Beverly Hills Chihuahua Dog Party with Mayan Temple Birthday Cake

Aztec Party with Sitting Dog Cake for Kyle's daughter Kayden's 9th. August 2008. This was a fun-filled slumber party with many Aztec or dog themed activities based on the upcoming Disney movie Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

Chihuahua Dog Cake

Warrior Dog: Created a dog cake with a Chihuahua sitting on top of a 3 layer pyramid temple.
Directions: For cake-making directions and step-by-step photo guide, click on Dog Cake Instructions.

Party Food

Make Your Own Pizzas Using bread dough such as the refrigerated kind from Trader Joe's, which is available in both white and whole wheat versions. Roll out into circles, then pre-cook for 10 minutes. Have each child decorate their dough with pizza sauce, pesto, cheese, pepperoni, ham, pineapple and any other favorite ingredients. Bake an additional 5-10 minutes and serve.
Mayan Temple French Toast: Created 3-layer temples of golden French toast. First layer is one piece of Texas Toast. Layer two has the rinds cut off. For layer three, cut off rinds then cut remaining piece into 4 squares. Dip and fry separately. Assemble in a stack, hold together with chihuahua-topped skewer and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Skewer with a strawberry if desired. Serve with syrup that will pour down the side.
Drinks: Served apple juice and sparkling water so kids could mix their own "sodas".

Giant Aztec Temple

Mayan Pyramid Play Structure: My husband built a huge Mayan pyramid in our driveway for the kids to play on. I have always lamented that none of the trees on our property would ever be large enough for a tree house like I had as a child. My husband's solution was to create the 14' wide (at the base) and 11' high stepped pyramid complete with hammock and solar lighting. It provides a great view of the neighborhood! Everyone's favorite hang-out place now.

Games

Memory Game: Lay out a tray of 25 common household items. Give each kid a piece of paper and pencil. Give the kids 2 minutes to look a the items, then cover them up and take the tray away. Allow the kids another 3 minutes to write down everything they can remember. Winner received a prize. (We actually had a tie and so had to let the the two girls battle it out with another 30 seconds for viewing and 1 minute for writing them down.) Big Hit!
Tape the Chihuahua on the Temple Top: Variation of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Printed out 8 little pictures of Chihuahuas and a larger temple for the wall. Cover their eyes with a hand towel with extra folded up small soft towel or wash cloth over the eyes to eliminate any temptation of peaking. Spin the girls around 3 or 4 times and point them in the right direction. Prize goes to the one whose Chihuahua dog is closest to the top.

Treasure Hunt

Creating the Clues: Created "clues" from clip art and photos of Mayan temples, Aztec pyramids, and Chihuahuas. I use clip art from the Microsoft Clip Art Gallery at http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx?lc=en-us&cag=1. Ina addition, I found some very funny Chihuahua pictures on Google Images.
Hiding Clues: Place clip art pictures around the house and yard that hold clues on the back. Clues indicate location of next clue. We had about a dozen clues for this age group. Be sure to put out decoy pictures as well to mix things up or add text clues such as Pyramid when you have more than one temple picture up on the walls. Wear out the kids by alternating clues inside and outside, upstairs and downstairs.
Treasure at the End: Hide prizes for all the kids in the final location - we used the furnace closet this time, but a bread drawer or dryer are also a good hiding places for prizes. We stashed the party favor bags that had Silly Putty, gum and small toys the children could play with until the parents arrived.

Golden Chihuahua Pinata

Basic Form: Started with a pink pony pinata from a local Mexican grocery store that has a great selection of unusual shapes.
Convert to Dog: Covered the whole thing with metallic tissue paper, then covered it with fringe. I have a fringe making template that I got at the fabric store. Created a curved tail out of cardboard and a metal coat hanger, and taped on giant cardboard ears as well.
Finishing Touches: Kayden created a nose out of black tissue paper and a cotton ball. dded construction paper eyes. My other daughter then created a huge fancy headdress out of metallic poster board, construction paper and wrapping paper.

Decorations

Chihuahua Plates: Bought gold and yellow plates, then cut out chihuahua puppy dog shapes from one color and glued onto contrasting colored plate.
Streamers: Strung gold, blue and green colored streamers from the ceiling.
Table Decor: Covered table with temple-colored (neutral) tablecloth. Added red and gold party supplies such as cups, napkins, plates and flatware.
Transform Your Chairs: Covered chairs with gold felt. Inexpensive felt yardage is available at fabric stores.
Wall Mural: Decorated the kitchen walls with Kraft paper on which we drew a giant Mayan temple covered with Mayan Dog heads. Spray-painted paper with shades of green and brown to create a quasi-jungle look.

If you'd like to see our pet and wildlife themed gifts and decor, go to Creative Animal Gifts and Furnishings where we have unique ideas for more than 40 creatures including Chihuahuas and Dogs. To see more of my party ideas, visit Fun Birthday Cakes and Party Planning Suggestions.