Emmy's birthday tea

As we were discussing how to celebrate Emmy's third birthday, my mother, who had kindly offered ot host the party, suggested a birthday tea. Having considered the bewildering array of party themes built solely around an animated Disney character or TV show and wanting something less expensive and more unique, we thought a tea party would fit the bill admirably.

We invited three other toddler-age children to attend (following the rule of thumb that one should invite no more than one guest per year of your child's age), and asked them to bring any items they owned to play dress-up. I purchased some inexpensive feather boas and straw and crochet hats at a craft store and decorated them with fancy ribbon and silk flowers for the girls to wear.

A child-sized table and chairs on the back patio were set with a pretty floral tablecloth, enameled tea cups, saucers and spoons for tea, clear plastic tumblers for juice, pink paper plates and napkins, with a potted pink mini rose as the centerpiece. Knowing all this would be lost on 3- and 4-year-olds, I still folded the napkins like fans and placed them in the tumblers.

When the girls arrived, they played dress-up for a while, and then participated in a treasure hunt Peter had organized using digital photos of objects around the house as clues. In the last location of the hunt, each girl found a goody bag filled with inexpensive favors - little bottles of bubble solution with a wand, a plastic tiara and necklace, a plastic "camera" with pictures that change as you click the button, stickers, lollipops, horns, etc. After the treasure hunt, it was time to don the hats and have tea.

My mom and I had gleefully prepared a beautiful toddler feast - heart-shaped peanut butter & honey (Emmy's favorite) and scalloped open-face cucumber/dilled cream cheese sandwiches (not as popular with the toddler set, but the adults loved them!) on a rose glass platter, mini vegetarian corn dogs (sans sticks) served from a cut glass basket with mini bottles of ketchup, artfully arranged fresh berries, grapes and tangerine slices on a footed glass plate, a cheese dome filled with colby and mozzarella cheeses cut into stars, flowers and hearts, and a glass plate of fresh veggies including flower-shaped carrot slices, rings of sweet mini bell peppers and cherry tomatoes. Since the table was small and the serving pieces were fragile, Mom and I waited on the girls, allowing them to select what they liked from the serving pieces and offering to pour the (lukewarm) berry tea and apple juice. The tea and sugar cubes were especially popular, but more as an activity than as a source of sustenance.

For dessert, each child was given a plate with a frosted cupcake in the center with several kinds of sprinkles in piles around the edge that they could use to decorate it. Once they were decorated, we lit the candles on Emmy's and sang "Happy Birthday to You!" Emmy beamed as we sang, and blew out the candles beautifully (and immediately asked if she could do it again!). Then it was time for presents, which she received a lot of help in opening from her enthusiastic guests.

Amazingly, we finished up in just under two hours, which was the time we had allotted for the party. The girls all had a blast, and so did we. Emmy loved all of her gifts, but was especially enamored of her birthday balloons, a new doll from Grandma Jean and Gramps, and the most beautiful pink tricycle in the world from Uncle Joel, Uncle David & Aunt Renee.

This birthday tea was such a success that we may make it a tradition!