Two fun Tablescapes for My Puppy’s 1st Birthday – one for Our People Friends and One for Our Dog Friends!!

Happy 1st Birthday Simba!!!!

Celebrating Simba

When I was planning this week’s tablescape, I wasn’t quite certain whether I wanted to do a Mother’s Day table first, or a tablescape for our puppy’s 1st birthday. But as I was browsing ideas, I saw a recipe for “Pupcakes” which are basically healthy cupcakes for dogs. I took that as a sign that it should be Simba’s Birthday celebration first. Immediately, I began to search Amazon for some cute puppy birthday items. I was surprised to find that Amazon had cups, plates, napkins, garland and cake toppers with dogs who look just like Simba on them. Simba is an English Cream Golden Retriever. It was fun to realize just how personalized this party could be.

My original thought was to invite two or three dogs to the party, and about 4 people. I had wanted to invite my grandpuppy but due to her food allergies I thought maybe we should invite her for a later playdate instead. But then, as I read the recipe and the recipe blogger’s story about a very hectic dog party with 20 Goldens, I thought maybe we should do 3 individual small celebrations, instead of one big one.

Pupcake Recipe

The pupcake recipe I used was found at RecipeTin Eats – see link below.

Pupcakes! (Dog cupcakes with “frosting”)

After finding the recipe, I texted my good friend, Susan who is also the seamstress extraordinaire who helps me design and sew my skeleton and Mickey and Minnie outfits. She is also “mom” to one of Simba’s best friends – Maggie. They had a day free and were game to come bake cupcakes for humans and Pupcakes for dogs with us! Doing this together would make it a lot more fun for both humans and canines! So, after we scheduled our baking day I moved on to planning the tablescape(s).

Party Supplies

I chose a party pack for the party with dog garland and paper plates, cupcake decorations and other items. I was very excited with the English Cream Golden – like Simba – that was on the plates, napkins, cupcake decorations and garland. It looks just like Simba did when he arrived at our house at 19 weeks.

I also chose a backdrop, and a few other items.

I decided to use the tablecloth, table runner, chargers and dinner plate that I used in the below tablescape from last week.

Hola!!! Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse & Friends Celebrate Cinco de Mayo!!!

I started taking down the Cinco de Mayo decorations in preparation for Simba’s party, although I do hope to put the Cinco de Mayo items back up for the Cinco de Mayo holiday on May 5th.

Originally I thought I would have the dogs sit on the “people” chairs at the dining table, but as I looked at Simba’s long 80 lb. body, I realized it would be physically impossible for him to fit on one of our dining chairs. I decided the pups should have their own table and tablescape.

The Puppy Table

The day that Susan and Maggie were coming to decorate, bake and party, I pulled out a 100 quart hefty storage bin and decided to use that as my table for dogs. This would allow the dogs to sit on the floor and eat off their own “table”. I used a birthday balloon tablecloth from HEB (a great Texas grocery store) for the puppy table. I had to cut the tablecloth’s length and tape a sort of hem in the middle of the tablecloth to get the width to fit well. I added a back drop behind the table. I did not set the table as our dog seems to eat everything that is not stored above 5′ high.

When Susan arrived we continued with the garland – which was too short for my window, and needed to be merged with the garland I had purchased in advance for my husky grandpuppy’s next birthday. Susan inflated the “Woof” balloons for the window and hung more dog decorations from the light fixture, giving it a “mobile” look. I made the paper hats for the plush dogs (some of these dogs I have had for a long time, and others were collected for a dog Christmas table in 2022).

The Plate Stack

Dog Napkin Rings

Dog Napkin Rings with puppy napkins were added beside each plate. The Napkin Rings are ones I found on eBay and Etsy. Some are vintage and some are reproductions of vintage ones.

I love the detail on each.

The Plush Dog Centerpieces

The plush dogs were given their party hats and placed around the table and Dining room.

Baking our Cupcakes

We had a good time baking our cupcakes. Susan made the pupcakes, and I made the human version.

The dogs contributed by licking the bowl.

As the Pupcakes cooled on the island, one of the dogs, I won’t say who – just couldn’t wait to sample them and he or she knocked about 1/2 to the floor. We rescued the cupcakes, then frosted them and got ready for the “party”.

Party 1

We put the dogs outside for a few minutes and decided to call them in one at a time so we could photograph them in party hats and eating their pupcakes.

Simba was first, as he is the “Birthday Boy”

Simba’s first Pupcake

Maggie’s First Pupcake

Simba and Maggie Celebrate Together

It’s unclear who enjoyed the party the most – Simba, Maggie, Susan or I, but it was a very fun day as we laughed our way thru teaching the dogs the fine art of partying!!!!!

Party 2 – with our friend Nala and her grandmother

As I mentioned earlier, I decided to do multiple small parties for Simba rather than one large party, so that Simba would have more fun playdates and things would be more fun for everyone. Simba seemed to really enjoy having multiple friends stop over.

