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Archive for the 'Tea Parties' Category
Contents
Posts
Princess Party – Wrapping It Up – Part 5
Friday, September 8th, 2006Previously, I wrote about having a quest as part of a kids party. At my daughter’s party, we did a crown craft after the quest, which turned out to be a bit of a mistake. If you’re going to do a craft, I’d recommend doing it before the quest. After the quest the kids are all excited and not as interested in sitting down to do a craft.
Finally, we sang happy birthday. I had made a castle cake, using a castle Bundt pan I had purchased. It was a quick and easy way to make a castle cake, since time was an issue for me. I added McCormick’s Neon Pink food coloring to white cake mix and white icing to make both pink. We decorated the cake with wafers, jelly beans, and other candy. I found tall thin candles which made the castle look more majestic.
I also had purchased stuff for ice cream sundaes in case there was extra time at the end of the party before the parents arrived. We did end up making them.
I think it’s a good idea to have extra activities in case your party ends early and the parents aren’t there to get their kids.
I have to say I’m very happy to have held a kiddy party in our house for my daughter. I think it gave her a nice opportunity to interact with her friends all at once, at our house, at a special event that was planned just for her.
Judging by the smiles on the kids’ faces when they left, they all had a good time too!
Have a Quest or a Treasure Hunt at Your Kid’s Party “+ Part 4 about Holding a Princess Party”
Friday, August 25th, 2006Previously, I wrote about holding a Princess Tea Party as part of a Princess Party. The next event at my daughter’s party was a quest.
My husband, Jason Pomerantz, ran the quest, so I asked him to write a post about it. Here’s what he wrote…
Whenever a group of princesses get together, it’s traditional that they be presented with some sort of quest. My daughter’s princess party was no exception.
The basic concept was that we would scatter clues around the house, each of which would lead to the next. The final clue would lead to some sort of grand prize.
The first thing we had to decide was what would the grand prize be? We choose the heart shaped “princess piñata” Lisa had bought.
The next step was to prepare the clues. Originally, we had considered making very elaborate, colorful envelopes, with streaming ribbons or what not. Maybe we’d roll sheets of paper into little scrolls and tie them to princess figurines.
As it worked out, the reality of time constraints set in and we couldn’t get nearly that fancy. I just hand wrote most of the clues on plain paper and folded them into simple envelopes. Each envelope was labeled “Clue 1″, “Clue 2″, etc. Since the princesses were all around five years old, the lack of ornament didn’t really make any difference.
We decided where the clues would be hidden and I wrote each one so that it contained a very simple hint where to find the next. Nothing at all complicated since my daughter and her guests were still very young. I carefully kept a separate list of where each clue should be placed.
To do the quest right, it’s helpful to have confederates. In my case, they were my twelve year old son, a family friend, and my mother. While Lisa conducted the Princess Tea Party, I made plans with my son. At my signal, he would sneak out of the house and lie an envelope containing “Clue 1″ by the door. Then he’d ring the bell several times and run away.
It worked perfectly. As the tea party wrapped up, I gave him the signal. A few moments later the bell rang and, in my loudest, most hammy voice I said “What’s that? Someone at the door? Let me see who it is.” All the girls turned to watch. I opened up and said “Why, no one’s there! What’s this? A letter? Let’s see what this is.”
I stepped back to the tea party table, opened the letter and began to read. “Dear Princesses, The Heart of the Princess has been lost! Can you help find it? Follow the clues. The first clue can be found on the fence in the back yard. Love, the Fairy Godmother.”
When I finished, the little girls got very excited and they all leapt up and ran to the backyard.
I had given my son the pile of clue envelopes and the list of the locations where each should be hidden. We agreed that he would stay a few steps ahead of me, and carefully place the numbered envelopes in the appropriate places around the house and property. So, after he had rang the door, he had run to the fence and scotch taped the envelope there.
The girls arrived, screeching and squealing, and soon spotted the envelope. Since they were too young to read by themselves, I had them hand it to me. “Good work!” I read. “You’ve found the first clue. The next can be found on a soft place where a princess rests her head.” They had to think about this for a while, but, eventually, with a little prompting from me, they hit upon the pillow on the bed in my daughter’s room, where, sure enough, my son had placed the next envelope.
And so it went, for several clues. One was hidden in the “coldest place in the house”, which turned out to be the refrigerator. One was “beneath a comfortable place to sit”, in other words, under the couch.
For the last two clues, we did something special. We have a room we use as a sort of combination office and playroom. In it, there’s an electric piano and a computer. The hint for the second-to-last clue said “It’s hidden on top of something that makes music”.
My mother plays the piano and, earlier in the party, she had led the girls in some songs, so they all knew where to look.
They ran upstairs and found the envelope right away. It said “The last clue will be on the computer screen, after you all sing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star‘.” I had planned this out with my mother, so she had come up with us and was ready to play. The girls sang with great enthusiasm. (It could have been any song. I just wanted something simple that they were all sure to know.)
