::tulle table skirt::

My friend Gretchen (who is a wonderful party planner, by the way) turned me on to the idea of a tulle table skirt for the tea party.  Once she got the idea in my head I could not let it do.  I needed it.  Required.

I got on etsy - as usual - to look for inspiration.  I found some stunningly fluffy skirts.
But I knew that it was too fluffy to be affordable.

I decided to just experiment.
I went to walmart and bought a $6 dollar roll of 6in wide white tulle.

Then I bought another roll, then another one, then another one - ending up with 5 rolls.  That's $30 people.  Way to expensive for such a non-essential part of the tea party.  But I convinced myself I would use it again (like my lovey Becky's October baby shower).  And once I got started I couldn't just leave it half done.  ~Like that cursed balloon wreath that still haunts me, sitting half finished in the demo'd bathroom~

Once I had all the tulle, this thing was easy but a bit time consuming.

I started with a piece of twine that was about two feet longer than the actual area I wanted to cover.  That way I could just cut off the extra if needed.

I cut the tulle into strips that were generously twice the height of the table I was using.  I thought they would look much better too long than too short.

Then I just started doing pull through after pull through.  I did it early in the morning, during nap time, and at my inlaws - any down time.  It took about two hours total.  Once I got my rhythm I could pick up my pace.  

I thumb tacked the skirt to the table.  Then I took a yellow ribbon and tacked it to the table, stretching it all the way around.  This hid the tulle knots on the twine.

I really like how this turned out and can't wait to use it again. 

YouTube video that gives step by step instruction for the pull through system.  It is not my video, but it is useful if my instructions are not making sense.  

::tea party budget::

I am cheap.  Super cheap.  I have not bought Max a new item of clothing in over a year.  Everything he owns comes from the used clothing store or goodwill.

I also read all the party blogs I can find.  LOVE THEM!!  All the creativity makes me so happy.  (If you have a recommendation on one let me know)

But my cheapness and my desire to hold insane kids parties does not go hand in hand all the time.  I wanted about $500 to spend on the tea party.  But I knew that was crazy.  $250 was crazy too, but I needed a little splurge.  Just a little.  I do so much to save us money, can’t I just have this little luxury??????  That’s how I justified it to myself.  Josh seemed to buy it to, because he wasn’t on me too bad.

Here is what the party budget broke down to be.

Costs:
            Crafts:
                        Teacup crafts $6 (I had the sharpies)
                        Paper hats $0
                        Paper Trees $0 (I had it all)
                        Paper dolls $8
            Decor:
                        Table skirt $20 in fabric, but I hope to reuse it
                        Pink cups $10 – and I will reuse them
                        Breakables from goodwill - $25
                                    I can reuse the tea pots but I gave away the tea cups/saucers
                        Colorful pots - $30
                                    Perfect for the front porch
                        Butterflies/flowers - $30
                                    Splurge
                        Pink flat sheet - $5
                        Napkins, utensils, etc - $5
                        The rest was made from things I already had
                        Treat bags - $8
                        Envelopes - $5
                        Misc - $20
            Food:
                        See food post for details $65

TOTAL:  under $240

Why waste the money on a party that isn’t even a birthday party (ie – the tea party)?  Because I needed a distraction.  Because I just wanted to focus on doing something fun for Lily and her little friends.  Because I had to cancel Max’s birthday party and I was party jonesing.  Because Because Because.  Because I did.  But after it was over, Josh and I had a big talk about what me going into party over drive does to the family.  It turns me into a bossy drill sergeant.  If everyone isn’t doing exactly what I want them to do, I go insane.  It’s a touchy environment.  He didn’t bring up the expense, but that is part of it too.  So, I have decided that this is my last random party for awhile.  Not forever.  I really want to have a Halloween party someday.  But in the next year it’s just birthday parties.  (And the GREATEST baby shower ever coming up in October for my great friend at work)

Lily’s September Party – Science
October baby shower – theme ???  AWESOMENESS
Max January Party – Dinosaur?  Red wagon? Trucks? Who knows?

