Archive for the ‘Girly Girl Parties’ Category
tea party pics
Sunday, September 13th, 2009
This was my first “officially” unofficial party. I wasn’t ever going to post this party because when I look at it I only see the things that I could do better now. But my friend reassures me that she loved it.
A happy birthday banner.
The infamous Marth Stewart tissue balls.
Party perfect tea party treats from Tres Sucre.
The party favors: a chenille cupcake tucked inside mismatched tea cups.
The tea party food.
Cupcakes with the guests’ names stamped on a cookie tops them.
The whole tea party table.
Party Pictures by Brook Andreoli.
Tags: Brook Andreoli, tea party
Posted in Girly Girl Parties | 9 Comments »
favorite tea party gift
Friday, September 11th, 2009
This might be a little predictable, but I love the little dish sets from IKEA. So mini and so darling, we own them all. They aren’t plastic, which is another huge reason that I love them.
Tags: tea party
Posted in Girly Girl Parties | 3 Comments »
thriftstore thursday: tea cups
Thursday, September 10th, 2009
This week I’m featuring a tea party that I helped a dear, dear friend with. This was actually my “first” party. Or maybe you could call it a pre-party. I think I’ve progressed a lot since then and I’m so grateful to this friend for letting me practice on her. Thanks Brook!
She had the darling idea to use mismatched tea cups and saucers from the thrift store and then to send them home with the guests as a gift. She let her daughter pick out the dishes.
Tags: tea party
Posted in Girly Girl Parties | 3 Comments »
party idea: use teapots for vases
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
Girly girl tea parties are the perfect occasion to use fresh flowers. So think outside of the box on this one and use some cute teapots to hold your bouquets. And for simplicity I like to put just one kind of flower in each pot.
Tags: tea party
Posted in Girly Girl Parties | 3 Comments »
tuesday tutorial: tea party flower sandwiches
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
directions:
1. You will need: 2 pieces of soft white bread, peanut or almond butter, jam, a flower cookie cutter and a 1″ biscuit cutter.
2. Place the flower cookie cutter onto the bread and keep adjusting it until you can fit the whole shape on the slice. Press firmly and cut out the flower shape. Do this to both pieces.
3. Use the biscuit cutter to cut out the middle circle of the “flower” on only one piece, which will become the top of the sandwich.
4. Dot the flower petals on the bottom piece with peanut butter.
5. Add a dollop of jam to the center, making it bigger than the circle cut out of the top piece. Put the top piece of bread onto the bottom piece of bread, lining up the flower petals.
6. Serve it up with some pretend tea and enjoy!
Tags: tea party, tutorial
Posted in Girly Girl Parties | 5 Comments »
eco-tip: party favors
Monday, September 7th, 2009
a goal, no plastic toys as party favors. okay, this is a toughie because parties basically equal plastic. they do. it’s hard to fill a goodie bag without using plastic. and it makes sense to save money when having a party, but cutting corners at the expense of the environment doesn’t help anyone in the long run. and let’s face it, how many of our “plastic goodies” just end up in the garbage the day after the party? every once in a while I will use a plastic toy, but my favorite alternative is to give one great gift that is handmade (either bought or made myself). for example, these cute handmade cupcakes were part of the take home party favor for this tea party birthday and they were ordered from etsy. just make sure your brilliant handmade gift won’t end up in the trash too.
Tags: tea party
Posted in Girly Girl Parties | 3 Comments »
american girl pioneer party pics
Friday, August 28th, 2009
Each girl got to pick a bonnet and apron at the beginning of the party.
A place setting.
The table and cake.
Making the bread dough.
Small hands kneading dough.
The mini loaves of bread, raising.
Here is the butter after the girls had shaken the jar for a very long time.
Making homemade strawberry freezer jam.
They ate some of the jam that we made during the party.
The small jars of jam for the girls to take home.
Some guests eating at the table.
Here is the game we played, The Clothes Pin Drop.
They went on a wagon ride.
Each girl took home a bag of old fashioned candy along with their mini bread loaf and their small jar of jam.
These adorable pictures were taken by the witty and charming Casey Hyer.
Tags: american girl pioneer party
Posted in Girly Girl Parties | 13 Comments »
the tables
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
I had floral arrangements made for the tables using more “wild” type flowers and I used mason jars as the vases to put a fun twist on it.
I used mismatched china plates and silverware to give the tables a more eclectic, prairie feel. I did have to use paper napkins because my vintage looking handkerchiefs didn’t arrive in time (although I checked the mailbox right before I left for the party, just in case). And I had my calligrapher write up place cards in the same font as the invitation envelopes.
I used small cups and “salad” size plates, partially because the party was for younger girls, but also for a more miniature feel since it was a doll party.
Here are the girls enjoying all of their hard work.
Tags: american girl pioneer party
Posted in Girly Girl Parties | 4 Comments »
tuesday tutorial: mini bread loaves (plus butter, whipped cream & freezer jam recipes)
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
For this party we made bread & jam in miniature “doll” sizes, plus some butter & whipped cream. We worked on all of the recipes simultaneously, shaking butter in a jar while mixing dough up in a bag; stirring jam in a bowl while watching loaves raise in their tins.
