A Tiny Little Tea Party

a post also known as- those are the words I used to convince my husband to let me have this party

Over the summer I came across Melissa Lester's blog "A Little Loveliness"  Her blog is a such an inspiring read, but what stood out to me a few months ago were the perfectly lovely tea parties she hosts. One of which was an afternoon tea party she had for her children to celebrate their return to school. Since my one and only was starting school this year, finding this seemed so well timed and appropriate. A back to school tea party was the perfect way to celebrate this milestone. Putting my own spin on her ideas, an early afternoon tea party was created using lots of pink, lots of flowers, and lots of sweets.

Guests received this tea pot invitation announcing the events details(which have now been blurred for privacy). I feel so fortunate to have a wonderful husband who works as a graphic designer, he was able to take my rough sketch and ideas and turn them into the most wonderful invitations.

The littlest ladies found this table waiting for them in the kitchen. 

The table cover was a scrap of fabric leftover from the bunting hung in the dining room window. The center of the table held a plastic tea set from my daughter's playroom, brought down to encourage imaginative play during the party. 

The girls place cards were held in antique rose holders handed down from my great aunt. 

To dress up our kitchen chairs, which are badly in need of a fresh coat of paint, I tied a strip of tulle embellished with a crepe paper rose bud. 

The center of our bay window held a crepe paper rose wreath. 

Our "mommies" table was set in the dining room. 

This table was set using a simple white table cloth and another scrap of fabric leftover from the bunting, shown here hung in the dining room window.

The dining room chairs also received a tulle and crepe paper rose bud embellishment, to help tie the two party areas together.

 Slightly different place card holders, still with the same rose theme, held the name cards for this room.

The center of the table held a silver tea set, another antique treasure passed down through my family. I filled the creamer with perfectly pink roses, found at Wal-Mart of all places. 

The table also held heart shaped sugar cookies with cream cheese icing, a newly found favorite cookie of mine. 

One final detail and the table was complete- petite pink rose hair clips for each little girl to take home after the party.  The tops of each card did have the girl's names on them, now removed for privacy.

 Our dining room, set for the party

The buffet in our kitchen made a pretty good tea cart. Three types of hot tea, along with the traditional cream and sugar were served; as well as a cranberry lemon iced tea. The buffet also held strawberry and cream cheese, and pimento cheese tea sandwiches. In addition to the heart shaped sugar cookies, guests were also encouraged to satisfy their sweet tooth with mini cupcakes, candy kisses and fresh fruit. 

Thank you for the inspiration Melissa! We all enjoyed a wonderful afternoon together, which made going back to school just a little easier to manage.

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