::THE TEA PARTY:

 We had the tea party!!  And it went great.  I had to be flexible and change all my well laid out plans.  The party was from 2-4 and a really bad think-about-going-to-the-basement thunderstorm was coming sometime around 4.  In bad weather we usually move parties to the barn, but that didn’t really work with my tea party theme.  So I moved around all my furniture and set up in the house.  It was actually very nice to have all the major set up done ahead of time. 

 

We started out with two different crafts.

 The first one was “Decorate You Tea Cup”.  I had a jar of different color Sharpies for the girls to use.  My only instruction was – write your name on it so you can see it and then decorate it how ever you want.  They came up with some really cute stuff.

 The second craft was newspaper hats.  You take two sheet of a newspaper and unfold it.  Place them on top of the kids head and wrap masking tape around the papers at about eye brow level.  This leads to a hat shape that the kids can then trim and decorate.  Most of the kids left them big, but Lily trimmed hers down to a stylish little hat.  I had feathers out for them use to decorate with.

When these crafts started I had my helpers out on the porch doing face painting.  They had some flowers stamps to use or they could also just free hand things.  My Emma and my neighbor girl, that are the same age, where the big artists of the day.  But my mother in-law and my older neighbor girl (who does most of my babysitting) also did some great work too.

Next we went outside and played games.  I wanted them to burn off a little energy.  We played Duck/Duck/Goose, sugar cube spoon relay, and hot-potato.

Then they came back inside to eat.  An idea that helped me stay within budget came over from my friend Wendy.  She made a circle table runner for her rainbow party and I converted that into my table.  I also used slightly larger circles as chargers.  The napkins had some feather napkin rings added to them.  The pink table cloth is a cheap flat sheet.  The little butterflies down the middle are a little splurge that I am going to use as part of the wrapping on future presents.  Over head was a chandelier that was made from colored straws, twine, and paper.    

The food table was so much fun!  I bought a few spools of tulle and made the skirt.  It’s just a long piece of twine with loops of tulle pulled thru.  Link here for a tutorial on how to make tutu if you want more information.  The table cloth and back ground are two green flat sheets straight out of my linen closet.  I made some of the food and bought some.  I thought long and hard about making all the food, but it really reduced my stress load to just buy some of it.  

 Please see my Tea Party Food post if you want more deets. 

After they ate, I took them back into the craft room to do the last two crafts.  The first craft was making cherry blossom trees.  The girls painted a tree outline and then filled it in with pink punched out flowers.  They girls also got paper dolls to work on.  I bought these from an AMAZING vendor on Etsy called Anne Made Art.  Go see her shop.  She is talented.  And they were so CHEAP.  I had a large enveloped for the girls to take them home in so all the little parts would not get lost.

When all the crafts were done they went outside to play a few more games.  We played a game were they stacked sugar cubes and at the end of one minute whoever had the highest tower won.  Then we played a game were they sat in a circle with their eyes closed and I tucked a tea bag into one persons hand. They had to try and guess which one of them had it.  That game got lots of giggles.    

The party was 2 hours long and they were having fun the whole time.  We only had about ten minutes at the end were I just let them run wild on the playground.  And you could see the black clouds rolling toward us in the distance.     

We sent them home with a little treat bag that I had mocked up earlier in the week.

We ended up adding the flower straws and the tea cup saucers.

::tea party - the food::

I really let Lily help me this time.  I made myself uncomfortable and let her really do things.  Like roll the marshmallows in the sprinkles.  I was not totally comfortable with it.  But I did it.  And it made her so happy.  And I am so glad I loosened up at least a little and got to spend some fun time with her.

Now...

For the food!!!

I tried to hold myself back.

I tried to not overwhelm myself with complicated baking that would frustrate me and take up tons of my time.  Damn you Annie's Eats - you make it look so easy.  

Plus the "bakery" area of my local Walmart always looks pretty darn good.  I am a Target snob at heart, but my empty wallet forces me to become a Walmart shopper.  And the bakery stuff is good.  Promise.  (But you must go to People of Walmart, I have submitted pictures of people I have seen before)

At the bakery section I got

Three kinds of mini cupcakes - red velvet, chocolate chip cookie, and chocolate.  Pretty little things.  $2.50 each kind for one dozen = $7

Three kinds of cookies - sugar cookies, chocolate chip dunkers, and mini snowballs.