Mini Bread Loaves
you will need:
1. one cup white flour; 2. half cup white flour; 3. two cups whole wheat flour; 4. two tablespoons of sugar, divided in half; 5. one tablespoon vegetable oil; 6. two teaspoons salt; 7. one package active dry yeast or equivalent; 8. one gallon freezer bag; 9. three or four disposable mini loaf pans
directions:
1. In the one gallon freezer bag, add 1/2 cup white flour, the package of active dry yeast, 1 Tablespoon sugar, and 1/2 cup warm water. Zip up the bag, releasing any air, and mix up the ingredients from the outside of the bag until completely combined. Let the starter rest for 15 minutes.
2. Open the bag and add the other 1 Tablespoon of sugar, 2 cups of whole wheat flour, 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 cup white flour, and 3/4 cups warm water. Mix the dough from the outside of the bag for a few minutes until all of the ingredients are incorporated and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bag.
3. Remove the dough thoroughly from the bag onto your lightly floured counter top. Knead for 5 or 6 minutes, being careful not to add too much extra flour to the dough. Divide the dough into 3 or 4 equal pieces and cover with the plastic bag. Let the dough rise for 10 minutes.
4. Roll out the dough into a roughly 4 inch x 6 inch rectangle. Starting with the short end, roll the rectangle up tightly. Pinch the long edge to rest of the dough making a seam then fold over the ends and pinch. Put dough in mini pans, seam side down.
5. Cover the the loaves with the plastic bag and let rise until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.
6. Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees. Enjoy!
Sure-Jell Strawberry Freezer Jam
you will need:
1. two pints of strawberries; 2. four cups of sugar (I use evaporated cane juice and it works just fine); 3. one package Sure-Jell fruit pectin; 4. a pan; 5. a measuring cup to scoop out the jam; 6. 8-10 mini 4-oz jam jars and lids (plus a large bowl and something to mash up your strawberries)
directions:
Remove the stems from the strawberries and crush the strawberries thoroughly, 1 cup at a time. Measure exactly 2 cups prepared fruit into large bowl. Stir in sugar. Let stand 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix water and pectin in small saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Continue boiling and stirring 1 minute. Add to fruit mixture; stir 3 minutes or until sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy. (A few sugar crystals may remain.) Fill clean 4-oz glass jars to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or freeze extra containers up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator before using. (I would say this made 8-10 mini 4-oz jars of jam.)
Old Fashioned Homemade Butter
you will need:
1. one pint heavy whipping cream; 2. a two-quart jar with a tight lid; 3. a marble; 4. a strainer; 5. a medium bowl; 6. a spoon; 7. a pinch of salt
directions:
Chill the cream, jar and marble before hand. When you’re ready to start, pour the cream into the jar with the marble, fasten the lid really tightly and start shaking. It will take a long time. We shook this jar nearly the whole time that we were making the bread and jam. When it’s done you will be able tell by the mass of butter in the middle and the buttermilk that is around it. Place a strainer over a bowl if you want to keep the buttermilk or just over the sink if you don’t. Pour the contents of the jar into the strainer. If you want to keep the buttermilk then put it in a separate container now. Rinse the rest of the buttermilk out of the butter with water. Press the butter against the sides of the strainer with a spoon to get all of the liquid out. Keep rinsing and pressing until you think all of the liquid is gone. Put the butter into a serving bowl and add the salt. You can serve it now like we did, all soft and smooth, or refrigerate it until you need it.
Hand Shook Whipping Cream
you will need:
1. one pint cold whipping cream; 8. a two-quart jar with a tight lid; 9. two tablespoons powdered sugar. You don’t need to shake the jar as long for whipping cream. Just shake until the cream starts to hold together and eat it soon.
Tags: american girl pioneer party, tutorial
Posted in Girly Girl Parties | 2 Comments »
calligraphy, stamps & rsvp
Monday, August 24th, 2009
I love the look of hand addressed envelopes and I wanted to include it with this party theme. So I knew that calligraphy was the way to go for this old fashioned American Girl Pioneer Party. Michele addressed these envelopes for me and she did such an amazing job. She is so super sweet and great to work with. Seriously, the envelopes were the perfect touch to these invites.
A hot trend with weddings right now is to use a bunch of different stamps on your envelopes. I used this idea here and found some stamps on ebay and my local post office. Local stamp shops are also a great place to look.
If you tend to have guests who never RSVP, a great tip is to put an “RSVP by” date on your invites. Pick a date that gives your guests enough time to respond and that also gives you enough time to finalize all of your planning. I usually pick three days before the party for children’s event. I don’t prefer the “Regrets Only” method, except for a large party, because I like to know a more exact count.
Tags: american girl pioneer party
Posted in Girly Girl Parties | 1 Comment »
designing unforgettable events in the salt lake city area.
oh.
and everywhere else, too.
