Ever since Mason's birthday party in July, Hannah Kate has been talking about "what kind" of party she wanted to have. At first, it was Tinkerbell. She talked about Tinkerbell for nearly three months. I'm really not sure where that came from; we don't have any of the Tinkerbell movies, and she doesn't have any Tinkerbell toys or accessories. And then she decided she wanted a princess party. One day it was Snow White, the next day it was Belle, the next day Cinderella, so on and so forth. And then we were back to Tinkerbell again. I started thinking of how to come up with some sort of "fairy princess" party, and then I realized the perfect idea: a TEA PARTY! After all, Hannah Kate loves her some tea parties! I mean, we party hardy all day! When I asked her about this idea, she agreed. So I began planning a tea party . . . right up my alley and so much fun!
Hannah Kate's favorite was definitely the cupcake bites! There is a cake ball in the center of each one. The recipe makes over 80 cake balls so I actually froze half of them because I didn't need that many for the party. I'm going to make red and green cupcake bites later this week.
And I just have to tell yall this . . . Seth's birthday was last Monday. His favorite is carrot cake so I always make him one for his birthday. Making cakes is not my favorite (I really don't like having to use exact measurements! and my cakes always have a hump in the middle) so this year I decided to make carrot cake cupcakes instead. When Mason got home from school, he couldn't wait to eat a cupcake. I told him he had to wait until after supper. They were covered with that delicious cream cheese icing (homemade!) and pecans. Anyway, he ate his supper and then he got a cupcake. He took the first bite. I already knew what was going to happen . . . let's just say the look on his face was one of confusion. He was chewing. Slowly. And then he started scoping out the inside of the cupcake. The specks of carrot were very obvious. He took another bite. Now the look on his face was one of disappointment. At the third bite, the look on his face was that of . . . disgust. It was all we could do to hide our laughter. Seth asked him if he liked the cupcake. Mason looked at me with those big blue eyes and said, "Mom, you make the wrong cupcakes." Let's just say that Seth finished that one . . .
Four of Hannah Kate's friends came to her tea party.
And here's the princess herself . . .
Hannah Kate loved opening her gifts! And Abbie was such a sweet helper while I took pictures.
We can always count on Aunt Ashley to keep the LSU Tiger purple and gold alive and kicking!
I must admit though . . . I've felt a bit guilty . . . the past two years, I've put a lot of thought and planning and preparation into Hannah Kate's birthday parties. But not so much for Mason! He always asks for a swimming party, and that's what he loves to do . . . and it's so easy! . . . besides, there's really nothing else to do in south Louisiana in July anyway! So I've got to come up with something really good for Mason's next birthday. Anyway . . .
My original idea was to have Hannah Kate wear a dress smocked with teapots, but I really waited until the last minute, and it was too late to have it in time for her party. So I decided to make her a pillowcase dress instead. I just love sewing for her anyway, and I found this fabulous teaparty-themed fabric . . . so I paired it with some polka dot fabric and, even though it's a bit "louder" than I usually do, I love it!
Is this not the sweetest face you ever did see?!? I just cannot believe my doll baby is THREE!
We transformed the dining room (which, by the way, is NOT orange . . . it's copper mountain!) into Hannah Kate's parlor. I love to hang things from the ceiling. So I made several tissue paper balls and hung them from the chandelier. I then took my Grandmother's silver tea set and hung it from the chandelier as well. I used a white pillowcase to make slip covers for all of the chairs and then tied a bow around the back of each chair with hot pink tulle. I made sugar cookies in the shape of teapots, put them on sucker sticks and then in a cellophane bag as goodies for all of the girls. These were placed in a round globe on the center of the table as the center piece. There was also a feather boa, crown, wand and ring at each seat.
I had the most planning the menu for Hannah Kate's party! We had a dip of cream cheese covered in red pepper jelly (so easy and so absolutely YUMMY!), cupcake bites (I did enjoy making these, but the last time I made them, my mom and I did it together, and I really missed that this time!), scones with lemon curd (I wanted to make clotted cream, too, but I just ran out of time!), apple and marshmellow skewers with brown sugar cream cheese dip, bagel bites (because Hannah Kate loves pizza!) and cheese cubes.
Is this not the sweetest face you ever did see?!? I just cannot believe my doll baby is THREE!We transformed the dining room (which, by the way, is NOT orange . . . it's copper mountain!) into Hannah Kate's parlor. I love to hang things from the ceiling. So I made several tissue paper balls and hung them from the chandelier. I then took my Grandmother's silver tea set and hung it from the chandelier as well. I used a white pillowcase to make slip covers for all of the chairs and then tied a bow around the back of each chair with hot pink tulle. I made sugar cookies in the shape of teapots, put them on sucker sticks and then in a cellophane bag as goodies for all of the girls. These were placed in a round globe on the center of the table as the center piece. There was also a feather boa, crown, wand and ring at each seat.I had the most planning the menu for Hannah Kate's party! We had a dip of cream cheese covered in red pepper jelly (so easy and so absolutely YUMMY!), cupcake bites (I did enjoy making these, but the last time I made them, my mom and I did it together, and I really missed that this time!), scones with lemon curd (I wanted to make clotted cream, too, but I just ran out of time!), apple and marshmellow skewers with brown sugar cream cheese dip, bagel bites (because Hannah Kate loves pizza!) and cheese cubes.Hannah Kate's favorite was definitely the cupcake bites! There is a cake ball in the center of each one. The recipe makes over 80 cake balls so I actually froze half of them because I didn't need that many for the party. I'm going to make red and green cupcake bites later this week.