$2 each = $6

I also got chocolate covered pretzels - because they look pretty. $3

Last I bought some fancy looking swiss rolls and cut them into fourths. $2.50

We then left the bakery area and got:

Brownie mix with chocolate icing $3.75

Cheez-it's for something salty $3.50

These weirdo little marshmallow candies called "Mallo-Licious" that are shaped like ice cream cones (Now that I actually write that they do seem a little weird) $2

Fruit - the watermelon looked good so I bought one and cut it is half to make a bowl.  The rest of the fruit was just what ever looked good.  Then I put the girls in charge of putting them onto toothpicks to make them look fancy. $16 total but we will be happy to eat the left overs

I made rice crispy treats and used a cookie cutter to cut them into flower shapes.  Then I added a little bit of melted candy on top.  But that wasn't enough so I pulled out my handy sprinkles and finished it off.  $4.30

Chocolate covered strawberry's $5

Chocolate covered strawberry marshmallows $4

    Plus sucker sticks just because I like them $2

Drinks were pink lemonade at 68 cents a 2L

    But I only bought two!!!!  What was I thinking!  Hannah came out all day Friday to help me prep.  She pointed out the error of my 2 2L logic and hooked me up with more drinkage.

Raspberry tea $2.24

Total food budget: under $65

And beer for me. 

::tea party treat bag::

I always get carried away with treat bags.

Totally carried away.

But I managed to keep myself somewhat under control for the tea party.

I kept saying - this is not a birthday party, just a fun party.  Chill OUT.

So I came up with this.

A white lunch bag with the top folder over and punched to add interest.

Tied to the outside are sunflower seeds.

Inside the girls take home the cup that they will decorate at the party.

 

Total cost:  

     Seeds - $.20

     Bag - $.05

     Tissue - $.05

     Cup - $.50 (50% off at Goodwill)

80 CENTS PER BAG!!!!  

My lowest total ever!!!!

The kids will also take home the paper hats and paper dolls that they will make

STAY TUNED FOR THE TEA PARTY PICTURES~!

 

 

::dragonfly banner::

Max was very helpful with our tea party banner.

I am not sure were exactly we are going to use it.

Maybe the back of the treat table???

We had lots of fun making them on my cricut cutter.

::cupcake flowers::

I saw this in my family fun magazine and I knew it was PERFECT for the tea party.

Cheap, easy, pretty, fun - yes please

I used three different size baking cups.

Fold them all in half. 

Cut the petals out of the middle and largest sizes.

 Use a hole punch to put a hole in the center.

Push a green straw through.

I wrapped the straw with clear scotch tape about 1/4 of the way from the top to stop the flowers from slipping down.

I LOVE THEM!!

Each place setting will have one.  

::tea party - more planning::

I have a note in the calender in my iPhone

It says "focus on tea party"

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (that's me being excited)

I left myself that note a few months ago, so that I would remind myself to really get planning.

So I AM

I have tweaked and updated my party plan a great deal.

These things go in cycles.   I build them up too expensive and then rip them down a bit to make them more manageable.  

One of my goals with this one is to have almost NOTHING to do the day of except set out food.  I want to focus on being more organized and less flustered the day of.

(Mostly because I almost threw up two hours before the art party I was so nervous)

The date is set for May 14th.  

I like to divide the pre-party time into chunks and assign myself chores during those time periods.  

By April 16th (one month out) I would like to have done...

Things to buy:

Printables

     Set this up with my lovey, Bird, over at birdcrafts.  She has a mexican line that minus the mexican stuff is just the right idea.  (Cupcake rings, treat bag tops, label for doll envelope, food table labels, etc)

Two cloth table clothes - pink and orange

Raid goodwill for more tea pots

Colored duct tape

fruit kabob sticks

Things to make:

FLOWERS!!!! and butterflies/dragonflies

     Duct tape, folded paper, every idea I can find  (FEEL FREE TO THROW ME SOME MORE!)

