Well it has been a whirl-wind weekend in our house! We hosted not one, but two birthday parties for my soon-to-be 5 year old princess! I really wanted to share the details of the Princess Tea Party I hosted for my daughter and her friends, because it was an awesome party (if I do say so myself) that didn't cost me a lot of money.
First of all, I held it at my house, which saves us right there. Secondly, I have been planning this party for a while, so I've been collecting items for it for months now (and so has my Mom - she's found some great stuff!). And lastly, I used things I already had and borrowed, borrowed, borrowed what I didn't have!
Here are some of the details:
Pink, purple and white pom-poms hanging from our pop-up tent. These pom-poms are so easy to make and it probably took me less than an hour (sitting down, watching The Big Bang Theory :)) to make all six of them. I'll try and post a tutorial in the not too distant future, but in the mean time, you can just search "Martha Stewart Poms" in You Tube and you'll get some great directions.
They are made from tissue paper, which makes them super affordable. The white tissue paper I had picked up at the after-Christmas clearance at Target for pennies. The purple and pink I didn't have, so I bought those at Walmart. It's $0.97 for one pack of 8 sheets of tissue paper. I used the whole package on each pom-pom, so each pom-pom cost me $0.97.
Floral Centerpiece: I used a vase I already had and cut Hydrangea from my yard. Total cost - free! And they looked great. Hydrangea are a great centerpiece flower as they are so big, so you can use less flowers to get a big impact, and they are usually free! If you don't have a Hydrangea bush in your yard, don't be afraid if you can ask a friend, family member or neighbor if you can cut some of theirs.
Sofia the First banner: I bought it from Oriental Trading a few months ago for less than $3. It was a total steal! I just went back on the website to give you the link to it, but they don't sell it anymore. I don't know why, as she's still pretty popular! But they do sell it at Party City (and I'm sure other party stores) for $4.99. It really was adorable.
Paper Straws: Paper straws make a party, in my opinion! The purple straws were the ones I told you about here from the Christmas Tree Shoppe, 96 for just $2.99. Such a bargain. I used them at both parties and we still have a ton left over. The cute pink ones with the grey flags were from Target at the beginning of the Spring. They were also $2.99, but they were only a pack of 20. The cup to hold the straws in was purchased at a local consignment shop last year for my daughter's Cinderella party (it was $3).
Silver Tea Set: Well nothing says tea party like a silver tea set! This is my mom's set, that she was so nice to lend to me for the party. We didn't put any "tea" in this one, this was just for show! It really made the table.
Candelabras: These were also lent to me from my mom. I put some "pearls" on them to jazz them up a bit. Those "pearls" are those mardi-gras style beads that my daughter had in her collection of jewels. And the candles, well, those were the only ones in my house. I would have preferred pink or purple ones to go with the rest of the colors, but I went with "free" instead! They did go nicely with the Hydrangea though.
Tea Cups: My mom and I have been collecting tea cups for a few months now from Good Will. We didn't pay more than $1 for a tea cup. They didn't match and that was exactly what I was going for.
Fruit "Wands": These were so easy to make. I cut the watermelon with small cookie cutters in to flower and butterfly shapes. The strawberries look like hearts by design, but I really just did that to hull them. And I just put them all on wooden skewers. Easy-peasy. And the girls loved them!
Sandwiches: I offered Nutella (or "chocolate bread" as it's called in my house), cheese and PB&J sandwiches, cut in to hearts with a cookie cutter. Putting them on the silver platters made them look even fancier.
This is just goldfish crackers in pink gingham cupcake liners. You could do this with any dry finger food. And again, putting them in a silver platter jazzes them up even more!
Petit-fours: My mom made these from an idea she saw on Pinterest. Just take a pound cake, cut it up in to little squares and dip in frosting. They were adorable and they were a really big hit amongst the girls.
Putting it all together - Here's an overview of what the table looked like when it was all put together. Other small touches that I didn't talk about include silver napkin rings (borrowed from my mom); glass drink dispensers (a birthday present from a few years ago, that I use all the time); table cloth was an old floral sheet from an estate sale for $0.50; and mason jars as glasses (I bought these a few years ago at a tag sale - $1 for 24 glasses!).
This was one of the most fun parties to plan. And in total, the party cost me less than $150 and that includes all the food, a craft (decorate your own crowns) and the biggest budget sucker - a piñata. You could easily do this party for under $100, depending on your food and by omitting the piñata (what a waste of money!).
Now that the weekend is over, I just have to say, thank goodness I have tomorrow off from work!
