Tea Party Decorations
Tea Party Outfits
Have guests wear their fanciest clothes and add white gloves if they have them.
- You can find a lot of fancy things at the thrift stores.
- Have vases full of fresh or paper flowers, tissue paper flowers are easy to make.
- Festoon the party area with strings of flowers (cheap silk flowers can be used or leis can be taken apart and restrung).
- Raid the local thrift shop for Old English Fine Bone China tea cups and saucers (mismatched can look lovely! …. and the children can take the cups home with them as favours).
- Use Swags of Tulle around, and make bunting out of pretty paper.
- Monogram a few of the decorative items (napkins perhaps) with a sewing machine or an iron-on monogram or with fabric paint.
- Replace the Plain Tea Bag Tags with pretty tags made of paper.
- Sprinkle silk flower petals, confetti and glitter on the table and try playing Regal Classical Music (such as the Nutcracker Suite, Swan Lake … Handel’s Water Music…. Etc. ).
Tea Party Activities
- Set out a mirror and fancy accessories for the ladies to try on (boas, costume jewelry, fancy hats, scarves, fancy perfume and nail polish).
- Make it a tea party from another country … serve Indian spiced chai, or Russian tea with jam (excellent if you can borrow a Samovar), or teach them about Japanese tea ceremony (although the green Matcha tea is a tad bitter).
- Have them do some Ikebana (Japanese Flower arranging) you just need to get some cheap shallow bowls and floral frogs or kenzan (a spikey metal tool to hold the flowers in place). They can take the arrangements home, and they will make lovely decorations during the party.
- Make the party a BYOS (Bring your own sweet). The guests can bring their favourite baked good in lieu of a present.
- Make homemade rock candy on a stick (they can twirl it in their tea to sweeten it).
- Play “Tea Bag Toss” – Attach a string and tag to bean bags and then the beanbags must be thrown into the “Teapot” (a piece of cardboard painted with a large teapot with a hole in the centre for the “teabags”.
- Have all the Ladies use their formal name, (using the “formal formula” – Lord/Lady (Child’s name)(Grandparent’s first name)(Pet name double-barrelled with a Child’s Street name) .…Lady Sarah Gladys Fluffy-Granville.
- Get out the loose teas and use tea balls and have the children sample all the different teas.
Have a tea test … which is the most expensive? Which is the Earl Grey? Which one is from India? Which one do you like best?
- Have the Children decorate their hats with Flowers
- Since the main focus of a Tea Party is to sit around and drink tea and chat … it is probably advisable to keep the number of guests attending to a smaller number, (and an even number if you can).
- Decorate things with stick-on rhinestones
- Make princess necklaces
- Play Croquet ( a great game for the little ladies!)
- Make it a Tea Garden Party, if you can manage it… make it a Picnic Tea Party at a local Botanical Park (bring the hot water in a thermos and carry the special tea cups in a large wicker picnic basket.
- Have the children show off their fancy outfits upon arrival while the MC makes funny comments (you can use a roll of red wrap paper to make a “red carpet”)
- Make paper fans and fake flower wrist corsages out of tissue paper / paper.
- Decorate sugar cookies, cupcakes
- Decorate homemade hats, (can be made out of ribbon and paper plates) or wands
- Edible wands can be made out of a cookie and a skewer
Play Queenie Queenie.
Queenie Queenie
One person is “Queenie” and “Queenie” turns her back on the others and throws a ball (behind herself). The kids scramble to get the ball and the one who has it puts both arms behind her back (trying to keep the fact that she has the ball a secret.) All the kids line up and sing (Queenie then turns around to watch)
“Queenie, queenie Who has the ball? …. See I haven’t got it ….I haven’t got it … I haven’t got it at all!”
The whole time they are saying/singing their innocence they are showing their open (empty) hands ….one hand at a time…..(The one that has the ball has to try to look convincing and not fumble or drop the ball). If Queenie guesses correctly while she continues her reign.
Charm School
- Teach the girls how to curtsey
- How to stick your pinkie out while drinking tea
- How to walk with a book on your head
- How to say speak… in a British accent….
- How to eat with fabulous table manners
- Have a “Miss Manners” quiz
Tea Party Food
- Make small tea sandwiches or petit fours
- To make the food extra fancy serve tiny portions on huge plates and serve lots of teeny tiny courses.
- Have a butler (with a tea towel over his arm) ham it up and fuss over the “Ladies”.
- Use lots of paper doilies
- Serve punch, fruit kabobs, tall parfaits and sparkling pink lemonade along with the tea.
- You can epoxy thrift store plates and candlesticks together to make a tiered display for all the fancy foods