Street signs

By April 30th (two weeks out) I would like to have done...

Things to buy:

Place setting flower pots

Container for center piece

Streamers for treat table

Paper dolls

Dot candy

Things to make:

chalkboard place setting flower pots

Grass table runner

Straw toppers

Cupcake toppers

Toothpick toppers

10 flowers

By May 7th (one week out) I would like to have done...

Things to buy:

Tulle

Astro turf

Borrow plates from mom

Fabric for photo spot background

Treat bags supplies

Paper doll envelopes

Things to make:

Tulle bench skirts

astro turf chargers (circle)

Cupcake towers

Log risers

Treat bags

10 flowers

Then the last week on non-work days gets broken down into daily chores.

May 8th

Prep craft table supply kits

Prep game supplies

May 12th

Buy the food

  (for stress reasons minimize the amount of homemade food)

May 13th

Make dot candy napkin rings, prep place settings

Food prep

May 14th (DAY OF!)

Set tables

Hang flowers

Set photo background

This is never everything - but it is a good start 

::tea party planning::

I want to throw Lily a girls only end of school party.  (End of May)

A tea party.

A bright vibrant crazy tea party.

Like this...

link here to see more of this party

Here is my list so far:

Printables
    Cupcake rings
    Different color Gerber daisy  straw toppers
    Tooth pick toppers
    Treat bag tops
    Label for paper doll envelopes
   

love the bench, but need brighter colors

Decorations
    Colors - everything BRIGHT!!!! But not rainbow
        Teal, orange, fuchsia,
     (rain plan is Josh’s barn)
    Under the trees
    Dining room table
        X of rope above
            Hang tissue paper flowers and lanterns
        Tulle skirts on benches
        Chairs at each end
        BRIGHT fuchsia table cloth
        Use as much breakables as possible
        Several arrangements down the center of tables
            Gerber and duct table flowers
                (send home with guests)
        Two table runners on each side, or astro turf placemats
        Chairs on ends of table

       Jar water glasses or fancy plastic goblets
            Fancy straws with toppers
            Ribbon hot glue wrap
        Place setting- with name cards
            Tea cup
            Real plate
            Utensils
            Napkin wrapped in dot candy with daisy hair clip
                Gerber daisy hair clipped on top
                http://lifewiththree.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-make-cute-hair-clips-with.html
   

 

pic from here

Food Table
        Bright orange table cloth
        Use a table with an umbrella hole in it.  Make a ribbon or streamer umbrella for it to serve as a background. 
        Cupcake tower with fancy cupcakes with pearl sprinkles on top
            Making cupcake tower
                http://annies-eats.net/2010/08/19/how-to-make-a-cupcake-tower/
        Logs as risers
        Food
            Cheese pizza bites
            Soft mini pretzels
            Mini fruit kabobs with clip art tooth picks
            Cheese cut in cut shapes with clip art tooth picks
        

Treats
            Whoopie pies
            Double chocolate raspberry cupcakes
            Red velvet cupcakes
            Raspberry swirl cupcakes
            Mini ice cream sandwiches (Brownie cookies)
            Mini white chocolate mouse parfaits
            Mini Orange Ice Cream Popsicles
            Carmel corn in cupcake wrappers or small paper bowl
            Chocolate cover strawberries
            Fruit pops
                http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/frozen-flower-pops-906859/       

Craft Tables
    Opener crafts
        Paper hats
            http://mayamade.blogspot.com/2008/07/party-hats_22.html
        Decorate your cup and put it at your place setting
    Secondary crafts   
        Do Japanese trees
            Paint tree with water colors and punch out flowers to add to page
        Decorate fans           
    Face painting    station

Games
    Sugar cube stack
    Pass the sugar cube with a spoon
    Cut out paper dolls
        With envelope

Treat Bag- brown craft handle bag with ribbon and labels
    Bag of little candies
    Take home cup
    Flower seed pack - sunflowers
    Paper dolls
    Ring pop

What other ideas do you guys have?????

food pics from Annie's Eats
But I can't remember were the fruit flowers come from