Month: November 2016

Lillian turned two on November 5, 2016. We celebrated with our parents and friends by hosting a “Tea for Two” birthday party.

I have always enjoyed planning and hosting themed parties so when we selected the “Tea for Two” birthday theme for our little princess I eagerly jumped right in and began planning.

It all began with the perfect “Tea for Two” birthday invitation. The front of the invitation contained the party details and the back of the invitation gave the guests a glimpse of what the party would include…

Savories, sweets, cake and tea. Please come celebrate my 2nd birthday with me! Running late, don’t worry,  join us when you can. The pleasure of your company is the best gift I could plan!

Decorations     We chose pink and purple as the signature colors. My friend Phil allowed me to use his Cricut Machine and helped me cut out tea cup and teapot shapes and my dad cut out and helped me assemble banners that we hung throughout the house. The tables were adorned with pink and purple linen table cloths with a treasured teapot and tea cups carefully placed in the center. A miniature rubber duck (one of my daughter’s favorite things) decked out in a birthday hat sat atop tea colored raffia grass in each tea cup. Tea cups on each table also held mixed party nuts and chocolate candies for guests to snack on.

The Dress     I wanted a classic look for my little lady to wear at her birthday tea party so I turned to Etsy. I really liked the smocking work on the dresses at The Classic Baby. The owner, Lucinda Taylor, made a customized dress for us that matched the pink and purple colors used in the decorations. She used a light pink gingham fabric for the dress and bright pink and purple thread for the smocked teapots. I purchased some light pink satin Mary Jane shoes and lace socks to complete the outfit.

Tiny Tea Cups     The littles sat in child sized chairs at an old wooden kindergarten table I used in my kindergarten classroom. They drank milk or water from special purple or pink tea cup shaped sippy cups. I found the festive cups at Oriental Trading and built the color scheme for the party around the cups. They got to take their cups home so they could have their own tea party the next day.

The Menu     I wanted our guests to enjoy an array of savory and sweet treats so they would feel like they were attending a proper afternoon tea. Food was placed on crystal and glass cake stands of various heights. The cake stands were embellished with decorative dollies and silver serving pieces. Little tea pot signs which described the yummy treats were strategically placed throughout. With the help of my mother (who made the homemade sweets) and my mother-in-law (who helped with the savories) our guests enjoyed the following…

Savories                                                        

Mini Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwiches 

Cucumber Sandwiches                                     

Mini Quiches                                                     

Spiral Sandwiches                                  

 Bruschetta Cups                                                  

Fruit Kabobs                                            

 Vegetable Tray                                                      

Tea Pot Shaped Cheese Sandwiches            

 Mini Tea Pot Shaped PBJ Sandwiches 

Goldfish Crackers (one of the birthday girl’s favorite treats)

Scones                                                                          

Chocolate Chip                                              

 Mixed Berry                                            

 Pumpkin with Maple Glaze                                       

Sweets                                                                

Iced Tea Pot Sugar Cookies                                

Pink and Purple Spritz Cookies                        

Strawberry/Chocolate Cake Balls                  

Brownies                                                            

 Vanilla Cupcakes                                                  

Birthday Cake 

Birthday Cake     The beautiful birthday cake was ordered from J Noto’s Bakery in St. Peters, MO. I didn’t have a photo to show them exactly what I wanted but the decorator matched my vision and the cake represented the “Tea for Two” theme perfectly. While the decadent cake looked fabulous it tasted even better then it looked! The top tier was chocolate cake with chocolate Bavarian cream filling. The bottom tier was white cake with raspberry filling.

Activities     Since the children are only two years old I kept the activities simple and mess free. The littles enjoyed coloring tea themed coloring pages and had fun decorating teapot cut outs with shiny stickers. After the activity everyone moved into our great room where I read the book, I’m a Little Teapot, written and illustrated by Iza Trapani. The playful book follows the teapot as it dreams of going on exciting adventures. From a bullfight in Spain, to the opera, and through the jungle, the teapot ends up back home where it delights friends and family with a hot pot of tea! Each verse is written in rhyme and can be sung to the traditional song, “I’m a Little Teapot.”  Every guest signed a special birthday greeting in the book for Lillian to read when she gets older. Before Lillian opened presents, I led the group in singing the song, “I’m a Little Teapot” and I shared a special verse I wrote for my little girl on her second birthday.

Favors     Each child went home with a goody bag that contained a tea pot sucker, tea themed stickers, a small tea pot note pad, a birthday rubber ducky, Play Doh, and a bag of Goldfish Crackers. The adults went home with a “Tea for Two” goody bag so they could enjoy tea with someone special when they got home. The bags contained a tea cup and saucer or a mug, a biscotti, Milano Cookies, two tea bags, a chocolate spoon and two squares of Ghirardelli Chocolate. Since we selected the birthday theme months before the big day, my mom and dad helped me collect tea cups and mugs at thrift shops and yard sales. The bags were tied with pink raffia and purple ribbon and contained a custom tag with a picture of Lillian along with the special verse I wrote for her.

This is the special verse I wrote for Lillian and it was printed on the goody bag tags. It pretty much sums up the party which was enjoyed by all.

I’m a little girl named Lillian Clare. I’m wearing a dress and a bow in my hair. Today’s my 2nd birthday and I’d like to share. Tea for Two is the perfect pair!