This turned out cute and was very popular. It's nothing but grapes, cheddar cheese, marbled cheese, and sliced white cheese of your choice. |
This one went over great! Cherry (or grape) tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, celery for the trunk, and cauliflower snow. Cute, huh? It can't be any easier than arranging veggies. No cooking needed. |
Christmas is always a very fun and colorful time of year. There are so many lovely things you can do to survive hosting a Christmas party. Have a hot chocolate bar, games (we played drop the small marshmallows into a coffee mug while standing straight over it. You hold your arm straight out in front of you and drop. It rocked!), plenty of chocolate, PLENTY of chocolate, healthy choices, and hot food. I love making the cheesy fries, and I make them as-written. My guests are always excited about these coming out of the oven. I also love the buffalo chicken ring. It went over big, too, and I will be making it again and again. My husband loves both the fries and the buffalo ring any time of year, but they are truly awesome foods for a Christmas party, too.
Tea Party How-to's
I have hosted one tea party in my house, and it has officially made me a professional. I can now dole out advice like a wizened sitcom character. Oh, yeah. I am the George Feeny of tea parties. There's a little sarcasm there for you. I did learn a lot from my tea party experience. I have been a customer at tea rooms for years now, and I love the tea room experience. I have my favorite go-to teas and foods, but if a tea room offers unlimited tea to try...oh, yeah! I usually walk out with $100 in loose-leaf tea if they will sell it to me. So tips for a good homemade tea party for adults:Tip 1: Have plenty of tea choices.
I know this is common sense, but have a generous choice of teas. At the bare minimum, 5. If you are hosting a tea party, I am assuming you like tea. What you don't serve at the party, consider it part of your private stash. Don't be cheap. DON'T BUY GROCERY STORE TEA!!! Seriously. Buy it from a tea place like Teavana, Urbana tea spa (if you live in the Charlotte area), Tea Monger, or the Roswell Teahouse if you live in the Atlanta area. I get all my tea from the latter choice. I have never been disappointed. For my tea party, I had a two-page menu of all my favorite teas. I live in South Carolina. I have tea from Atlanta. Put two and two together...the Roswell Teahouse ships their tea!!! Oh, it is SO worth it!So above is the first page of my tea menu. I love Hobby Lobby for their multiple choices on crafting, but they had NO TEA STICKERS! NONE! AGH! So, since the party was a shabby chic theme, I just stuck with that. There were plenty of cool shabby chic stickers to choose from. I got textured card stock for $.88 a sheet, twine to tie them together, and some stickers to deck it out. In the end, I had around 30 teas to choose from because I am a tea fanatic. It gave the party a true tea-room feel. So, if you are hosting a tea party, have lots of teas to choose from!
Tip 2: Have lace. Lots of lace.
You are hosting a tea party, right? Then that means girly and feminine to the extreme. Even though my tea party was shabby chic, I still found plenty of room for lace with that burlap. Most of my items were collected from Goodwill, antique stores, and Hobby Lobby. Each table had a unique theme while sticking with shabby chic, but they all had lace.
Our kitchen table. It's got a natural wood look. Don't cover natural wood. It gives that 'Princess in a fairy tale wood' vibe. Pink was the theme here. |
Tip 3: Have great food!
Not just good food. Oh, anyone can have mediocre food. Have excellent food. Even if that means you buy it. I have two babies. I don't have time to make food to serve 20 people. So, I bought most of my food. And it all got rave reviews. Here's what I had:
Tip 4: Do something unique
Yeah, I know I am blogging about doing something unique, but whether it be a baby shower, a bridal shower, or just a tea party with friends, you should consider likes and dislikes and go from there. My friend, Sarah, loves shabby chic. It's not so much my taste. I like Victorian and antique looks. Boy did I ever have fun searching for a new look for my house! It was refreshing and therapeutic in a way. A little change is good for the soul. Anyway, I decided to do themed tables for Sarah. I got a burlap banner (let's just have a disclaimer right now. All crafting items and most decorative items came from Hobby Lobby unless otherwise noted. End of disclaimer), and I got some stencils and black spray paint. My sister-in-law was a great sport. She did most of the spray painting with minor help from me, but we both ended up with black hands. Wear disposable gloves unless you want to wash off a layer of skin along with the paint. Anyway, the final result was so worth it!
Medium-sized stencils, burlap banner, and black $.99 spray paint. 20 minutes, and you have awesome signs. |
Here is the bride (right) and her sister in two of the vintage hats and wearing some vintage gloves. So fun! |
The "Old" table had baby pictures of the future bride and groom as well as around 30 pair of vintage gloves and a lot of floppy hats. Some of the hats were vintage, as well, dating from the 1920's. I found all the gloves and vintage hats on Ebay. It was fun hunting them down. I was very picky about what I used. I needed floppy hats and intricate gloves. I found what looked like a bridal bouquet and wrapped burlap ribbon around it and tied that with twine to give it a shabby chic look. Every detail counts. Women notice detail. Be detailed.
