Lady and Tramp -2yr- Pin Dog Tag on Lady

For my daughter's second birthday I decided to have a Lady and the Tramp theme.  Lady and the Tramp has always been special to me, it was the first movie I ever saw as a child, and it has been wonderful sharing such a special movie with my daughters.  I knew that this party wasn't going to be the easiest to plan since there just isn't that much lady and the Tramp merchandise available.  Therefore, I started planning months in advance. 

Invitations: I found a coloring page picture online of lady and the Tramp eating spaghetti.  I colored it, cut and pasted it on the front of the invitation with the caption; you are invited.  I have to admit, I don't like to spend too much money on the invitations but these were very cute and everyone immediately knew what the theme was.  For the party, I dressed the birhtday girl in a Lady and the Tramp sweater I found on ebay. 

Decorations:  It was very cold here the day of the party so we kept the decorations inside.  I made several signs for the party using poster board and markers.  The first one read; Welcome all Ladies and Tramps!"  In the center I drew a large picture of lady and the tramp hugging each other.  In the corners I had smaller pictures of Jock the Siamese cats and Peg.  This one we hung in the front window to welcome our guests.  The next one read; "And they call it Bella Notte!"  The picture was the famous spaghetti eating scene with Tony and his helper singing to the two dogs.  This one I hung on the wall over the main table where people would be eating.  The final sign read; "We are Siamese..."  I drew the scene where the siamese cats are causing chaos in Lady's living room.  I included one cat climbing up the birdcage and the other on the piano with his paw in the goldfish bowl.  Lady is between them trying to save the other pets.  I put this picture above the fireplace mantel. 

Also hanging from the mantel I placed some coloring pages I found on the internet.  These signs did take awhile to complete.  I relied on a Lady and the Tramp coloring book and a few different story books as a guide how to properly draw the characters and what colors to color them.  There are several differnt coloring pages online.  With some smaller ones I colored them in and then glued them onto squares of red or white construction paper.  I then attached the paper to a ribbon and hung the banner in the entry way to the main party room.  The remaining coloring pages I hung various places around the room. 

Also I purchased several helium filled balloons for the main party room.  I had six silvery gray (Tramp's color) six each of brown and tan (Lady's colors) and six girly colored balloons with the number two on them.  The gray tan and brown balloons I scattered around the room's ceiling.  The number two I attached to a pink colored weight and placed the bouquet next to the birthday girl's chair. When the party ended I allowed each child to take a balloon home. I decorated the buffet and table to look like Tony's (the Italian restaurant Tramp frequents.)  I covered both tables with red and white tablecloths.  Over the table where people were to eat I strung several red and white streamers.  It looked almost like a canopy.  Then from the light we hung a bunch of red balloons.  On the buffet table I placed a dry board which I wrote the menu of each course we were having. 

Food:  We had both adults and children as guests so I served a variety of foods.  For snacks we had crispex mix chips and dip spinach dip deviled eggs and mini pizzas.  For the main course the menu read; spaghetti and meatballs (of course) salad and bread.  For dessert I had birthday cake ice cream and italian cookies. 

Games:  The kids really enjoyed playing the party games.  First was pin the license on Lady.  I drew a large picture of Lady and a piece of poster board and cut out diamond shaped licenses out of construction paper for the kids to tape on. The child who got their license clostest while blindfolded won a prize.  

Next we played save the goldfish from the siames cats bean bag game.  We have a stand with a hole in it that we've used in the past.  I simply took a piece of thick poster board and drew a goldfish bowl around the hole.  The two cats I drew hovering in the background.  Next using orange felt dried beans and a hot glue gun I made goldfish bean bags.  The kids took turns tossing the beanbags back into the "bowl."  Youngest closer and the older kids being further away.  The one with the most fish in won a prize.

Then we played defeat the dogcatcher.  This really was a game of hot potato with a twist.  The kids sat in a circle and passed around a stuffed lady dog while we played a lady and the tramp CD in the background.  I stood off to the side with a fishing net.  When the music stopped the child holding lady was caught by the dogcatcher.  I gently netted them and they left the circle.  The last one in the circle won a prize.  The next game we played in the birthday girl's bedroom.  It was called find the rat before it hurts the baby.  I placed a doll in the crib and hid a Halloween rubber rat in the room.  As decoys I also hid some stuffed rats from the movie Ratatouille.  We a child found one I would say "Oh no.  That rat wouldn't hurt the baby."  The kid who finally found the Halloween rat won. 

Then we played save Tramp game.  I reminded the kids how the Aunt thought Tramp was trying to harm the baby and called the pound.  When Jock and Trusty overhear how Tramp was actually trying to save the baby they run after the dogcatcher to stop them.  I told the kids they were to be like Jock and Trusty and rescue Tramp.  I had drawn a picture of Tramp in the wagon on a piece of poster board.  I hid it in my bedroom closet.  Believe it or not it took the kids awhile to find this one. 

Finally I had a guess jar filled with caramel creams.  I picked this candy because it has been around since the late 1800's and I wanted to make certain we had a candy that existed during the Vicorian era.  The one who guessed closest to the amount in the jar won the jar of candy.  I did have a craft project for the kids where they made Lady puppets out of pieces of consturction paper and a paper bag.  However we ran out of time and I gave them for the kids to do at home. 

Prizes:  Finding prizes with the Lady and the Tramp theme wasn't easy and again I used the internet.  We ended up giving away a Lady and the Tramp storybook stickers a keychain coloring book and a cup. 

Cake:  For the cake I had our favorite bakery make a sheet cake with white frosting and red writing a few roses and borders.  Then in a corner I placed some Lady and the Tramp figures I found on Ebay.  They included Lady the Tramp an upside down barrel with the red and white table cloth on it and even a little plate of spaghetti.  It looked so cute.  At the end of the party we handed out favor bags.  They were bags with a picture of a dog on them and said Doggie bag.  Inside there was a ball a whistle and a plastic toy dog.  Everyone thought the party went very well.  Even our birthday girl loved every minute and refused to sleep until everyone had left.  I won't lie this was a hard party to plan and throw.  Still the end results were worth it and we have memories that will last a lifetime.     "