teaparty

Let me tell you what didn't work first:

I called a local nature center (Irvine Nature Center) to see if I could hire (or donate money) to have a nature education specialist walk the kids from the party through our woods and identify plants, trees and animals. I was going to make a field guide for the kids to use to identify the flora and fauna, and take photos of the walk to upload and make a photo book. Nixed. The nature center doesn¡¯t do anything for private homes, even for a fee or freelance.

If I had thought of the field guide idea earlier, I probably could have tracked down someone (a landscaper, local botanist, college professor) to do it, but it was too late. Although I think it's a great idea, but I would probably have a nature expert come a few days before the party so I can scout for poison ivy and prepare the guide before the guests come.

I also failed at making little tea cakes using the Williams-Sonoma tea cake pan with a pound cake recipe. I suppose you have to only use their recipe to make the cakes come out properly. Mine stuck to the pan and wound up in the compost pile. However, I made a few crayon tea cakes from broken crayon pieces melted down, and these are super cute. Forget the cakes and make crayons.  

What worked:

Tea party theme

• My husband's mom is from Exeter, England, so we had the master make her famous scones and cucumber sandwiches, which were a big hit.  We made them into "finger" and "toe" sandwiches by cutting them with metal hand and foot cookie cutters (the plastic cookie cutters don¡¯t cut sandwiches very well.)
  
  
• I planned to just use my dishes and silverware instead of disposables but I ended up buying some eco-friendly plates because I panicked. We used regular silverware for the adults and some Zoopal plastic cutlery (which my sister had given us). We rinsed the eco-plates and put them in the recycling bin. 
  
  
• All of the food waste (dips that were in the sun, stale chips and some veggies) were composted.  We had very little left over.
  
  
• We didn't go vegan, but we went vegetarian. It was a hot day, so I wanted to serve only cold food, so the menu also included:
• Mozzarella balls, cherry tomatoes, basil in balsamic vinaigrette
• Mexican pinwheels made from organic spinach tortillas, lowfat cream cheese, chopped sweet red peppers, chopped red onion and taco seasoning.  The extra filling was served with Trader Joe's Organic Vegetable tortilla strips (we found the bear in the chip aisle and won a fruit leather on this trip to TJs).
• Veggies with lowfat ranch dressing including these interesting pale yellow carrots I found at Wegman's. Everyone was amused by them although questioning the amount of beta carotene in yellow carrots (never invite scientists to a birthday party - total party poopers!).
• Broccoli sprouts on everything except the cake
• Blueberries, blackberries & raspberries (Intentionally, I left out any type of berries that had to be hulled or cut up to reduce prep time. These berries were just washed and placed in bowls.)

Desserts/Birthday cake

Did you know that a Christmas tree cake pan, if turned in the other direction, looks suspiciously like a crocodile? Add marshmallow eyes and teeth and Voila!

I am a big fan of homemade cakes because you know exactly what is going into them. We make our cakes with butter and sugar so they¡¯re not health food but there aren't preservatives if they're made fresh in your own kitchen. I couldn't find any natural/organic food dye, which was the only bummer. But, I think kids enjoy helping with the food preparation, especially mixing and decorating cakes so we're going the homemade route until my daughter declares it isn't cool.

Drinks

Honest Tea has a new kids juice pouch which is organic and has less sugar. I love them, but my daughter doesn't actually like them (the other kids seemed to really like them so you'll have to judge yourself!). If you collect enough of the pouches, you can recycle them at Terracycle (www.terracycle.net).

I made fresh iced tea in two flavors: decaf green tea and black tea. Both from Brassica tea products because that's my husband¡'s company (www.brassica.com) and it's also really great tea. Kids actually will drink the decaf green sweetened with raw sugar or blue agave (my daughter likes hers sweetened with honey, both hot or cold tea).

We planned to make fresh lemonade but simply ran out of time. I bought Newman's Lemonade.

Decorations

• The table with the tea party setup and paper dolls was the main decorative element. I just took a piece of blue gingham fabric that I had from making my daughter a Dorothy (Wizard of Oz) costume and used that as a tablecloth.
  
  
• The yellow envelopes on the table contain a color copy of the original Wee Wonderfuls doll pattern with some clothing. I made some smaller versions of the doll and also very small ones (wine charms) which I punched a small hole, put an elastic ponytail band through, and tied up their goody bag with it. Inside the envelope was also a little wooden (flat) teapot and cupcake from Michaels because, well, even paper dolls get thirsty and hungry!
  
