A Birthday Tea Party

My daughter turned 7 on Monday. She wanted to have a tea party for all of her friends and their dolls. We started with invitations and adapted one that a friend had made for one of my wedding showers. My friend had hand-painted rosebuds onto tea-dyed paper, but we opted for card stock and colored pencils. I drew a template for a tea cup and cut them out. I typed up the wording on the computer and let Emily Anne cut those words out and glue them into place on the invitations.

The outside hinted at the type of party we were throwing.

The inside contained a tea bag along with the details about the party.

Emily Anne customized different "china patterns" for each of her friends, depending on their interests and personalities.

Emily Anne requested that I make matching dresses for her and her doll Julia, and she picked out the material. When the girls first arrived, they decorated straw hats for their dolls. Then, they placed their dolls around the dolly tea table, which was the living room coffee table draped with an old lace tablecloth and set with my daughter's toy tea set and some violet demitasse cups and saucers. Up next was a game of Pin the Lid on the Teapot, followed by a treasure hunt that led the girls from clue to clue until they found a teapot filled with strands of pink pearls and fancy rings for their own tea party. A couple of kind mothers who had stayed helped lead the girls on the treasure hunt while my mother and I plated the tea treats and brewed the tea.

We plated the tea sandwiches, cheese wafers, and fruit kabobs on clear plastic plates that could be quickly disposed of once the girls had finished. I made the tea sandwiches (PB&J cut in the shape of stars, PB & Honey in the shape of flowers, and Strawberry Cream Cheese in the shape of hearts) and the fruit kabobs, while my mom picked up the cheese wafers at a local bakery. The teacup cupcakes (also from a bakery) and ice cream were served on the violet salad plates. Harney & Sons Chocolate Mint Tea was served, along with pink lemonade. I had a table set buffet-style for the mothers, too, but I forgot to get a picture. Several of the mothers wanted to know where to get the tea, and I told them to order it from here.

One of the girls' mothers was commenting on how brave I was to use my china and silver with the girls, but they were so well mannered. No one spilled a drop, much less a tea cup! Even if a cup had been broken, it would have been worth it to have captured this sweet seven-year-old smile!

Tablescape Details:

• Violet Teapot, with matching creamer and sugar: Royal Crownford, Staffordshire
• Violet Teapot with violet finial, dessert plates, and cups & saucers: Crown Trent, Staffordshire
• Other dessert plates and cups & saucers and cream & sugar, Noritake Lila
• Silver: Tara by Reed & Barton

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