Fancy Food, Fancy Dress, and Friends! Tea Party for girls please!
If you are like me you just realized your kids are going up to fast?!?! In a effort to enjoy this season of life my 6 and 8 year old girls and I planned a tea party!
Our party planning rules were to keep it simple, use what we have, can create, or borrow, and enjoy the journey.
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What topics are covered…
- Creating the invitations
- Food and cost breakdown
- Drink and cost breakdown
- Tea party table setting and decoration
- What activities to include?
- How much was the affordable tea party?
- What would I do different?
From one mom to another I wish your the best Tea Party with your sweet girls!
Creating the invitations
Firstly, start with what you have! We have a printer and card stock. Using the information we collected my daughter created her own invitation.
Secondly, we photo copied the invitation onto card stock. My daughter was very proud of her handy work and it was very affordable. *Pictured below
Lastly, to save on postage and envelopes we chose to hand deliver the invitations.
Food and cost breakdown
Without a doubt great food is essential at any tea party!
Foods discussed..
- Chocolate covered strawberries
- Fruit Kobobs
- Cookies and crackers
- Proteins
Chocolate covered strawberries
My daughter requested chocolate covered strawberries. I began to search the local grocery ad’s. Eventually, we found a store with a sale! This allowed us to stock up on strawberries and refrigerate them until party day.
To create the strawberries chocolate coating:
- Firstly, we melted ¾ cup of chocolate chips with 1 Tbsp of butter, in the microwave for 30 seconds.
- Secondly, we stirred the chocolate mix and put it in the microwave for 30 more seconds.
- Thirdly, we washed and dipped the strawberries in the chocolate mix.
- Finally, we set them to harden in the refrigerator. Inexpensive yet fancy!
Fruit Kabobs
Another hit was the fruit kabobs! To keep costs down I searched for fruit on sale or best bulk price. That being said our fruit kabobs had more grapes as filler fruit. Either way the kids loved them!
- To get the fun hemisphere cantaloupe shape we used a 1tsp-measuring utensil.
Cookies and Crackers
In reality we could bake cookies but we choose to purchase them. To provide a variety we gathered items from the dollar store, discount store, and on sale at local grocery stores.
Proteins
After all you need protein to balance the sugar!
The bacon was purchased as a managers special discount.
- Cut the 1lb of bacon in half. Then stick them in the oven at 425’F for about 18 minutes. Halfway through drain the fat off and flip them over.
Finally, with our 12 chickens laying eggs like crazy I knew we needed to have an egg dish. Deviled Eggs for the win! The girls devoured them and asked for more!!!
| Party Food Items | Cost |
| *Pirouette Creme Fill Wafers | $3.99 |
| *Mint cookies | $1.25 |
| *Chocolate Covered Pretzels | $1.19 |
| *Skewers for fruit kabobs | $0.24 |
| *Purple Grapes – 1lbs | $1.33 |
| *Green Grapes – 1lbs | $1.33 |
| *Bacon – 1lb | $2.22 |
| *Knott’s Cookies | $1.56 |
| *Gold Oreos | $1.18 |
| *Windmill Cookies | $3.00 |
| *Cantaloupe | $1.00 |
| *Strawberries – 1 lb | $0.98 |
| *Kiwi’s | $2.36 |
| Farm Fresh Eggs | Free |
| Total Cost for Party Food | $21.63 |
and the price reflects what was used at Party.
Drinks and costs breakdown
Equally important you can’t have a “Tea” Party without tea or some other fancy beverage.
With this in mind, plus the age of our group, we provided water and a cucumber drink!
First, we borrowed these matching drink dispensers from my neighbor.
Next, my daughter decorated with one of her favorite stuffed animals. Do you see her bear has a bow clipped on the ear?! : )
Cucumber Drink Recipe:
- 1 container – Limeade Concentrate (Freezer section)
- 2 Liter bottle – Ginger Ale soda, refrigerate
- 1 – Cucumber
- 1 Bag Ice – Ice cubes to fill pitcher
- Pitcher or fancy drink dispenser – Holds 4 quarts or more. (Recipe works for 4 quarts – 6 quarts)
- Directions: Start assembly 2-3 hours before party. Add Limeade Concentrate to bottom of pitcher. Add vertically sliced cucumbers and spread across the bottom. Fill the pitcher to the top with ice. Next pour in Ginger Ale all the way to the top. Let it sit for 2 or more hours. Top off with more Ginger Ale and enjoy.
| Drink Items | Cost |
| Limeade Concentrate | $1.50 |
| Ginger Ale 2 Liter | $2.89 |
| Cucumber | $0.79 |
| Bag of ice (if needed) | Free |
| Total for Cucumber Drink | $5.18 |
Tea Party table settings and decoration
By now you have your headcount for the tea party. With this in mind ask yourself what supplies you have to accommodate the needed place settings? If more settings are needed do friends or family members have items you could borrow?
To accommodate the 12 girls at our tea party I went to the dollar store. Their party section was perfect. Once gathered each place setting had a napkin, plate, plastic wine glass, bead necklace, and appetizer fork because they were so cute and tiny.
At last we decorated the the table with things we had on hand, tablecloth, dry white bean from the pantry (daughter’s idea…why not?), and plant decorations from around the house.
| Dollar Store Items | Cost |
| Pink Napkins – 30 | $1.25 |
| Plastic Wine Glasses – 12 | $2.50 |
| Plates – 12 | $2.50 |
| Necklaces – 15 | $3.75 |
| Appetizer Forks – 30 | $1.25 |
| Dollar Store Total | $11.25 |
Lastly, as a party favor each girl got to keep the necklace at their place setting. Some even took their entire place setting home! Too cute, how could I say no.
What activities to include?
Think about the age of your group, waredrobe, locations?
Our group ranged 5 years old to 11 years old, so simple activities were the best. Each girl brought a stuffed animal and poem to share.
During the Tea Party each girl took a turn standing up to share their poems and stuffed animals. A highlight from this activity was when some girls helped their nervous friends stand up and be brave. That warmed my heart to see them be so kind and supportive to each-other!
Another highlight worth mentioning was watching my daughter(s) run the show!
Related posts: Watch your daughters take charge and grow in their confidence when planning a Tea Party.
How much was the affordable Tea Party?
All things considered the Tea Party was very budget friendly.
| Items | Costs |
| Invitations | Free |
| Party Food | $21.63 |
| Cucumber Drink | $5.18 |
| Table Settings/Decoration | $11.25 |
| Time with Daughter(s) | Priceless |
| Total | $38.06 |
What I would do different?
All in all I would change nothing, it was perfect. Memories were created and my girls had a wonderful tea party.
On the other hand here are a few things I will do different next time.
- Budget to mail the invitations. It’s fancy and easier than hand delivering.
- Add an end time to the invitations. About 1 and ½ hours is perfect.
- Poem adjustment. Make sure they are short and have no big words. I want the kids to feel confident and be successful. They could even say twinkle twinkle little star.
- Add a conversation cup to the table. Strips of paper with age appropriate questions.
- Bake and freeze cookies before. This requires earlier planning but could be another teaching opportunity.
- Add more savory and protein dishes. Maybe just double my savory and protein platter size. The girls ate them so fast.
- Try a different tea party set.
- Get a picture with my girls before it starts!!! Oops
Hello Friend! I’m Chantell…
Wife, Mother of 5 earthly & 6 heavenly babies, and love God. I blog about Motherhood. Read More
