Tea Party Time

My oldest daughter, Addy, turned 7 in January and we had promised her an American Girl sleepover for her birthday party, (my girls LOVE American Girl Dolls!). Unfortunately, that didn't get to happen because we had unwanted visitors. The visitors showed up on January 1st and didn't leave until about a week and a half later. Are you wondering who would show up at my house unannounced and uninvited?

Lice

Yes, you read that correctly. And I am still just as horrified as you are right now reading it, (and I KNOW you are scratching your head now because I brought it up...you can thank me later for that).

Lice was going around our daughter's school and she got it from a friend, and being the giver she is, shared it with the rest of the family. Obviously, there would be no sleepover at our house anytime soon.

-BTW, I am an EXPERT at getting rid of lice now, (Yay for me!), so if you ever have the problem and need to know how to get those gross little critters out of your hair and house, give me a shout out.

Anyhow, after the lice had been gone for about a month, we decided instead to have an American Girl Tea Party. I got this idea because we really wanted to go to the American Girl Place in Chicago and have the birthday experience there, but it just wasn't going to happen this year. So, we decided to create our own experience at home!

Since I did the party, (and posted about it on facebook), I have had a TON of questions on how I did it, so I am dishing on it here so that you all can have your own little tea party with the lovely little girls in your life.

I started by sending an evite and asked all the girls to dress up and bring their American Girl Dolls along to the party (if they didn't have an American Girl Doll, we just asked them to bring their favorite doll or stuffed animal).

In preparation for the party, I wanted to get together some pretty serving platters etc. so that it would look as fancy as possible. I decided to check out my local Goodwill store and I am SO glad I did! I found gorgeous crystal serving trays and they were cheaper than buying disposable ones. Plus, I was able to get a crystal punch bowl and twelve cup set for UNDER $5!! I knew the girls would love it. (I also purchased hats from there that we would use in our Tea Party Hat craft!).

Luckily, I was able to borrow a lot of the items I used, including a silver tea serving set, china tea cups, glass garden party plates, and a cupcake stand. I highly recommend borrowing items instead of buying whenever you can!

I did end up purchasing a white table cloth and napkins because in our house, most occasions are pretty informal and I knew it would make the table look extra special. I also purchased fresh flowers for the centerpiece...GORGEOUS! (If you live in the south Dayton area, you MUST try the Flower Man in Centerville! Great Flowers for unbelievable prices!)

On the day of the event, I think I was more excited than the girls! We set the table in a very formal style and even set a small table for the dolls so that they could have their own little tea party. When the girls arrived, they were seated and once everyone was there, we began the first of our three course tea. The menu was as follows:

First Course
Kanani’s Fruit Kabobs
Kristen’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Scones

Second Course
Rebecca’s Cheese Cubes
Molly’s Carrot Sticks with Ranch Dip
Kit’s Garden-Party Sandwiches with cream cheese and cucumber
Kaya’s Egg-Salad Tea Sandwiches
Felicity’s Patriotic Roasted Turkey Sandwiches with American Cheese

Third Course
Addy’s Birthday Cupcake
Julie’s Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Bitty Baby’s Bite Sized Cookie’s

Beverages
Warm Berry Tea

Chilled Strawberry Lemonade

After the meal, we had the girls make Tea Party Hats using the hats from Goodwill, feathers, stick-on jewels, flowers, and ribbon. We also made paper fans with construction paper and doily's. The girls felt like true southern ladies when they were done.

They also got to introduce their dolls to the other guests and then we did a game of musical chairs where the girls had to put their doll in the chair instead of sitting themselves. It was a great way to incorporate the dolls into the afternoon.

And finally, as a gift to the girls who came, Addy had chosen butterfly necklaces instead of the obligatory 'goodie bag' (that I am NOT a fan of!), to give them. We had placed them in pretty silver gift boxes and placed them at each girls place setting, (so they got double use as a decoration also!), and the girls adored them! I am SO glad we did that, and it actually was less expensive than purchasing a bunch of candy and plastic items that would be lost or broken within a day.

All in all, I would say that this was definitely one of my favorite birthday party ideas! It created wonderful memories, and was certainly a unique and fun experience for all the girls who came.

We will be hosting that sleepover at some point in the near future, though, and I am sure I will be blogging about that as well :)