When they finished, we stepped over to the computer and I turned on the screen. Earlier, I had typed the message in Microsoft Word. I had set the characters to a fancy font, and made the letters very large and simply left them on the screen with the monitor off. I knew it was unlikely that any girl would turn it on by themselves.
The message said “Congratulations! You’ve solved all of the clues. Now you can find the Heart of the Princess. Just look outside on the swing set!”
All the girls ran downstairs and out to the backyard. I had arranged with our family friend to hang the heart-shaped princess piñata there while the girls and I were upstairs. Of course, they were very excited when they saw it, and they immediately set about attempting to retrieve as much candy as they could.
The Princess Quest was a success!
Thanks Jason! I just wanted to add that my daughter still asks if the fairy godmother really came to her party! I’d say The Quest was the highlight of the party. I’d highly recommend fitting some sort of quest or treasure hunt into your kid’s party, whatever the theme may be.
-Lisa
Tea Party Recipe for Apple and Cream Cheese Finger Sandwiches on Cinnamon Bread
Monday, August 21st, 2006I served these delicious finger sandwiches at my daughter’s Princess Tea Party. The adults all loved them! I think they would be great to serve at a brunch celebration too.
Apple and Cream Cheese Finger Sandwiches on Cinnamon Bread
1 package (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 loaf Cinnamon Bread, crust cut off
2 Apples peeled, cored and sliced (I used Gala apples)
1 tablespoon Orange JuiceBeat cream cheese, brown sugar, and vanilla together with an electric mixer, at medium speed, for about a minute, until well mixed.
Brush apple slices with orange juice to keep them from turning brown.
Spread cream cheese mixture onto a slice of cinnamon bread and place 4 apple slices on top. Cover with another piece of bread (you can spread a little cream cheese on the second piece of bread if desired). Cut in fours, making sure one slice of apple ends up on each finger sandwich.
Bon appétit!
Lisa
Planning Your Kid’s Birthday Party: Having a Tea Party + “Holding a Princess Party Part 3″
Monday, August 21st, 2006In my last post about holding a kid’s party, I talked about the importance of playing up your theme when writing out invitations.
Before you sent out the invitations, you probably decided if you’d be serving either a meal or a snack, depending upon the time of your party. The events of your party can be planned around your meal.
When I planned my daughter’s Princess Party, she was still in camp until 1:30 pm. So I made her party from 2 – 4 pm.
I figured that most of the children would already have had at least a light lunch before the party. So I decided to serve snacks. This made the Princess Party a perfect opportunity to hold a tea party with little tea sandwiches on pretty trays. A very princess-like thing to do!
The tea party was the first event. I decorated the table with a princess tablecloth. I used my daughter’s “real” china tea set, placing each cup on top of a pretty little doily.
I didn’t have enough cups, so the day before the party, I went to a discount store called Marshall’s, and purchased some pretty espresso cups that were on sale. They’re just about the same size as the cups in a child’s tea set. That let me have the right amount of “real” china cups without spending a lot of money.
Since it’s summertime, I didn’t want to serve hot tea. So I served Snapple peach iced tea and apple juice. Before the party I put them into china tea pots to serve them from. I gave them princess-like names, staying within the theme. The iced tea became Princess Peach Iced Tea and the apple juice became Snow White’s Apple Juice. Here’s my whole menu…
***
Princess Tea Party Menu
Drinks
Princess Peach Iced Tea
Snow White’s Apple JuiceTea Sandwiches
The Queen’s Cucumber and Cream Cheese Sandwiches
Pocahontas Peanut Butter and Jelly Triangles
Royal Peanut Butter Squares
Jasmine’s Jelly Rolls
The Frog Prince’s Pringles
Ariel’s Apple and Cream Cheese on Cinnamon Bread
***
The adults who were helping me with the party mainly ate the cucumber sandwiches. The kids preferred plain slices of cucumbers. They all enjoyed the peanut butter and jelly triangles – I’d highly recommend this as a choice for a children’s tea party. It’s easy and most kids will eat it. The peanut butter sandwiches and jelly rolls (jelly spread on bread, rolled up and sliced) were put out for the kids who don’t like PBJ.
The Apple and Cream Cheese on Cinnamon Bread was truly delicious. (Click on the link for the recipe.)
I served Pringles Potato Chips at my daughter’s request. They all went pretty quickly.
When we served the tea and apple juice we would say something like, “Princess Ariel, would you like some Princess Peach Iced Tea or Snow White’s Apple Juice?”
The kids loved that.
Once the kids had settled in, and were on their second round of drinks, I let them pour their own tea (under a little guidance). They loved that too!
I’d say the tea party lasted about a half an hour.
It was very cute and a lot of fun for all!
Next Post About Children’s Parties: Take the Kids on a Quest!
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