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.
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
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
.: 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
Red Rose Tea with Cream and Sugar
Sparkling Pink Lemonade
.: 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!
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
Using White, Red/Pink and Green Candy Melts and this great little Tea Pot and Tea Cup Sucker Chocolate Mold
Wow wow wow! You are such an amazing mom! Beautiful pictures - Twinkle Toes was glowing! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWow! What an amazing party! Happy Birthday wishes to your sweet Twinkle Toes!
ReplyDeleteOf course I LOVE everything, but I think my favorite is your boys with their mustaches. Too funny! I don't know how the girls kept a straight face! lol
What a wonderful party!! I can't believe the BOYS kept straight faces wearing those mustaches!!! I'm sure it helps to have 2 of them, I don't think my boy would do that by himself!
ReplyDeleteWhat generous love they showed by being her party waiters!!!
Your ideas were wonderful and I'm sure you slept hard that night!!
Great job!
What great pictures. I'm sure she will always remember her 8th birthday.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! I never had a birthday party like that! My next is coming up in september... don't you think 35 deserves a pink tea party? :)
ReplyDeleteAt a loss for words except WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!!!what a party! These children are so lucky...how beautiful a party...and happy birthday to the 8 year old .........twinkle toes.
ReplyDeleteA picture speaks a thousand words, I'd say--you made her day!!! You sure know how to create a lasting and special memory. Your daughter will always cherish all of the love you put into celebrating her special day. Everything you do has that wonderful, beautiful, Jessica touch to it. Praise God for the gifts you have been given and the grace with which you share them and bless those you know. Praying for a joy filled year for your little angel. She is so sweet.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a wonderful time! Pops enjoyed his same date birthday... by moving, again! We are up in Nebraska and my 8 yr old sure misses your 8 yr old... What a fun beautiful day - I am not sure I should share the pictures with mine or I will surely get the "WHAT? I want to go move back to Oregon." As they do any time they are lonely for a friend or when the weather gets really hot! Miss you guys!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing party.
ReplyDeleteHappy Bithday to your little lady.
God Bless your family.
From Portugal,
Manuela
How delightful! I am curious where you do all you do and when you put together all the wonderful surprises. Do you have a craft area for the papercrafting? Do you wait until the children are in bed? Any tips for fitting such projects into our days? So thankful you share and inspire!
ReplyDeleteVery well done! - a beautiful and memorable occasion. Delightful pictures, thankyou so much for sharing your special day with us. - Valerie, New Zealand.
ReplyDeleteWOW!!! This an amazing Birthday party! Happy Birthday Twinkle Toes. Everything looks so yummy. I love the mustaches :)
ReplyDeleteIt was such a lovely party! And I loved how her cheeks were as pink as her cake. She truly is such a precious little lady!
ReplyDeleteI even got to don one of the mustaches for a second. I was afraid someone would get a picture and then I would end up on this blog with facial hair! lol
Everything looked so nice and beautiful!! How fun!! You are hired!! Can you come to AZ and do it again? Just kidding!! :)
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful!! I will definitely be using some of these ideas for my tea party that I want to throw for my daughter next year! (I'm using some of your Lego party ideas from my sons upcoming b'day party...thanks!)
ReplyDeleteThis is so neat! I am HIGHLY impressed by your teapot cake and one day if I'm feeling super brave I may attempt it. SO many good ideas in 1 post! I love the duct tape idea.
ReplyDeletegorgeous. you really outdid yourself this time. hope you took a good nap later on. looks wonderful. loved it.
ReplyDeletewow! I cant say anything. this is so unique. i love all the post. i like the idea. thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAmazing!! I love everything! I would love to use your ideas for my daughters upcoming birthday. Would you be willing to share the document you made for the Guess how many game? I love the teapot font! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI am so inspired for all what you do! God bless you!!!
ReplyDelete