Ever since her second birthday party, Joselyn has kind of been obsessed with birthdays. She loved to sing Happy Birthday, and with all the birthdays there are in mine and Adam's families, we are always having a party or calling someone to wish them a happy birthday. She would tell people she meets that her "birthday was coming up" and get really excited. I knew this year had to be memorable. I decided on a vintage paper doll tea party... something I knew I would love to plan and that little girls would absolutely enjoy! I started collecting little things here and there... vintage hankies, tea sets, paper doll stuff and scrapbook paper. When the party day finally arrived, all I had to do was set it all up!
Well, I had originally planned to have the party outside- praying for the beautiful weather that didn't happen last week when the party took place but came this week instead. So we decided to have it at our house. Definitely not as cute as it would have been next to a sweet little garden under a tree... but whatever works! Adam and I started cleaning the day before because, well, it was in need of some major cleaning. When the day of the party arrived, we still had so much to get done. But it wasn't happening with the kids around, so we had my parents come pick Landen and Joselyn up until the party started. Then it was all a rush to get things put together. I had a few other things to pick up before the party, so I rushed out and rushed back home... and got home right at 11am when the party started... and there were already some people waiting! I must admit it was a little embarassing... but with some help I was able to set up the table just how I had envisioned! The counter tops in the kitchen were still cluttered but I was determined to enjoy every second of this party! I appreciate everyone who didn't judge me because of my dirty countertops :) The girls played dress up as we finished setting up the table. The table was borrowed from the church and covered with a plastic "lace" disposable table cloth!
I used the vintage hankerchiefs as place mats, tied really cute happy birthday napkins with ribbon, filled vintage candy tins with pretty flowers that Adam had brought home and sprinkled the table with fabric flowers from my Aerie garland! I then set each place with a tea cup (set of 4 + tea pot for $5 at Wal-Mart).
The chairs were mostly different, and had a personalized plaque tied to it so the girls knew where to sit. I made this out of wooden plaques bought at Hobby Lobby for 50 cents each... I painted them, used modge podge to cover the main surface with scrapbook paper, wrote their name in cursive with a brown permanant marker then distressed. I then sealed it all once again with modge podge. The girls were able to take these home as a favor! I also had special treat bags made by my friend Melanie. I bought little metal thank you tags at Hobby Lobby (in wedding section) and tied them onto the bags with twine.
Inside the bags were fabric paper dolls! A few weeks before the party my mom, who works on the side at a local quilt store, said she had found the cutest paper doll fabric and wanted to make Joselyn some paper dolls for Christmas. Well, I had to have that... she she kindly let me use her fabric so that I could give these adorable dolls as favors! She also helped me iron then on to their felt backing and cut them all out! I know- my mom is quite amazing.
These are pictures of my friend Stacie's kids playing with their dolls! Each girl also got a personalized bracelet- and you can see Bella wearing hers in the second picture!
As far as the food went, I tried to keep it pretty simple. In the past I had spent lots of money and effort on the food and ended up having to throw a lot of it away. When it comes to kids, simple is best! So I had tea cookies, pb&j sandwiches, chickadees crackers (Target's version of Goldfish), grapes and cupcakes.
Once we got the table all set up, we invited the girls to come sit down at their places and filled their little tea cups with "tea" (aka apple juice) and sprinkled them with flower sprinkles.
The girls were all so cute with their tea cups and flower sprinkles!! I about died. They all kept on wanting more and more.
My sister Chelsea made the cute cake
When we gave it to Joselyn she squealed in delight and gave it a big hug. We sang Happy Birthday, she blew out the candle and then licked every single inch of the cake...lol. Very funny. Good thing we had cupcakes!!
Joselyn had such a great time- and I did too! I did not stress out like I normally would. I just enjoyed it all as much as possible.
Thank you my dear friend Stacie for these incredibly gorgeous pictures!! They mean the world to me!
