Tea Room Party: Ava is 5!

Ladylike hats and tiny sandwiches and everything pink – to say I’m in love with this tea party would be an understatement! It’s the ultimate tea party – and would you believe that it was all planned by one crafty mama and hosted at home? (I thought for sure it was in a real tea room!) Read on for all the details about Ava’s fifth birthday party, courtesy of her ought-to-be-a-stylist mom, Janna!

“The party was held at our home in our formal living room.  I moved all of the furniture out, with the exception of the two round tables, and took the pictures off of the wall. I found silver platters, silverware, and teapots at the Brimfield Antique Show here in Massachusetts, and I rented the silver chiavari chairs.”

“All of the tea party fabric from Free Spirit came from my mother-in-law’s store, Cabbage Rose Quilting and Gifts in Fort Worth, Texas. She made the tulle skirt with satin ribbon as well as the ruffled table cloth at the main table.  I made the pink cloth napkins at each table setting.”

“I envisioned a full skirt for Ava to wear for the party, so I found a cute skirt pattern at my mother-in-law’s store and my sister-in-law sewed it. I already had silver mint julep cups, and instead of using real flowers for the table centerpieces, I filled them with mini marshmallows and stuck some of the pink and white swirl lollipops with pink ribbons tied around them.”

“I decided to use all clear glass for the table, so I found small tea cups and saucers and small quilted jars to serve lemonade and strawberry milk.  I used appetizer-sized plates for strawberry jam sandwiches, marshmallows and fruit.”

“The cookies were made by Rebecca Zolla at Crumbs Cookies were decorated with each guest’s name, and the remaining cookies had a number 5 on them. For the centerpiece on the sweet table, I found some branches in our yard and spray painted them white. I put them in a silver urn from the antique fair, then hung some of the cookies on the branches. My mother-in-law and I made the fabric covered paper lanterns, attached ribbon from the top of them, and hung them over the table.”

“Each item on the sweets table was labeled with a buffet card, and glass jars were labeled with stickers for each guest to fill with treats at the end of the party.”

“Ava and her guests decorated picture frames that I found at Christmas Tree Shops.”

“All of the girls, as well as the one boy guest, decorated large straw hats from Oriental Trading.”

“I designed the cake and had it made by Cakes by Paula in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.”

Thank you so much for sharing your amazing work, Janna! Happy birthday, Ava! : )