The Secret Garden Tea Party

Last Saturday was our annual mother ~ daughter tea party.

I decided to go with a garden theme this year which made decorating fun and easy. Since we have lots of ivy in our yard I decided to use natural instead of buying faux ivy. A few weeks before the party I cut a couple vines, rinsed them well and then hung them for a few days to see how long the ivy would last indoors. It held up fine so I was able to go ahead with the fresh, natural ivy down the center of the table. I also had a bag of velvet Petals that are ordinarily attached to quilts and clothing for embellishment however I thought it made perfect table confetti.

One of Miss E's old childhood suite cases was just the right color and size to hold a cake stand covered in old lace with a tarnished silver tea pot on top. The original plan was to purchase some Peonies or possibly hydrangeas to arrange in the tea pot however while I was walking by our front window the week of the party our big pink rhododendrons caught my eye. They had just started blooming so it was covered in flowers. I went out and snipped off a stem and loved how it looked with everything so went with that instead. 

The table decorations also included some DIY crafts. I made a chicken wire cloche and a couple pink Pomanders which where all part of the centerpiece. Of course I had many more crafts in mind but my table just wasn't as big as my imagination. 

A program and menu were set on each plate and the napkins were tied with pink satin ribbon.

Another fun project was making the boxes that were placed at each end of the table. The one above was about to be opened and so it had been moved to the plate when this picture was taken. I will share more about the boxes in an upcoming post. 

The beautiful Forget Me Nots were from my youngest sister. The invitations I made had Forget Me Nots printed on the seed packet envelopes and since she has them growing in her yard she decided to bring me a dainty little bouquet. They were so sweet all tied up with twine.

I will be sharing tea party treats, games and more fun projects in the coming days so be sure and check back. 

Have a wonderful day!