Stella's Tea Party

A few weeks ago we celebrated Stella's 5th Birthday with a Tea Party for 9 little friends and of course, her.

I have found it hard in the past to draw the line with invites to our kids parties, friends of yours, friends of theirs, invite one child and the parents come with all the siblings etc and soon enough your party is bigger than planned and you are cooking and baking for weeks in preparation.

Well I didn't have the time, as I left the organising a bit late, and Stella has quite a gorgeous group of friends from school and had recently been to 2 parties with the same girls at both, so the decision was easy!

I thought the idea of a tea party for the little girls would be nice. Something different and a little grown up for them, and we all know how little girls like to pretend they are grown up ladies!

We held the party at our home, in the living area, and we borrowed a table from our Playgroup and a few extra chairs that we needed too. The table was a perfect size and it was nice that all the girls had somewhere to sit.
Our dining table was just moved to the side and used as an extra food table.

I have come to the conclusion that afternoon parties are easier, you have the morning to prepare and cook and everything is more relaxed, so that is what we did. I set the table out like this (above) in the morning and just plugged away until everything was done.

This is after I had set out the basics on the table.

A simple pink runner, some gorgeous disposable plates (similar here, I purchased mine in town) and serviettes (from IKEA here) and some roses from our garden.

We also hung a few gorgeous pom poms from the ceiling above the table and they really set the scene off!

(Just hang in the ceiling with a drawing pin)

Each little lady had their own REAL tea cup , glass milk bottle and table setting and the 2 Cake stands were filled with a variety of the yummy food on offer

(My apologies about the quality of the photos, as luck would have it, I had major issues with my beloved DSLR on the day )

I stuck some pretty butterflies (made from cardstock and purchased from Spotlight) around the cake stands and some cute flags on toothpicks to tizzy things up.

Stella, all ready for her girly Tea Party, dressed like a real little English rose too!

The table set and waiting!

Over to the side of the room , where we put our dining table, the main food table was set.

A pretty paper bunting was strung from the ceiling (with drawing pins again, and I have had the bunting for some time but a similar one here) and some more gorgeous roses from our garden.

I used a really pretty paper tablecloth that suited the occasion perfectly (available here)

, some floral disposable plates (again sourced locally but I will try and find some similar and add the link later) and some pretty cups.

The food was kept simple, but still to the theme and super yummy. No tea party is complete without Macaroons and these are yummy and affordable (from Woolworths for around $8 a pack)

Muffin size quiches, fruit kebabs, biccies, Teacup biscuits, cupcakes, fairy bread , scones and some assorted hot food , all disappeared pretty quickly (5 year old girls sure know how to eat!)

The gift bags were kept simple also because each guest received a novelty necklace on their round of Pass the Parcel, but I found the cutest little buckets at our local Red Dot store and knew I just had to have them!

 Inside was a stamp, hair clip, lollypop and a few Starburst lollies in wrappers. I made the tags using a punch and pretty papers and a piece of ribbon to attach them.

So sweet and about $3 for 3 in a pack.

I usually use cupcake toppers for our parties but time wasn't permitting to source, and print and punch them so I made some little flags instead.

Its amazing what some Washi Tape and a tooth pick can look like with a bit of love :)

Of course the cake had to be a tea cup. Well at least that is what it was supposed to look like!! I am not the best at making cakes that is for sure!!

This cake is just a round chocolate cake on the base and a upside down 'dolly varden' tin on the top.

And the moment that it is all made worth it.....

All the kids had such a lovely time at Stella's little party. They felt very grown up sitting and sipping from their tea cups and the party was so so easy to do, everything looked great but wasn't time consuming nor too much trouble! You've got to love that!

On Sunday we are having a party for our twins, Max and Lacey. Again... I am not that organised and the theme is 'Ice cream Party' but I am hoping I can pull something together in a small amount of time with big impact!! Wish me luck!!!