The second party happened two days after the first. The guests were two friends of mine – a grandmother, and her granddaughter. They have been some of Simbas most loyal visitors. They visited when Simba had recently arrived and weighed only 19 lbs. and they have visited many times since. This has been so good for Simba and great for me too!

On the night of the party 2, Nala and her grandmother came over for dessert. Nala had picked out two wonderful Kong toys for Simba – a tug of war toy, and a soft frisbee. Simba loves both toys!!! Nala also made an adorable card.

After opening presents we had Pupcakes for Simba, and some cupcakes for the humans too.

Then, Simba posed for a some Birthday photos.

On Nala’s visits, she usually works with Simba on his dog training class “homework”. Simba really enjoys having someone go thru his commands and his various learning games with him. They play “hide and seek”, and also play the “place, stay, free game” (which teaches Simba to stay and relax on a rug until the “free” command- this is an excellent game to prepare Simba for public places like outdoor restaurants).

Then they relax awhile with “tug of war” or “fetch”. Sometimes Nala and I take turns calling Simba and he learns to go to the person who is calling (because that person will give him treats) . Simba’s trainer was very amazed to hear that Simba listens so willingly to Nala as not all dogs are willing to listen to someone who is not an adult. I think this is due to how patient Nala is and how careful she is to use the commands Simba has learned and how she praises and rewards him when he is successful.

On the night of the party Nala and Simba played the “place, stay, free” game.

Then they played some tug of war with his new toy, which he loves.

Simba Celebrating his 1st Birthday with Nala

Simba loves his new soft Frisbee and can’t wait to play outside with it!

Party 3 – Laura and Zoey

Four days later, Simba celebrated his birthday with our friend Laura (the human) and Zoey (the dog). Both Simba and Zoey had a great time eating their Pupcakes.

Simba has started to get the idea, that when you sit at the table with your friend – good things come your way!

Simba and Zoey are done with their 2nd and last Pupcake but Simba is looking for more. a

The dogs had a great time playing in the yard, while Laura and I had a great time visiting

And so the week of Simba’s Birthday has come to a close. We so enjoyed celebrating with our dog friends and people friends! I hope you enjoyed the celebrations as well! Have you ever celebrated a pet’s birthday? I would love to hear about your experiences!

You Might Also Like…

If you enjoyed this post you may also enjoy my latest three posts …

“Lighting up the Night” to celebrate Cinco de Mayo!!!

and my Cinco de Mayo Tablescape Post

Hola!!! Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse & Friends Celebrate Cinco de Mayo!!!

If you enjoy the lake view in my other posts, I think you will enjoy this glorious sunset in this post

A Glorious Sunset on the Lake – April 15, 2023

and if you enjoy my tablescape posts, you may enjoy the tablescape in this post, which I think would work well for Mother’s Day, or a Mother’s Birthday, as well as a Wedding Shower

A Special Spring Table for Someone Special

Coming Soon

I am planning a Mother’s Day Tablescape for next week. I am so excited to do this table as I have collected the special vintage Mother’s Day Plates one at a time on eBay, and it’s taken a few years, but now I get to put together the table I’ve been envisioning.

Link Parties

I often participate in Tablescape Thursday, Please click on the link to see the website of one of my favorite bloggers, which is followed by photos and links for many other wonderful tablescapes. 

I also follow Marty, on a great website called AStrollThruLife.net and recently added to her Inspire me Tuesday Link party. To connect to her blog, which is followed by many wonderful links to great home ideas, among other ideas, please click on the following link Inspire me Tuesday.I

Recently I started following Katherinescorner.com. Today I have joined her TFT blog. The TFT blog contains links on many topics with lots of great ideas – click on the following link to see her blog hop this week – Katherine’s Corner TFT blog hop.

Table Details and Origins

for “Two Fun Tablescapes for My Puppy’s 1st Birthday – One for our People Friends and One for Our Dog Friends”

Aqua platters used as Chargers – Homegoods around 2021

Yellow Square Melamine Dinner Plates by Tommy Bahama – Homegoods – purchased around 2017 and frequently available since

Yellow Table Runner – Homegoods – around 2018

Dog Birthday Party Kit including plates, window decorations, etc. – Amazon

Dog Birthday Party Kit with bandana and hat – Amazon

Dog Party Hats and Crowns – Amazon

Balloon/Birthday Tablecloth – HEB Grocery Store

Silver Plate Dog Napkin Rings – eBay and Etsy

Plush dogs – Huskies, Golden Retrievers – Amazon

Plush dogs – Small Collie – Texas A&M University

Plush Large Collie – unknown

Red Tablecloth – Kate Spade Larabee Dot – eBay

Golden Retriever Cake Decoration – Amazon

Pupcakes – homemade based on recipe from recipetineats.com

Dog Happy Birthday Backdrop Banner – Amazon

Dog “table” – Hefty 100qt/25 gallon storage bin