Dollie and Me Tea Party

I tried to be simple this year, I honestly did.  But apparently I have forgotten how to do that.  I blame Pinterest and my mom (sorry Mom ;)), and this crazy brain of mine that doesn't seem to want to rest sometimes.  Anyway, the idea for Landry's party began with this plan for a doll bed I found online.  If you are not familiar with ana-white.com, you need to familiarize yourself quickly.  It's such a great resource with so many free plans.  That is where I got the plans to make Landry's loft bed.  So the plan for the doll bed was made simple enough for kids to participate.  And the site even suggested it as an activity for a birthday party.  Each bed would only cost about $2 to make, so it sounded like a great idea to me.  And, my wonderful hubby graciously offered to do all the grunt work.  Thanks Babe!

So since we were going to make doll beds for the party, I thought the theme should be "Dollie and Me".  This would be Lan's first all girl party, and every girl was encouraged to bring her favorite doll with her.

As I continued to think about all the details of the party, I knew we simply must include a tea party!  A little inspiration from pinterest and chats with my mom, and we had a plan that had grown into something much more detailed than originally anticipated.  As each detail came to fruition, I was absolutely thrilled.  In the end I was pleased at how it all came together so well, especially since we were able to accomplish it on such a tight budget!

Outside, I needed something to fill my empty flower pots, so I used some scrap wood to make signs.  I drew them out and mom painted.  For the wreath, I just used a chipboard "L" and decoupaged it with scrapbook paper.  I attached it to a wreath I already had on hand.  The flowers are made with scrapbook paper as well.  The instructions from making these flowers are found here

The backdrop is just scrapbook paper.  I slapped some masking tape to the back and stuck it up on the wall.  The beautiful cake was made by my sweet neighbor and friend.  It went so perfectly with the theme!  I used a method from this blog for the table cloth

 Doilies and scrapbook paper, and these medallions from the silhouette store dress up repurposed Starbucks bottles.  And sweet treats were perfect for the tea party

I was able to borrow enough little tables and chairs from friends to accommodate all of our little guests. We draped white fabric and lace table cloths, and made simple pink polka dot table runners.  My mom used her silhouette to cut out the paper tea cups, and we filled them with this pink party popcorn.  I repurposed soda bottles for the vases and made the same type of paper flowers as the ones on the wreath.

 The chair covers were made with cheap plastic table cloths. I could get six out of one table cloth!  We dressed them up with pink tule.

Of course we had to have a tea party set up for the dolls as well.  My mom made all these tiny cups and saucers!  She's Wonder Woman :)

She also made this cake with her Silhouette.  Each slice is a treat box for the guests to take home with them.

I used various things from my house to dress up the mantle.  That pretty pink kissing ball was a project I tried.  Here is the link to the project: Kissing Ball  I had plans to make three of these suckers, but ended up with only half of one. LOL.  Good thing I could push it up against the wall so no one even noticed it wasn't complete.  And of course the banner is just pictures and ribbon

Now, I was super excited about the next element, mainly because I am a nerd ;)  Photo Booths are so popular and fun at parties. And since the girls' dolls were invited to the party, I thought it was only fair that they have photo props as well.  I used my handy dandy Silhouette to make these as well.  I just attached them to bamboo skewers.  If you don't have a Silhouette yet, put it on your wish list now!!!  Tell your husband it can be your birthday, anniversary, Christmas gift all in one.  It is the handiest tool and you won't regret it!

It was a HIT!

 Here are all the guests hard at work on their doll beds....

And then the Tea Party began...

Looking Lovely Guys!

Happy Birthday to our sweet 5-year-old!!