  
• The little pitchers were actually from Wal-mart and they were with the measuring cups - I think the label said they were for creamer.  But, who doesn¡¯t love little tiny pitchers?  Each girl could pour her own drink which is the best part of a tea party! I lined the washed pitcher with a paper toille napkin.
• The placemats are eeboo Fairies of the Garden wall cards which I laminated. I put the letter of each girl's first name at her place.
  
  
• Green toys has the BEST plastic tea set and cooking set, both of which I had on our table. The products are made in the US from recycled milk jugs and they¡¯re pretty colors and totally kid friendly. ( http://www.greentoys.com/)
  
  
• I bought a real china tea cups (mismatched), teapot and linen napkins from the local Goodwill for the party. They were cheap, adorable and replaceable. Plus, these are things I can see being used for years and years on the playdate circuit and even for grownups. I like to buy things second-hand and multipurpose them.

Games

You just can't beat eeboo for the coolest party games (www.eeboo.com).

• I made a mini-golf course out of recycled cardboard, cream cheese tubs, boxes and plastic.  I have to admit some of the "holes" were lame but the party goers were all 4 years old, so I kept it simple. I was also worried about rain so I didn't put as much time into it as I could have.
  
  
• I named each hole (9 holes total, I think) after each partygoer (Pizza Mia, Mimi's Pet Shop, Sam¡'s Bagels,  Ava¡'s Kites, Elisa's Ice Cream, Tony's Broccoli Sprouts and Fill Dirt (inside joke), and Izzy's Beach Rentals). I took everything from a toy dump truck to an inflatable bagel and made them into easy putts (See photos.) Next time, I plan to make fewer holes and make them a little more complex. I think everyone spent most of their time playing golf.
  
  
• I bought straw hats and used leftover ribbon and craft supplies for the girls to decorate. It was a cute idea but the kids just wanted to play outside so no one decorated a fancy hat (sniff). I was going to have a pink carpet made from a roll of pink floral wallpaper to make a fashion show when the girls finished their hats, but that whole idea flopped.  I think that¡¯s an idea for next time.
  
  
• I downloaded a free gorgeous paper doll template from Wee Wonderfuls (weewonderfuls.typepad.com/wee_wonderfuls/store/paperdolls.html). I transferred the pdf into Photoshop and change each doll¡¯s eye and hair color to match the partygoer. I printed them out on photo paper and laminated. I then thought of a way to dress them without glue, tape or other messy things by using post-it notes.  I simply cut a post-it note into the shape of the lavendar dress you see in the paper doll photo below. The sticky part of the note were at the doll¡¯s shoulders. The post-it notes can be decorated with markers, stickers, etc¡­ Those super sticky notes work the best).
  
  
• I made smaller versions of the paper dolls for wine charms for the girls' party favors and cups. No one played with these, either (double sniff). I found a bag of hard foam blocks (from when we had our rugs cleaned used to lift furniture off of rug) and made these the holders for the dolls. They didn't have enough weight so I glued on glass marbles.
  
  
• I also ordered Kites on a Roll (http://www.kitesonaroll.com/) which are recyclable kites that come 20 per roll for about $40. You can also add on biodegradable tails. The kites are packed by people with disabilities and the company owner is a sweetheart, so this company is a wonderful find. Only a couple of kids did this craft.
  
  
• Outside, we had squirt guns, chalk, bubbles, tents and balls. Despite the heat, the kids pretty much played with this stuff or the mini golf.
  
  
• We received various kid tents as gifts so they were outside and the kids seemed to enjoy playing in them.

The goody bags

• I made a mix CD for the party so I just made copies for the guests and made my own CD covers which can be colored by the birthday girl or her guests.  The songs were dance tunes from Will Smith (Switch) to Deee-Lite (Groove is in the Heart).
  
  
• One homemade hair bow.
  
  
• They took home the paper doll, mini lemonade pitcher and kite. Somehow, the hats remained behind but we'll try the hat decorating again soon with a playdate.

Lessons learned

• Have babies in cooler months. June birthdays are hot ☺
  
  
• Don¡'t panic and add additional food and beverage items. People don¡¯t eat that much at parties, especially in the heat.
  
  
• Limit the crafts/activities. I had plans B,C,D, and E in case of rain which was too much. But, we had so much fun prepping for the event; my daughter and I had made paper dolls, picked out tea sets, decorated the table, and made a kite.
  
  
• Hire a babysitter or ask a friend to come over the morning before the party starts so the birthday child is happy and occupied. You're rushing around to get things out (no matter how much you do in advance) and everyone is calling and it becomes pandemonium.
  
  
• Do your best when it comes to recycling and reducing consumption. Make it easy for guests to toss cans and bottles in the recycling bin. Make food fresh instead of from packages. And, if you do have waste, compost it or turn it into a mini-golf course!