ParTEA Time :: A Tea Themed Birthday!

Our little Twinkle Toes turned 8 years old yesterday and so it was ParTEA time!  Since our children generally just have one big "friends" birthday party (the rest are just with family), this was the one for Twinkle Toes.   Originally we were going to do it last year, when she turned 7, but since her Daddy was on a fire assignment, and since we were remodeling and didn't have a kitchen at the time, and since I happened to be hobbling around on crutches, we decided to wait until this year.   Of course I over planned as usual, and I wasn't able to get to everything on my list, but I had so much fun planning her special day!

.: Invitations :.

I just love, and have been getting so much use out of my Cricut!   I made these cards using the Tea Pot from the Once Upon a Princess cartridge, along with some dark pink, light pink and white card stock, a white fine tip paint marker and some strawberry stripes yarn - all of which I had around the house.   We also made our own envelopes out of various colors of 12x12 scrapbook paper.

The inside of the card had all the information, and at the bottom it read:

Please dress up in your favorite teatime dress.
Hats and gloves are optional. 

My boys volunteered to be waiters and had so much fun coming up with their own uniforms!  Just wait until you see the pictures of them wearing their mustaches while serving the girls.   This will be a memory of her older brothers that Twinkle Toes will cherish forever! 

.: Decorations :.

To brighten up the room, and disguise the fact that all the chairs didn't match, I used a nice big white tablecloth to cover the table and then hung white king sized pillow cases, crib sheets, and whatever other white fabric I could find laying around the house over the back of each chair.   I then tied big pink tulle bows around the back of each to secure the fabric in place.   It looked so pretty!

Next I created a banner to hang in the window using my Cricut with the George (Font) and Winter Woodland (Shapes)  Cartridges, punching two small holes in the top of each card and stringing them all together with some light pink ribbon.

For centerpieces I picked up a couple dozen pink roses (from Costco) and some Babys Breath (from Safeway) to place in a couple fishbowl style vases on the table.   I bought the Roses over the weekend, so (with a vacation coming up) we'd be able to enjoy them for as long as possible.   They make me smile every time I walk into the dining room!

Oh!! After seeing this idea recently on Pinterest, I had to pick up some pink Duct Tape for our water bottles.  Isn't this the greatest idea?!  Unlike printed water bottle labels from your computer, these bottles of water wrapped with a strip of Duck Brand duct tape can go right in the ice tub looking pretty, without any ink bleeding!
 

.: Decorating Tea Time Cookies :.

I had pre-baked the cookies using a couple different sets of cookies cutters (Fox Run's Tea Party Cookie Cutter Set and Wilton's Tea Party 3 Piece Cookie Cutter Set) along with lots of icing and sprinkles.

.: Guess How Many :.

I also had a little jar filled with Candies for the girls to try and "Guess How Many!"  I made my own little entry sheets with a cute tea pot font.  Any guesses on how many you think are in that jar?   Most of the girls were way off, but my sister Julianna and niece Layla (her smart momma must have helped her) tied for the closest - just 8 off!

.: Tea Time Menu :.

Next it was time for tea!   I made this somewhat simple by picking up the various pastries from Costco, along with a Chicken Salad kit, but I still had plenty of baking to do to prepare for the party! 

On the Menu:

Chinese Chicken Salad

Millionaire Salad

Cream Cheese and Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

Peanut Butter and Strawberry Tea Sandwiches

Grapes 

Strawberries

Lemon Tea Cookies

Petite Cinnamon Rolls

Mini Lemon Biscotti

Marshmallow Teacup Cookies

Red Rose Tea with Cream and Sugar

Sparkling Pink Lemonade 

 

I sure love my boys, mustaches and all! lol!

.: Pinata :.

I ordered this darling Tea Pot Pinata from Amazon, and boy was it hard to crack open... It was great, everyone got at least one turn!

.: Cake Walk :.

I'm not sure what I was thinking, but the girls and I made FOURTEEN 6" heart shaped cakes to use for a Cake Walk, in honor of Twinkle Toes' patron saint - Saint Catherine of Alexandria!  This would have been much easier if I owned more than just 2 heart shaped pans! ;)  We frosted them all white and then decorated them with a variety of pink and white sprinkles from our stash.

I placed numbered squares in a circle on the floor.  Each time, when the music stopped, I drew and called out a number.  Whoever was standing on that numbered, picked it up and brought it to me before choosing the cake they wanted to take home.  

It was such a fun game, and so worth the time it took to bake, frost, and decorate ALL those cakes!

.: Tea Pot Birthday Cake :.

Twinkle Toes absolutely loved her...

 ...Pretty Pink Tea Pot Cake...   

... and that Daddy was home to celebrate with us this year! 

.: Birthday Gifts :.

Opening gifts was quite a process.  What generous friends we have!  I don't know where we are going to put everything!!  :) 

My favorite part was watching our sweet, and very shy, little girl get up to give each of her friends a hug after opening the gift they gave her.   

Chiquita, on the other hand, couldn't control her excitement and went nuts, when her big sister opened the new horse from her cousin Layla and her Aunts Meagan, Julianna, and Mary, along with the new doll from Daddy and Mommy!  

.: Party Favors - Tea Bags and Lollipops :.

For Treat Bags, I used a cute and easy idea from Family Fun, turning white lunch bags into Giant Tea Bags!  Instead of stapling the string to the bag and tag, I punches a couple small holes, tying them together.  Inside each bag the girls found one of the following sticker books:   Tea Time Stickers, Glitter Roses Stickers, or Old-Fashioned Roses Stickers.   They then were able to use their bags for all of the pinata candy!

Using White, Red/Pink and Green Candy Melts and this great little Tea Pot and Tea Cup Sucker Chocolate Mold, I had planned to make each girl a lollipop or two, as one last party favor, but I ran out of time after making just four.  Oh well!  They made a pretty decoration and nice little treat for the boys.

   I hope you all enjoyed seeing the pictures!