Princess Tea Party

Charlotte's birthday is on Halloween and this year she wanted to trade last year's monster theme for a princess party. Not just any princess party, mind you, a princess tea party. She threw this one at me mere days before the invitations were supposed to go out, so I had to hustle.

I found some cheap white tea cups and saucers at a restaurant supply store and added a pink crown with vinyl to make them feel a bit more princess-y. The ladies dined on cheese and crackers, fruit, cupcake-flavored goldfish, and of course pink lemonade "tea" rounded out the menu.



Since 4-year-old princesses are still refining their table manners, I kept the setting simple by making a table runner out of glitter wrapping paper from Paper Source, and used paper plates and napkins. Naturally, the birthday girl's little brother broke one of the princess tea cups before the party. Being the genius I am, I only bought exactly enough sets, so I had to get creative to come up with a suitable replacement. I glued some jewels on a plain white mug and called it the "birthday cup." Problem solved.



After the tea party, the ladies moved to their photo shoot, a dance party on their very own "stage" and played princess bingo…all events the birthday girl needed for her perfect party. The girls loved choosing their props and posing for the camera. While they were waiting for photos, the others bounced on the trampoline. As I cleaned up after the party, I noticed the trampoline was covered in glitter. Of course it was.

Charlotte had been to a party last year where she'd seen this Barbie cake and it immediately made it to the top of her must-have list. She was so excited about it. And I have to admit, I was pretty thrilled that by taking one simple short-cut I saved myself hours of cupcake decorating.

I have to say, this was the least stressful at-home birthday party I've ever hosted. Maybe that had something to do with the two aunts, a grandma and my hubby helping out during party time. (Thanks, guys!) Beforehand, though, I took some key shortcuts that really saved my sanity. I just mentioned the big victory with a store-bought cake. Because really, all 4-year-olds do with cake is lick the frosting off, right? Originally, I'd planned on making the photo props myself. But I ran onto a pre-made kit while I was at Paper Source buying glitter paper. It saved me loads of time. The photo backdrop was made with Land of Nod garlands I have ready for Charlotte's room makeover (more on that soon!) and a piece of white foam board I had hanging around.  Hands-down the easiest party I've ever thrown, and a pretty spectacular day for a new 4-year old. Everybody wins.