And I just have to tell yall this . . . Seth's birthday was last Monday. His favorite is carrot cake so I always make him one for his birthday. Making cakes is not my favorite (I really don't like having to use exact measurements! and my cakes always have a hump in the middle) so this year I decided to make carrot cake cupcakes instead. When Mason got home from school, he couldn't wait to eat a cupcake. I told him he had to wait until after supper. They were covered with that delicious cream cheese icing (homemade!) and pecans. Anyway, he ate his supper and then he got a cupcake. He took the first bite. I already knew what was going to happen . . . let's just say the look on his face was one of confusion. He was chewing. Slowly. And then he started scoping out the inside of the cupcake. The specks of carrot were very obvious. He took another bite. Now the look on his face was one of disappointment. At the third bite, the look on his face was that of . . . disgust. It was all we could do to hide our laughter. Seth asked him if he liked the cupcake. Mason looked at me with those big blue eyes and said, "Mom, you make the wrong cupcakes." Let's just say that Seth finished that one . . .
Four of Hannah Kate's friends came to her tea party.And here's the princess herself . . .Hannah Kate loved opening her gifts! And Abbie was such a sweet helper while I took pictures.We can always count on Aunt Ashley to keep the LSU Tiger purple and gold alive and kicking! Look at this face . . . can you guess what Hannah Kate was so excited about?!?
It's a fuzzy pink jacket that she absolutely adores! I've never seen a child so excited about a jacket!
Spiderman also made an appearance at the party . . .
The pink purse is monogrammed with an H. And those are fairy ballerina sheets Hannah Kate is holding. Thank you, Uncle Troy, Aunt April, Avery and Beau!
Pop and Mimi gave her the Tea Party game. This is an awesome game if you have a little girl at your house, too.
PawPaw and MawMaw gave Hannah Kate a dress-up trunk. They found it while they were "antique-ing" in Tennessee. It was in much disrepair though so PawPaw had to do a little work on it and then MawMaw painted it. I knew the trunk was coming . . . Hannah Kate has accumulated quite a collection of dress up clothes during the past year that seem to be EVERYWHERE . . . but I didn't know the trunk was also going to be filled to the brim . . .
It's a fuzzy pink jacket that she absolutely adores! I've never seen a child so excited about a jacket!Spiderman also made an appearance at the party . . .The pink purse is monogrammed with an H. And those are fairy ballerina sheets Hannah Kate is holding. Thank you, Uncle Troy, Aunt April, Avery and Beau!Pop and Mimi gave her the Tea Party game. This is an awesome game if you have a little girl at your house, too.PawPaw and MawMaw gave Hannah Kate a dress-up trunk. They found it while they were "antique-ing" in Tennessee. It was in much disrepair though so PawPaw had to do a little work on it and then MawMaw painted it. I knew the trunk was coming . . . Hannah Kate has accumulated quite a collection of dress up clothes during the past year that seem to be EVERYWHERE . . . but I didn't know the trunk was also going to be filled to the brim . . . Seth and I got her a big girl bicycle . . . pink and princess, of course! I had no idea how much she would love it . . . she was outside that evening at 9:00 riding it (we had just come home with our Christmas tree, and we were trying to get it in the stand).
The cake was very simple . . . but I found these precious tea party themed candles!
Happy birthday, Hannah Kate . . . happy birthday to you!
And, at the end of the day, here we are. Boy, Mommy sure is showing her wear and tear! I should've had this picture taken at the beginning of the day instead!
Hannah Kate's birthday continued a couple of days later . . . the rest of her present from Pop and Mimi arrived! These aren't the greatest pictures . . . she was sitting on the couch when she opened it, and she immediately started playing with it . . .
It's the most precious porcelein tea set!
The cake was very simple . . . but I found these precious tea party themed candles!Happy birthday, Hannah Kate . . . happy birthday to you!And, at the end of the day, here we are. Boy, Mommy sure is showing her wear and tear! I should've had this picture taken at the beginning of the day instead!Hannah Kate's birthday continued a couple of days later . . . the rest of her present from Pop and Mimi arrived! These aren't the greatest pictures . . . she was sitting on the couch when she opened it, and she immediately started playing with it . . .It's the most precious porcelein tea set! "I can just imagine myself sitting down at the head of the table and pouring out the tea," said Anne, shutting her eyes ecstatically. "And asking Diana if she takes sugar, I know she doesn't but of course I'll ask her just as if I didn't know." ~Anne of Green Gables