6570

Dress-Up Tea Party 7yr - Tea Cup Invitations

June 2003

Lori in Tuscaloosa, AL

Honorable Mention

For my daughter's 7th birthday we had a Dress Up/Tea Party.  I began planning for the party a couple of months in advance and purchased most all of the supplies from eBay or local thrift stores. 

For the invitations, I purchased china tea cups and saucers from thrift stores and antique stores.  I then purchased white boxes from Michael's.  We shredded pink paper on our shredder.  The invitations were multi-part.  On white cardstock, I printed a picture of a teacup and teapot (from PrintShop).  On white vellum, I printed the details of the party.  I punched holes in each and tied them together with pink grosgrain ribbon.  The shredded paper went in the bottom of the white box, then the tea cup and saucer, and then the invitation.  We tied the boxes with wider pink grosgrain ribbon to which we attached a card with the invitees name and the same picture from the invitation.  These were hand delivered to each attendee.    

I took her with me to the thrift stores to purchase the dress up dresses, shoes and purses.  I was even able to find a wedding dress for $8 at a local thrift/antique store.  I purchased costume clip earrings and bracelets from eBay.  My mom raided her costume jewelry drawer for all those beaded necklaces from the 60's and 70's.  We had just purchased a big screen TV, so I saved the box from it and she decorated it as a dressing room for the girls to change in.

For decorations, I purchased a pink linen tablecloth and napkins from eBay for the dining room table.  I also found a silver tea set, serving dishes and trays from eBay.  I allowed her to use my china for the place settings on the table.  I did purchase different stemware for the party.  Mine had been discontinued and I wasn't willing to risk a break that couldn't be replaced. 

I also purchased white tulle from eBay.  We draped it from the four corners of my dining room, and secured it to the light fixture over the dining room table.  A punch bowl sat in the corner of the dining room.  I used bright pink camellia's from my yard around the base of the punch bowl. 

A tree in our yard was just budding out with pinkish/lavender buds.  I cut a large branch from this tree and propped it behind the punch bowl.  I had a silver vase that I had received as a gift.  I took it to a local florist and had them make an arrangement of primarily pink flowers.  I placed it in the center of the tea service tray, which was the centerpiece of the table. 

I was even lucky enough to find pink and white tea cup/tea pot napkin rings on eBay.  They were the perfect finishing touch for the table.  A silver candelabra with pink candles anchored the buffet.  I decorated the entrance to our home also.  I wrapped the railings on our front steps with camellias, baby's breath and tulle and tied a big bow at the top.

When the guests arrived, they were escorted to the dressing room area.  Each girl was allowed to do her own makeup (truly hilarious!!!).  I then painted each girl's nails a color of her choosing.  They then selected their dress up outfits and changed into them.  We got some adorable pictures of them in their outfits.  A couple of changes later, we moved to a craft area where each girl make a stretch bracelet.  I found some "silver" lady charms at Hobby Lobby which had a fan, brush, sunglasses, comb, perfume bottle, etc.  They added these to the bracelets as charms.

Next we moved to the dining room table for heavy snacks.  The menu consisted of the cake, which was decorated to look like two girls sitting at a table having tea.  I made the cake using a 13x9 layer, topped by a 6" round layer cake.  The cake was iced in pink icing and then I used a white icing to make a "lace" overlay.  The doll picks were iced in pink with pink sprinkles. 

I purchased a small tea set (like for a doll house) and used it on top of the round cake.  We also had meatballs (served in a silver chafing dish), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut in the shapes of tea cups and tea pots, sugar cookies cut in the same shapes (both served on silver trays), fruit salad (served in a crystal dish), nuts and mints.  We had lemonade, water, and of course, tea, to drink.

For goodie bags, I purchased a yard of fabric at a local decorating store.  The fabric had tea cups and tea pots on it.  My mother made drawstings bags for each girl.  Inside was a miniature nail polish, lip gloss and glitter.  I purchased bath puffs from the Dollar Tree (pink, of course) and included one.  The bags also had a two-year planner, another kit for a stretch bracelet (from the Dollar Tree), a gel pen scrapbook with pens (again, from the Dollar Tree), trial sized lotions with pink hearts on them (from Avon), and some name cards (left overs from the ones used on the invitations). 

They also left with a copy of their picture in their dress up clothes. I think all of the girls had a good time at the party and I know that my daughter enjoyed it.  Though the work was hard, the reward of seeing her enjoy herself was worth it.

• Kids Party Home
• Kids by Category
• Kids by A to Z
• Teen Party Ideas
• Adult Party Ideas
• Holiday Party Ideas
• Nutcracker Ballet