Dog/ Cat party....my daughter had  animal birthday parties since she's been old enough to give input. Her 8th birthday would be no exception...however, instead of having the traditional 35 kids in the backyard, she was doing her first sleepover!!  This was one of the simplest yet most rewarding parties ever!! I went to the teacher supply store and bought a ream of brown paper--totally covered our entertainment room with brown paper and turned it into the "dog house"--this was where they would sleep over.  They decorated their own mini cakes made to look like dog bones.(basically I just made the cakes in mini bread loaf pans and cut wedges out of the ends to give it that BONE look) We decorated dog bowls with their names and pictures of little fishy's and dog bones...Again, from the dollar store I had gotten plain headbands and had the girls make up their dog ears.  Then they face painted themselves with "spots"....watched 101 Dalmatians and generally enjoyed each other. The big surprise to everyone however--was the invitations---please no gifts--bring dog and cat food.  (Seriously, how many bead kits can a girl really have?) My daughter loved the idea and we made sure she didn't feel cheated....the next day she had a special trip to the SPCA with a special tour. The sense of pride she walked away from was better than any gift....