The Secret Life of Pets Watch Party

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: This post contains affiliate links. We earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. 

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own and I am extremely excited to share our fun movie night watch party with you.

This summer I bought a projector in the hopes of watching movies from the pool at night time. We did it once, but it just did not make sense because the days are long and we could not start the movie until late. As the times changed this year, I realized that it makes much more sense to use the projector in the cooler month because they are longer and the weather is better and less buggy. Tonight we watched one of my daughter’s new favorite movies, The Secret Life of Pets with the projector in the backyard. The film is now available on Blu-ray and DVD, just in time for the holidays.

I made a cute doggy print cake for the party with using the recipe below with Oreos and brown M&Ms to make paw print across the cake. When you have kids and company coming over, sometimes you have to put together a quick treat for them. The recipe is really easy and even a novice baker like me can do it.

You cannot have a movie watching party without popcorn. I turned small caddy’s into a popcorn holder and made it doggy themed using my Cricut. I printed out doggy bones and bowls on red and white vinyl. Then I picked up little The Secret Life of Pets toys that made all the younger guests really happy. My daughter is more than obsessed with Gidget. Every time she see Gidget, her voice goes up a few octaves and she starts making these cute puppy love sounds.

Then, my husband and I set up the outdoor movie theater. My hubs was in charge of doing the projector and the backdrop. We used a white king size flat sheet, projector, and Bluray player. I set up all the lounging chairs and the kids table and chairs. The adults used the big chaise lounge chairs with lumbar pillows and kids sat at the table and chair so that they could eat cake. The movie was a big hit for the adults as well as the kids because it is so hilarious and has such amazing actors. My husband and I are huge Louis C.K. fans and have seen him several times doing stand up. Seeing him as the main character, Max was a special treat. The other actors are some of our faves like Eric Stonestreet as Duke (Cam from Modern Family), Kevin Hart as Snowball the Rabbit (comedian and from Ride Along), Elie Kemper (Kimmy from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and Jenny Slate as Gidget (Mona-Lisa from Parks & Rec).

The Secret Life of Pets Dog Print Cake Recipe

Cake Ingredients
¼ Cup butter, soft
½ Cup sugar
1 Egg
¾ Cup flour
¼ Cup milk
1 Tsp baking powder
1 Tsp vanilla extract

Frosting Ingredients
1 Cup butter, soft
8 oz of cream cheese, room temp
2 TBSP lemon zest
2 TBSP vanilla
4-5 Cups of powdered sugar
Oreos
Brown M&Ms

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place in a bowl the butter and sugar and mix until well incorporated.
Add the egg, flour, milk, baking powder and vanilla extract, and mix for 3-5 minutes until the batter is smooth.
Pour the mix into a greased a cake pan.
Take to the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until done.
Stick a toothpick into the cake. It’s done when it comes out clean.
Take the cake out of the oven, and wait 5-10 minutes before removing it from the cake pan.
Let the cake cool down for 15 minutes.

Frosting Directions
Mix softened butter and vanilla until it’s soften and begins to form peaks.
Beat in the cream cheese.
Mix in 3 cups of powdered sugar until well blended.
Add in the lemon zest and 1 more cup of powdered sugar.
Mix until the frosting is creamy and stiff.
Take a spoonful of frosting and turn the spoon over. If the frosting falls off the spoon mix in more powdered sugar.
When the frosting can cling to the spoon when turned upside down it is ready.
Spoon the frosting into a pastry bag with a piping tip.
Begin by frosting the cupcake on the outside edge working to the center.
Top it with the white icing and make paw prints with Oreos being the pad of the foot and the brown M&Ms as the toe prints.
Serve and enjoy.

The Secret Life of Pets Now on Blu-Ray/DVD December 6

You can now own The Secret Life of Pets with 3 Mini Movies on Blu-ray & DVD! Buy The Secret Life of Pets here so you can have your own backyard watch party! The new release features nearly an hour of bonus content, including three hilarious mini-movies: the all-new Norman Television and Weenie PLUS Mower Minions which debuted in theaters.