainment for the little ones and had several baskets of “fetch balls” scattered throughout the backyard for the kids to play with.
Indoors we had the food set up and some goodies for adults. We know that sometimes going to a “1 year old” birthday party can seem like a drag for adults, so we had a raffle for our guests. The guest that had the closest guess as to how many dog treats were in the vase, won. The prize? Dachshund wine! How fun, huh? I had stumbled across this wine in World Market with my mother a couple weeks past and we knew it would be perfect for the puppy paw-ty!
Oh, and if you can’t tell from the picture of EG above, she LOVESSSS attention. 😉
Creating the menu was one of the most fun parts! We made pink cookies with a mini dachshund cookie cutter, we made “fetch sticks” by dipping pretzels in chocolate, we had “reese’s peanut butter puffs” cereal for ‘dog food,’ we served mini corn dogs (the hit of the party), pink popcorn, and the notorious “love dip” from Central Market.
EG was very hesitant to dig into the cake at first, but once we cut a piece so she could see the cake, she got after it!
We set up a mini pool for the kids as we knew it would be hot outside in a Texas afternoon in August and this was the HIT of the party! All of the kiddos ended up playing in the water and most of them got right on in with their clothes. So fun! You can tell our little lady loved it. 🙂
While we gave away puppy chow as the adult party favors, we wanted to have something for the kiddos, too. So, we let each little one “adopt a puppy” on their way out!
Emma’s outfit: dress: custom made by kennedy’s collections (similar – you can request the bottom half to be any color!) | gap metallic knot sandals
wine barrels: the olive bench
flowers: central market
“fetch” dog toy: sample house & candle shop
dachshund wine: cost plus world market
“E” & “G” canvas signs: made with love by a friend
“emma” chair: pottery barn kids
happy birthday banner: little pumpkin papers via etsy
paper balls: target and borrowed from my MIL
menu signs: diy project, materials from michaels
golden highball glasses set (holding straws): c. wonder
pink straws: more sprinkled joy
popcorn: popcorn shack
plastic pool: petsmart
pink balls & pink baskets: dollar tree
smash cake: central market
birthday cake banner: beth’s banner boutique via etsy
pink garland behind high chair: made with love by a sweet friend
‘adopt a puppy’ dogs: oriental trading co
wooden cupcake birthday chalkboard sign: swoozies
puppy cello bags: sample house & candle shop (note: only the plano store carries these)
We had SO much fun and are so grateful to all of our friends and family that helped us celebrate, but were definitely ready for bed by the end of the night…
xo -anna & emma grace