The borrowed table had a burlap book with empty pages and a pen tray. I had the guests give their marriage advice. Sarah 'borrowed' marriage advice from her guests. I wish I had a longer place to hang this banner. It got a little bunched, but it still looked nice. And, look! More lace!
The "New" table had a basket for gift cards and a really cool burlap mannequin that I found at The Shoppes at River's Edge in Rock Hill. I took pictures of Sarah searching for her wedding gown. (Yep. I'm the creepy stalker-friend who followed her around video taping and taking pictures AT THE SAME TIME!) The actual gown I featured in a teaser picture. You can't really see it on through the curtain. Bahahaha! The others are of Sarah in street clothes just shopping for a gown. Hey, it is not up to me to spoil her surprise. And, look, more lace on the table. Along with glass flowers. I had teapot placeholders from my wedding that worked great as directives. 'Cards for Sarah', 'Prize table', 'Pay no attention to that dress behind the curtain'...just kidding on that last one. A little pre-wedding humor, if you will.
The blue table featured a game (Guess what blue item is inside the treasure box) and a few blue decorations that I found at Goodwill. I know you are shocked. I found that lovely hat and the blue scarf at a Goodwill. Perfect. Oh, and there was a blue garter inside the box. Have fun and get creative but make sure it is blue.
Tip 5: Play games
Don't assume everyone knows each other. I had games that I found on Pinterest. We played a 'what's inside your purse' game broken up into groups by table, and we played a 'Guess what the Bride is thinking' game as individuals. They were clean and fun. Sarah, nor I, for that matter, do not appreciate dirty games. This event is elegant and lady-like. Don't ruin your tea party with games that make some guests feel uncomfortable. Clean games are the way to go. And they are just as much fun. I had prizes for the winners. Everything from cute little boxes of dishcloths to teacup jewelry to an actual teacup with chocolate in it. It made it a lot of fun. I also had take-aways for everyone. I had a bucket of tea samples that I can't believe there are no pictures of. The tea was put in a small jewelry bag with a label telling how long to steep and a brown tag hanging from it that said, Chris + Sarah= perfect 'Tea'm". Yeah. It's corny, but it turned out super-cute. I can't believe I have no pictures! I got really caught up in details. Apparently pictures weren't part of that detail. I also hand-wrote recipes for everyone to take home of some of the featured items like the Tomato Basil Soup that I make. Yes, I did actually make some of the stuff.
Tip 6: Pay attention to detail
All the small things do matter. There were a lot of small things that happened to get the bigger result. I used plastic silverware and dressed it up with a beautiful tea spoon, and a little decorative twine. I set each set of silverware on top of the individual teacups. It turned out elegant even though it was plastic. Really, who wants 18 people worth of dishes at the end of the day. Not to mention that I don't even own enough silverware.
I also made a 'cake' centerpiece using various ribbon and flowers. You can do this with any ribbon. Don't waste your time searching for ribbon that will stack just right. You will probably have to unwind and re-pin some of it to make it the right size. I stuffed the middle with flowers that I just set in there. They fit nicely. This was inexpensive and beautiful and got a lot of attention. Also pictured are my mason jars that I tied string around to dress them up. I went around them 7 times, then tied them off. Easy, yet dressy. Just another detail.
The outside was even decked out with a tea set on my patio set up by my lovely sister-in-law |
This chalkboard easel came from Kohls. I'm sorry. It is not available online right now, so I have no link. |
Tip 7: Get a second job
Because paying for a tea party that is truly Pinterest worthy will cost you an arm and a leg. I'm just being serious. That's all. Luckily, most items can be resold and you won't have to take a huge hit, but the food has no resale value, so consider that an investment into your loved one. I'm a stay-at-home mom. I found things to sell around the house so I could turn around and buy the teacups, teapots, and all the other things for the party. It gets expensive fast, even with the 50% off sales that Hobby Lobby has. However, it is worth the end result. A lot of my guests had never been to a tea room, so my party was a first experience. If you are going to do something for a friend, do it with all you have. Do your best. Make it a magical experience. And have help. Lots and lots of help. My mom drove up from Atlanta and my sister-in-law drove an hour to help me prepare the food, decorate, and then serve the food and drinks. Without them, the party would have been a flop. We literally waited tables like actual waitresses. That wasn't what I originally intended, but that is what ended up happening. I couldn't have pulled off a flawless party without them. Not to mention that my sister-in-law made a fabulous take-home wreath for the bride.
She does take orders if you are interested in a wreath and are local. She will ship, too, but local is easier. Facebook message me if you want a wreath. |
I have no more tips, but I will say that hosting a party for a friend is a wonderful, stretching experience. I learned that I am better at decorating than I thought. I also learned that I can't do anything alone. Sarah hosts most of the parties I attend. She is truly gifted in that area. I don't know how she does it. It's fun to host, but I think I'll leave that to those who are gifted in hospitality. I am personally gifted in eating, so I will stick with my gift. Good luck with your party! And feel free to ask any questions or make comments!
What? How did Judah get here!? |
And Lizzie, too? They must have snuck on this page. :-) |
You did a fabulous job with the party, and you are better at it than you give yourself credit for. I am so proud of you!!
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