Tea for Two (Or Seven!)

Hayden, Madison and I hosted our first tea party for five of their friends. The invitation read, "Wear your finest dress and your mother's pearls, Hayden and Madison are hosting a Tea Party for just the little girls!"

Upon arrival the girls had two play stations: one was set up with pretend tea party play food...

... and the other was set with a castle and a plethora of Disney princesses and accessories.

After some free play, it was time for the real tea party to begin. Their plates were set with a Peanut Butter and Jelly Flower with asparagus as the stem and a slice of white carrot for the center and a petal cupcake liner that held mixed fruit. A passing tray held additional sandwiches including Strawberry Cream Cheese Pinwheels and Fairy Bread.

What is Fairy Bread? It originates from Australia and is simply a piece of white bread, spread with butter and topped with loads of sprinkles. Every little girls' dream!

The girls so elegantly sipped their tea (pink lemonade, of course!) from real china that was originally their great-grandmother's, lovingly known as Granny Bug for her love of ladybugs. Its delicate pink flowers and dainty design made the perfect place setting for the little girls' very girly tea.

Who wants more tea sandwiches?

All of the girls looked so darling and behaved so well. But, of course there was a lot of giggling as the girls definitely had the sillies over having a real tea party and all of those delicious treats!

Not surprisingly, dessert was highly anticipated. They had their choice of Marshmallow Teacups, Queen of Tarts, Perfectly Princess Cupcakes, Tea Cookies or Chocolate Dipped Fairy Wands, all homemade with love.

Yum, yum, yum, yum and yum!

While our princesses-in-training enjoyed their sweets, my sweet helper for the day, Liza, read the girls "Fancy Nancy: Tea for Two" and gave them a brief etiquette lesson including simple concepts such as to always say "please" and "thank you," be honest, respect grown-ups and apologize when necessary. Each guest got to take home a copy of the book as their party favor.

While Liza was with the girls the moms snuck away to the kitchen for their own tea party. The menu for the ladies included Cucumber Tea Sandwiches, Egg Salad Club Sandwiches, homemade Buttermilk Scones with Devonshire Clotted Cream and Strawberry Preserves, fruit salad, chocolate covered strawberries and fresh Strawberry Lemonade.

After the girls finished up their treats, they got busy at the first of their two craft stations. They each chose a Sticky Mosaic with designs such as cupcakes, teapots, teacups and teddy bears. 

And for the last activity of the day, the moms assisted the girls in decorating their own tea hats using their choice of ribbon, silk flowers, feathers and butterflies.

Madison and Ryann proudly showing off their beautiful creations!

It was hard to get these two giddy girls to be still for a photo with Mom, but we managed to snap a quick picture before they could Houdini their way out of this one!

Such a special day for a delightful group of young girls!
(top l-r: Keira, Abby, Ryann, Madison, bottom l-r: Hayden, Elle and Juliet)