Final day of "14 Days of Angels Baking Valentine Memories!"
PUPPY KISSES 4 TREATS!
Who doesn’t love their dog? And, what is more fun than showing your love for your furry friend than with a PUP-ular Kissing Booth for your dogs!
Have fun on Valentine's Day and set up a Kissing Booth for your pups. It's easy to train them to sit-stay in the booth for a treat. And, it's a fun project to do with the kids, at no cost to you!
This is a fun project that can COST YOU NO MONEY! Of course, you can go out and spend money to purchase matching wrapping paper you like, but I like to find out what’s around the house that I can use and then create it myself. Especially since this is something that will probably only be used a few times, photographed and then recycled. It’s also a fun project for the kids and is a great opportunity to teach them to be creative while using things you already have on hand.
I used pre-used wrapping paper that I had on hand, but there are so many other things that can be used. Get the kids thinking about what to decorate the kissing booth with. Do you have a fabric stash of leftover scraps that can be searched through for fun colors and designs? What about an old dress or shirt that can be cut apart and glued onto a box? What about some fun fleece that could be easily stapled to the cardboard box?
To get started, find a box that is a little higher than the dog(s) is tall while sitting. I had a few boxes left over from all the shipping of supplies that I received during the pandemic so it was easy to find one. If you don't have one laying around, I'm sure a neighbor or another family member has one that might work.
If you have a box that is free of advertising, that’s probably the perfect solution. Then you or the kids can draw different designs and words all over it. But if the box is covered with advertising, such as huge paper logos and other printing, it’s probably better to cover it with wrapping paper, paper bags, fabric or something else.
Next, I searched through my wrapping paper treasure trove of Christmas paper and pretty gift bags with tissue paper that I just can't throw away. Voila! I found a gift bag and matching tissue paper that fit perfectly with the Valentine theme. It was a pretty gift bag covered with large pink peonies on all sides along with bright pink paper inside. What better way to recycle it than to use it to cover the kissing booth?
Almost any gift bag or paper could work. In fact, I was just hoping for a plain brown or white bag that I could decorate with hand drawn hearts and puppy dog faces and then wrap the box. In fact, to get kids, involved, this may be a better avenue. Have them decorate brown paper bags or plain brown kraft paper with markers, colored pencils or even paints.
In choosing my box, I set it next to my dogs as they were in sit-stay positions to make sure the box would be tall and wide enough to accommodate them. The box does not need to be deep enough from front to back for them to actually sit inside. I just need the dogs to be partway inside the box so their faces show through the front.
Next, determine where the hole should be cut for the front of the kissing booth. Mark and cut a square or rectangular hole in the front of the box or kissing booth, cutting to accommodate the height of the dog's face and upper chest. I used a large serrated knife to do the main cutting. Then I used a scissors to do some trimming to make the edges fairly smooth. The edges don't need to be perfect since the edges will be covered with wrapping paper.
If there are open flaps on the box, I use them as the bottom of the box. My box was just a little too short for my dogs, so I taped the flaps in the open position in order in order to add about 4” more to the height of the box.
Then, cut almost the entire backside of the box from top to bottom. Leave a 2" border up both sides and across the top of the box to give it some support and structure. This is where the dog will enter and sit for the “kissing.” There’s no need to make any cuts in the right and left sides of the box.
The dog will not need to be entirely inside the box. In fact, that might be a little scary for some dogs. What I do with my Kissing Booth is put my dog in a sit-stay and then set the Kissing Booth in front of him so his body is behind the box, but his head and paws are inside the box. From the front it looks like they are completely in the booth.
Now that I have my Kissing Booth cut out and sized, I begin figuring how to wrap it. I didn’t have enough paper or gift bag to wrap the entire booth, and I didn’t want to go out and purchase any paper, so I decided to wrap just the front of the booth. My next decision was how to place what paper patterns where, in order not to run out of paper. Lay them or hang them on the box to get a feeling of how the different pattern and colors will look next to each other. I used the pretty pink peonies on the largest portion, the bottom 2/3 of the front of the booth. It was a stiffer paper stock, so that made it easy to wrap around the front.
The plain tissue paper was more flexible and easier to wrap around the sides of the open rectangle and up over the top. I doubled the tissue paper since it’s so thin and used double sided tape to secure the paper in spots that would be seen. Regular tape was used on the backside.
I was really limited on the amount of paper I had but luckily had a few extra scraps to cut out a few hearts to attach to the side posts. I also found a shiny gift bag that was of a heavier stock for the sign above the front of the Kissing Booth. Plus, I found a small deep burgundy gift bag that gave me a few contrast-colored hearts to make the pink and white striped hearts “pop” and show up a little better.
Now that you have your PUP-ular Kissing Booth completed, have your dogs enter from the back of the booth and sit-stay. Reward them with a treat and see if they will give you a kiss on Valentine’s Day.
The PUP-ular Kissing Booth for dogs is a fun project for the entire family. Add a few homemade or purchased dog treats and you’re ready to “Bake your own Memories!”
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