#11 hostess a tea party

Done...May 22, 2011 & repeated on May 28, 2011.

First about the May 22nd party...

Thank you Tracy, Susan & Meredith for coming over to my very first tea party!  I hope you had as much fun as I did. 

For starters, this mission will end up being the most costly.  From the food, the party favors, the craft project, the teacups & saucers sets, the teapots & oh yea, the tea...this mission will prove to be the most fun to plan.  It will also be the most talked about mission.  And it will be the most repeated mission! 

The invites...a simple blank card found by chance at Michael's.  They are blank cards with a teacup on the cover.  I figured a handwritten invite would be pretty cool.  And to make this a fun invite I will add a Bigelow teabag to it.  Everyone liked that touch.

The tea...Adagio Forest Berries...hot or iced.  I love this flavor.  It is my favorite.  It's my 'go to' flavor any time people come over.  It's only right that it made it to the table for this tea party. Luckily it was a big hit.  Everyone enjoyed several cups of it.

The food...little tea sandwiches made fresh before the party started.  On wheat bread there was sun-dried tomato pesto with fresh slices of tomato.  Very yummy.  And no tea party is complete unless there is a cucumber sandwich.  Mine was a mixture of cream cheese, honey & fresh mint with English cucumber slices.  Very delish!  And the overall favorite...fresh strawberries, honey & cream cheese with slices of strawberries on cinnamon swirl bread.  Tracy said it was 'very refreshing'.  I agree!  It was pretty good.

The desserts...fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate that I had made the night before, tea biscuts, & cake balls.  The cake balls were strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting dipped in chocolate.  I hadn't made these in a long time, but they turned out wonderful!

Tracy, my Irish twin, I am glad you came over...even for a little while.  I was glad to see you.  Thank you for the Cuervo tequila & margarita mix.  How well you know my drinking habit!  I'm sorry you missed the crafting part of the party.  You'll have to come over some night to paint.  I'll make the margarita's!

After Susan & Meri were done eating, I announced it was time for their craft project.  The craft project turned out to be painting a teacup & saucer planter.  Oh the things I find when looking on Amazon!  I put out paints & brushes, little cups, a cup of water & plenty of napkins.  Then I present my friends with their own planter for painting.  They both know I am a kid at heart & that this is going to be fun.  Luckily, they both get into it.  And let me tell you, they both got creative!!!

By the way Susan, after you all left, I copied your ladybug pattern & painted my own planter!!

The party seemed to go on forever.  There were lots of laughs & stories about our days back in junior high & high school.  Reconnecting on Facebook has been a great blessing!  I'm glad I get to talk to these friends again...after all these years!

Now about the May 28th party...

Thank you Maria, Trisha, Nicole & Stephanie for coming to my second tea party!

This party was equally as special as the first party.  This one was more for Nicole & Stephanie who helped offer a ton of the suggestions on my list of 40 things.  They had heard about the tea party...again, it is the most talked about event!  I promised them they could come over...so this second party was in their honor.

The invites were the same. 

The tea was almost the same.  I did serve up the Adagio Forest Berries hot tea.  For iced tea I made this white melon chai that I found on a shopping spree in Home Goods.  It turned out pretty good. 

The food was also similar.  The only addition was making peanut butter & jelly on white bread.  Nicole & Stephanie's brother Ryan has peanut allergies, so they don't have peanut butter in the house at all. 

The desserts were also similar.  The only change, the cake balls were red velvet, with cream cheese frosting dipped in powdered sugar.  And I made some red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  It was fun to keep Nicole & Stephanie guessing about the desserts.  I will end up making them guess, but not get it, all through the crafting time!

And thus...we have arrived at crafting time.

Everyone gathers around my coffee table as I put out paints & brushes & cups.  I then present everyone with their own teacup planter.  Nicole & Stephanie are immediately into it.  Maria will take some time to ponder what she wants to do...but we all agree, her's will be the best of the party!

Later on, Ryan will crash the party.  He will immediately want to get in on the painting.  And I'm proud to say he did the best job!  The fact that he wrote I love painting at Traci's house on his has nothing to do with me loving his work the best!!! 

At the end of both parties, my guests will receive favor bags.  Everyone will get this little tin of Sen Cha Green Tea mints.  I love these!  And a pack of Trident Rejuvenate gum...which is white tea with mint.  It's so good!  My friends from school will also get a candy necklace.  I bought them on a whim while in Party City.  Nicole & Stephanie will get some little girlie rings & funky jelly bracelets.  And everyone who painted a teacup planter got a packet of seeds.  Yes, I am this organized & anal retenative when planning a party favor bag!

Overall, I had a blast both times.  I enjoyed using my pretty teacup & saucer set for the first part of the party.  I spent so much time looking for just the right set & I am glad I found them by chance.  And I enjoyed using the second set, the dot pattern, received as a gift.  Both sets were perfect.

I had fun doing this mission.  All the planning, the shopping, the preparing, the fun...oh yes, this mission was a great one.  Glad I picked it.

And for the record, I am sure this is going to get repeated a few more times.  It seems a few people are interested in having tea with me...

Two of forty missions are now done.  I'm looking forward to the next one...