For my daughter's 7th birthday party, we had a dog and cat theme.  The invitations were store-bought with cute cartoon dogs and cats on the front with the sayings "It's a party!", "You're invited!", "Please come!" scattered across it in different areas.  I typed up this in cute font to match the inside font:     Join us for some doggone fun at (name)'s dog and cat birthday party!    It's sure to be a purr-fect day!  We'll play some a-mewsing games and have a howling good time in the bounce house!  Instead of a gift for (name), we would be grateful if you could bring a gift for a dog or cat that is with the Animal Rescue Fund awaiting adoption.  We hope picking out a gift for one of these animals will be fun and rewarding! If you need ideas, the Animal Rescue Fund has provided us with their wish list:  Dry dog and cat food (Iams or Science Diet please) Dry kitten and puppy food (Iams or Science Diet please) Cat litter (scoopable, hard-clumping type) Dog biscuits/treats Collars and leashes Chew bones (no rawhide please) I added some paw prints clip art and cut it out with scalloped edge scissors and then glued that info to the top half of the inside of the invitation.  I filled in the pre-printed info blanks on the bottom half with date, time, etc. My daughter placed paw print stickers on the back of the envelopes. I made sure to use the "Happy Birthday" postage stamps.  We held the party at a local children's dance studio because I wanted plenty of room for them to run around during the games. Set up time was limited, so decorations only included a Happy Birthday sign and pictures of puppies and kittens that were taken from a calendar and taped up, and a stuffed dog and cat.  There were 2 bunches of balloons, one included a dog mylar balloon and the other a cat mylar balloon. When the kids arrived they could select a dog or cat headband (bought from the Just a Dollar store) if they wanted and get a paw print stamp on their hand or face. There were 2 jars of goodies to "guess how many" there were.  One was full of "cat treats" (colored goldfish crackers) and the other was full of "dog treats" (Scooby Doo graham cracker bones).  The pen used to write their name and guess down with had a cat on the top of it. There was also a stainless steel dog bowl of each of these snacks set out on a table by the entrance to the room for them to munch on.  I also had an autograph dog for everyone to sign. The pen used for signing autographs was in the shape of a dog bone. They played in the bounce house for a while and then we started the games.  First, they did the freeze dance to the song "Who Let the Dogs Out?" They loosened up, giggled, and had a lot of fun with it. Then they played a team relay game with a dog biscuit on a spoon (like the egg on a spoon relay) where they went around a chair and back. Next was another team relay game where they ran and ducked through hula hoops, touched the wall and came back through the hula hoops and tagged the next player. Then they played a tag game called "Dog, Dog, what are you doing?" The kids hold hands in a circle around the person who is IT and ask that question. The Dog replies with an action answer such as "Eating my supper" or "Scratching my ear" or "Chewing on a bone".  When the Dog answers "Chasing you" though everyone runs.  The person the Dog tags becomes the next Dog.  The answers the kids came up with were really cute. The next game was a version of "Duck, duck, goose", only they said "Cat, cat, dog".  Then they played "Leap Cat" (aka Leap Frog).  After that we sat down at the table. We handed out ice cream in bowls and had a race to see who could finish first.  The trick was that they didn't have any spoons - they lapped it up like cats. The kids absolutely loved this part! We had plenty of face wipes available!  They wanted to eat their cake without any forks too but I said they ought to use forks for the cake! The cake (made at a local bakery) was decorated with a cat playing with a ball of string on one side and a dog playing with a bone on the other.  There were paw prints in icing around the entire outer part of the cake.  The plates and napkins were dogs and cats wearing sunglasses and party hats and balloons (some got cats, some got dogs). After singing "Happy Birthday" we passed out cake and a bowl of "dog food" to everyone. They are called "Kooky Chews" and look like a little plastic dog bowl full of dog kibbles and a bone.  The bone is candy and the kibbles are tasty graham treats.  The kids and adults alike got a big kick out of them! Everyone wanted to know where I got them at - it was birthdaydirect.com.  At the end I announced the winners of the "guess how many are in the jars" contest. Since we didn't open presents, there was some time available at the end for some of the kids to play in the bounce house for a little while longer before leaving. For the goody bags, I designed a sticker for the front of them using my computer. I had purchased some sticker paper in a stardust (sparkly silver) pattern from the dollar store. Each sticker had a dog with its arm around a cat and below them it said, "Thanks for coming to (name)'s party" and paw prints were going up both sides of it. I cut them out and placed them on the front of a red paper bag.  Inside each was a kitten bean bag and a puppy bean bag (from Oriental Trading Co.), a bendable dog and cat, and a miniature plastic dog and cat and little bags of candy bones.  Also included was a cellophane treat bag filled with gummy fish and tied with a ribbon and a round piece of paper I also made on the computer that had a cat with a mouse and fish bones and other cat things that read, "Because you are so sweet, we hope you enjoy this "cat" treat." I folded over the top of the red paper bag and punched 2 holes in the top and threaded silver sparkly ribbon to match the silver sparkly sticker and tied a bow. It turned out really pretty. They also took their dog or cat headband with them.  The party was fun for everyone and actually easy to do.  Since so many people love animals, they were glad to bring donations. We collected 17 bags of premium dog and cat food, 4 tubs of cat litter, 12 collars, 5 leashes, 2 dog bowls, 9 toys, 5 packages of chew bones, litter pan liners, cat treats and LOTS and LOTS of dog treats!  We sent thank you letters to everyone that I made on the computer with a dog and cat sitting on the edge of "Echo Canyon" saying "Thank you" and having it echoed back to them.  My daughter wrote in the child's name and then signed her name below the part that thanked them for their donation. At the bottom I added: All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all.            -Cecil F. Alexander My daughter added paw print stickers to the back on the envelopes once again.  When we gave the items to the East Texas Animal Rescue Fund, they were surprised at the amount and very appreciative. They took a picture of her with the donations and holding one of their puppies and plan to include the picture in their next newsletter.  They said they will send us one of the newsletters. We videotaped it of course because it was indeed a special moment.  I was very proud of her!