DIY Dog Birthday Cake!

My dog, Jää, just turned 3 years old on the 13th! I decided that this year I should make him a birthday cake and celebrate with all 4 of our dogs. :) I found a dog safe recipe online! The only ingredient that I had to buy was the whole wheat flour. So I only spent a little over $3.00 to get this cake done! You can find the recipe and directions that I used, here. For the frosting I used peanut butter and a cottage cheese (which makes it harder to spread, just fyi!). You could probably use this recipe for doggy cupcakes too!

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup natural peanut butter
¼ cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
1 cup shredded carrots
1 egg

I pre-heated the oven to 350 and got started on shredding my carrot and then mixing in all the ingredients. I then put my brownish mixture into a greased 8 inch cake pan. I let it bake for about 30 minutes. Use a tooth pick or knife to slide it into the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done!

I made my little cake into a simple shape... a cat head! lol I cut out a portion on the top for the ears and then cut of all the edges to give the face a slimmer, but still round appearance. It also got off the dryer and crustier edges of the cake. Then I mixed up some peanut butter and cottage cheese for the frosting. I waited a while for the cake to cool, then used a rubber spatula to spread it on. I was a little messy and difficult since the "frosting" is a bit chunky. It also looked gross... but still tasted pretty good. After all, it's only peanut butter and cottage cheese!

The finished and messy product! I used 2 dog bones to make the cat face. :) I wish the frosting mixture was easier to spread, but I figured that the dogs didn't care what it looked like! Maybe if I would have put it in the microwave for a little while, it would have been easier.

Here is the video of my two loves enjoying some of the cake! Jää is the blue merle taking his time licking the frosting and his sister, Tuli, is the black tri-color that is inhaling it. lol

Little Mermaid Birthday!

My adorable little niece Eva Marie turned 6 years old on the 4th! I can't believe she is already 6... time flies! My sister starts planning the next party right after the current one is over. lol This year was a Little Mermaid themed party! I think it went pretty well thanks to some pretty mermaids, good cake and some fun activities :) Here are some photos from the party. Please excuse the terrible quality! My iPod camera was all I had because my Canon has dead batteries. lol Click any image to make it full size!

Yummies and cute decorations!

Pearls (sixlets candies) and sea creature cookies

My mom made this cute cake using some figurines my sister found at Merchandise Outlet!

There was an awesome candy/snack bar too! We has Swedish Fish, Goldfish crackers, gummy sharks, salt water taffy and green apple licorice that we labeled as seaweed! lol

My sisters friend made this cute paper bubble banner! She also did the paper Flounder decoration in the picture above. There was Ariel and Sebastien ones too!

Pretty mermaids and presents!

My best friend Sarah (blonde) and my brother-in-law's sister/Eva's aunt Sarah (red wig) dressed up like Mermaids and hung out with the kids and took picture with everyone. Then they helped Eva open her presents and read her brithday cards.

Fun activities for the kids!

They filled a kiddy pool up with sand and then tossed in some cute things for the kids to search for. I saw pencils, big diamond rings, bracelets and gold coins! There was also an area where the kids could string up necklaces with plastic beads and real shell beads!

 I did glitter tattoos! This was a big hit. They all wanted multiples and I even did some on a couple adults. lol They stayed on pretty good in the water too. It was one of those "as seen on tv" kits. I've seen it available at Walmart and Dollar General.

 Sarah (Eva's other aunt) painted this awesome scene on cardboard! There were cutouts so the kids could be fish! This photo was taken by my other sister  of her daughter Penelope. A large Ariel cutout was also nearby to take pictures with.

The kids also got to go swimming! We had the party at our neighborhood clubhouse. Most parents relaxed while their kiddos went for a dip in the heated indoor pool. The clubhouse also has a restaurant, so pizza and drinks were ordered and brought in for us. :)

I had a great time and I know Eva did too! I wonder what next year will be... I hope this might help inspire somebody else's party! Thanks to my sisters and other family members for help with this post. ;)