My son is obsessed with Paw Patrol, and it’s the only show he ever wants to watch. So it was obvious that his 4th birthday party should be a Paw Patrol party! However, buying all of the licensed party decorations can really add up, so I just wanted to share some tricks I used to save a little money.
Paw Patrol Party Invitations
I started with this free template for the party invitation. Isn’t it cute?
Here’s the completed example from the website. Looks professionally created, doesn’t it?!
I downloaded the template (PDF), converted it to a JPG (there are websites that will do this for free), and then made my edits using picmonkey.com (it’s free). First, I cropped the image down to just a single invitation. Then, I added the text, mimicking the fonts and colors. Once done, I printed them as 5×7 photos as Sam’s Club.
Paw Patrol Party Decorations
Since the party was in a park, I decided to keep the decorations simple. Inspired by this blog, I created DIY centerpieces.
I found images of each Paw Patrol character online, enlarged them in a Google Drive Slides file, and printed them on cardstock. Since I wanted them to be double-sided centerpieces, I also printed mirror images of each character. I cut them out and glued them together with Modge Podge with a wooden skewer in the middle. Once dry, I stuck them in mason jars with paper filler ($1 / bag at Dollar Tree).
I also borrowed a friend’s Paw Patrol Watchtower toy (thanks, Melissa!) to go in the very middle of the long row of tables.
Using some sidewalk chalk, I drew paw prints leading up to the park pavilion.
At the end of the party, the kids all wanted to draw with the chalk, so it looked even cuter.
Paw Patrol Party Food
I focused on snacky foods for the afternoon party. Some dog bowls from Dollar Tree really transformed the veggie straws!
And did you know Keebler makes bone-shaped graham crackers? Target and Walmart carry them.
For dessert, I ordered chocolate-iced cupcakes from the local grocery store. After cutting some jumbo marshmallows in half, I placed 1/2 of a big marshmallow and 3 mini marshmallows in the shape of a paw print on each cupcake. Cute, easy, and kids always love marshmallows. Inspiration
I didn’t bother buying any themed plates or napkins. If you couldn’t tell by now, I’m a Dollar Tree fan, so I just bought some standard birthday plates & napkins from there.
Paw Patrol Party Favors
I forgot to take a photo, but I ordered some paw print stamps and crayons from Amazon and let each kid pick the colors they wanted. I’m a big fan of non-candy favors!
Donation Collection
This year, I added this little insert in every invitation. Devin loves having his friends at his party, and we wanted to keep the emphasis on that. He already has so many toys, he still gets birthday presents from family, and I thought this would be a great way to teach him to give back.
It was awesome to see everyone’s giving hearts! In total, 70 pairs of socks and 55 pairs of underwear will be given to local families because of Devin’s party. Love that! I encourage everyone to find a cause dear to your / your kid’s heart and do the same.
Shopping List and Other Ideas:
Such a great, fun party. The cupcakes got lots of “cute!” comments. Great job on everything!
Thank you! 🙂
I am trying to find a good font to edit/add with..what did you use?
On PicMonkey, I used Badaboom (name, age, location, day of week for party), Shadows Into Light 2 (time & RSVP), Chunk Five (month in party date), and Franchise (date in party date). Then I just used multiple text colors to match the colors at the top of the invitation. Hope that helps!