I don’t know about you, but I love everything about cats. Most of my life, I’ve pretty much only had cats as pets and love the comfort of having them around. I know a lot of people don’t like cats because they can be little assholes sometimes, but I love little asshole cats too!

It had been a while since I had thrown a theme party, and I couldn’t decided what theme to choose, until I saw these paper plates in a store. They made me chuckle and that’s when it hit me! I need to celebrate the crazy cat lady in myself and invite all my crazy friends along for the ride. Everything, then, spiraled into cat-fueled delirium from there.

I always start my party planning by figuring out what decorations I plan to have and which of those to make myself. I am a self-proclaimed D.I.Y. Master, so making my own decor is a lot of fun for me. From the blog, Daisy Dreaming, I got the idea to make little tiny scratching posts for the food labels. I took their idea a few steps further by adding bright-colored, curled up paper clips, a little cat toy, and some fabric to the base of the post. I was incredibly happy with how they turned out!

To include a bit of the “Internet Cat” feel to my party, I made the food labels look like the oh-so-familiar cat memes you can’t escape online. Altogether, the scratching posts and food labels were popular at my party. A couple of my friends even took some home with them as party favors at the end.

Speaking of the food, I had to have some cat themed food at this party. The most popular (well, not too popular) item was the Cat Litter Cake! Most people were too grossed out by the look of it to even eat it. That just means more cake and frosting goodness for me!

This was the easiest cake I think I have ever made. It consists of a box of white cake mix and the ingredients to make it, canned chocolate frosting, and some food dye. For a more detailed tutorial click here for the recipe.

Other food I had available was strawberry mice (made with strawberries, almond slices, Twizzler candy, and mini chocolate chips), and turkey and tuna sandwiches cut into cat shapes with a cookie cutter. I also offered goldfish crackers served out of a fishbowl and chocolate candies served in a cat food bowl. The art of most of these dishes was the way in which they were presented.

Another decor/food related item I made was a full-sized cat scratching post constructed for displaying food (I put the sandwiches on a platter on it during the party). I realized that after buying all the materials for it and constructing it, it would have probably been cheaper to buy an already made one. However, it looked great and gave a little more playfulness to my food table. I also scattered random (new) cat toys all over the food table. As a fun favor for my friends’ cats’, I let my friends pick one toy to take home at the end of the party.

For my parties I always try to have a themed cocktail. To continue with the cats and fishbowl imagery, I made my guests alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions of a fishbowl cocktail. The non-alcoholic cocktail is just blue sports drink mixed with lemon-lime soda and a little blue food coloring if you want the “water” to be more blue.

The alcoholic cocktail was a bit more involved. The recipe is below:

Both cocktail versions are constructed the same way.

Most of my parties are a lot of fun, but I’ve never done anything for a cause before. This time, since both of my kitties were adopted from our local SPCA, I decided to have this party with a mission in mind: I’d raise money for the SPCA that has helped me feed my cat addiction over the years. I also raised money for a local woman who helps keep down the stray cat population in my town by running her own trap-spay/neuter-release program from her home.

On top of that, I also had a booth where my friends could adopt some real kitties that a friend was trying to find homes for. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any homes for the kitties looking for new owners, but I was able to collect a decent amount of money to donate to my specified charities!

At the adoption table I also had hand stitched little cat dolls I made for my friends and their kids as party favors. Each person could choose a doll, a tiny little collar, and an “adoption certificate” to take home.

My favorite stuffed cat ended up being the Grumpy Cat one I made for fun. My brother snagged this as soon as the party started.

As usual, I wore a costume to the party. This time I went as a Crazy Cat Lady (big surprise) complete with curlers in my hair, glasses chain, cat pajamas, and a robe covered in stuffed cats. Other friends wore cat ears, a Cat in the Hat costume, or punny costumes like name tags with “Hi my name is Alli” or “Hi my name is Tom” on them. I love that I have friends who will dress up just as much as I do.

If you love cats, I really recommend having a party that’s dedicated to all things cat. You won’t regret it, although your friends might think you are crazy.

 

Bonus:

Here are my kitties.

Smokie:

Martooni: