4 Yr Old Princess Party

Little finger sandwiches would be cute along with some fresh fruit skewers with strawberry yogurt dip. I'd serve lemonade in tea cups and maybe little individual cakes/pastries.

Whatever you decide - have fun with it!

Hi J.,

Here is a list of ideas I drew from when I did my daughter's 5th birthday in May of 2007. It wasn't a princess tea, but a lot of it would work. We did a princess party for her first birthday, so I could pass on ideas from that as well, if you'd like. There is a cookbook called "The princess cookbook" that has some really cute things in it. I got it from my local library. Let me know if you want the other ideas...message me with your email and I can send some pictures too, if you want. I have another daughter who is having her 1st birthday party this July (princess) and her 5th will be a tea party as well, so I kept all my notes. www.birthdaypartyideas.com is a great website where I got most of my ideas. Have fun!!

Invitations
 Cut out teapot-shaped cards, add a bag of tea and send it out
 Bright pink 5"x7" stock paper with a 4"x6" picture of the birthday girl serving tea to her teddy bears glued to the stock paper. 5"x7" vellum paper on top with the essential information written in pink ink, inviting the girls to Afternoon Tea at Olivia's Garden Cafe. Line up the vellum and the stock paper, punch 2 holes at the top and string a bright pink ribbon through and tie a bow on top. When parents call to RSVP, suggest that the girls dress up in party dresses.

It’s time for tea, for you and me
You’re invited to a tea party!
For Olivia’s 4th birthday
Saturday, May 12th from 11am to 3pm
At the (insert last name) Tea Room
RSVP
Please wear a your fanciest party dress,
additional tea finery will be provided

Decorations

Outside, put a sign with flowers on it, that says “The (insert last mane) Tea Room”
Ivy/lights around front porch and dining room
Pearl helium-filled balloons in whatever colors you are doing.
Wear a frilly white apron and give a very short run-down on the history of the tea party and tea party manners.
White chair covers with doily cone “tussie-mussie’s” at the knot. Attach name place card and put gloves and a flower in each. My husband wore black pants, white shirt and a bow tie and served the girls their tea.

Table Decorations:
 Start out by using a big table so you can fit all the needed place settings neatly and still have room for decorations without squeezing everything together. In front of every place setting, have a nametag for every member of the party so they know where they're sitting.
 At each place setting, place a small cup (juice glasses) with a pretty flower.
 Use fine china and cutlery.
 Use small white demitasse (espresso) cups and serve pink lemonade, hot chocolate or fruit tea from a teapot
 In the center of the table put elegant platters, tiered dessert plates and pedestal dishes of fine finger foods. Use pink Depression glass creamers and sugar bowls.
 Plastic table cover on the table and then lace tablecloth over it
 Candy blossoms. For a special touch, arrange a bouquet by inserting the lollipop "stems" into a
Styrofoam dome (sold at most craft stores).

Food
Tea Treats
Just put food on the plates and let the kids sample
 Teapot and flower shaped cookies
 Fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and grapes, coated with sugar
 Chocolate sandwich cookies with whipped cream???
 Cheese, cubed or cut in fun shapes
 Flower shaped mint molds (yellow daisy – lemon, pink rose – coconut)
 Raspberry tarts (cut rolled piecrust into circles about 1” wider than muffin pan and press into bottom and up the sides of mini muffin pans. Prick bottom with a fork and bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Fill with raspberry Jell-O mixed with Cool Whip and topped with a raspberry
 Miniature scones served with clotted cream and strawberry jam
 Mini blueberry muffins
 Poppy seed bread
 Mini quiches
 Tiny iced cakes (petit fours) with molded flowers on top
 Lemon cookies
 Sandwiches (cut to look like traditional tea sandwiches – no crust , in triangles, sticks, circles or “flower shaped bread”)
 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on white bread (circles with cut-outs)
 Cream Cheese and Berry Preserves (flower shaped bread)
 Cinnamon Raisin Bread with Apple Butter (triangles)
 Butter and Berry Preserves
 Cucumber and Cream Cheese
 Butter and Cheese
 egg salad

Beverages:
Pour them all tea so they can have the experience of taking cream and sugar, THEN given lemonade to those who want it
 Pink lemonade
 Raspberry Ginger Ale
 Fruity or herbal tea (as opposed to real teas which are stronger tasting and contain caffeine). Have a few choices on hand so the children can experiment.
Cake:
A teapot

Accidents will happen:
And when accidents do happen, handle the situation with calm and grace. Would you raise your voice in anger at a dinner guest who spilled their wine? No, you would assure your guest that it was not a problem and do what you could to alleviate their embarrassment, blot up the 'problem' and move on.
Do the same thing with children at a tea party. Expect a spill and have absorbent towels on hand. Assure the embarrassed child that it is not a problem. Then blot up the spill and move on. A heart must break in heaven when children are scolded for such minor mishaps.

Games
It's a good idea to alternate active and calm games.
 Musical chairs
 Hot Teapot (Hot Potato) use a cloth teapot toy, but any tea item that won't break if dropped will work.
 Pin the Tail on the Donkey (or cup on the table, handle on the cup)
 Relay races (tea trays with plastic cups)

Activities
 Let the girls pick out what flowers they want on their hats and an adult hot glue them to the hats. Then have them sit on the porch swing with their hat and take a picture of each one of the girls, with the birthday girl. Include the pictures in paper frames with the thank you notes.
 Make Tussie-Mussies
 Make fans, use a glue stick to affix a paper doily onto a sheet of colored paper, then fold the sheet accordion style. For a handhold, pinch together one shorter end and secure it with a rubber band.

Favors

Turn white paper bags or vellum bags (wedding cake bags, sold at most party stores) into giant tea bag party favors. Fill each one with costume jewelry, bath fizz balls, penny candy, stickers, stamps, candy necklaces, bath flakes, bead name bracelets (make), jewel ring pops, hair clips and bands (barrettes), beads, little bottles of wedding bubbles, all purchased from the Dollar Store. Fold the upper corners of each bag toward the center, then fold down the top and staple a piece of string to it. Staple a paper nametag to the end of the string

Sheets of vellum can be used to create these tea-bag packets (waxed paper works too). Using a real tea bag as your guide, fold paper and glue sides, leaving the top open. Fill bag with ladylike loot, then staple. To finish, attach a paper tag with string.

I don't have any food ideas, but I had to laugh at your post. My daughter is also turning 4, is also from China, and is also having a princess party! There sure is something magical about princesses at this age. Have a fun party.

You can have so much fun with this type of party. Serve juice in tea cups; open face sandwiches cut with cookie cutters in heart shapes or bunnies, cirlcles, diamonds (cut with a knife,) etc., topped with egg salad, peanut butter and jelly, chunky fruit jams, cheese, bologna or rolled thin sliced lunchmeat; cut cheese or lunchmeat with shapes as well. Serve cut up fruit and berries in little party favor cups as an appetizer. Individual cup cakes or Petit fours for the "cake." An idea for an activity would be to allow each girl to decorate her own cupcake. I did this for my granddaughter's 3rd birthday this year. Each guest was given a cupcake, a paper cup with frosting-choice of pink or white, a plastic knife, and the shaker of sprinkles was passed around the table. Have fun and remember to let the girls have fun. Messes are temorary. Memories are forever.