Garden Tea Party for your Daughters Birthday!Apr 26 '00 Write an essay on this topic.I believe this is a fabulous idea for a young girls birthday, however my 11 year old daughter (soon to be 12) doesn't agree. I am very disappointed that she feels this way, however, I want to do it, and may have to rent myself out to some other young girl! Though that's another whole story, so here's my idea. I'd like to give my daughter (or someone else's) a Garden Tea Party. Our backyard has a small pond in a fenced-in area, with enough room in front of the pond for a small round table and a few chairs. You can have this party in any backyard, and with a few decorations it'll be just splendid! DECORATIONS: You can use potted plants with pretty flowers, or use floral table cloths, napkins, plates, cups, etc. to set the Garden theme. Pin or tape paper ribbons around the edge of the table, with bows tied every few inches for effect. Flowers for the table are a must! REFRESHMENTS: Finger sandwiches are the food of choice. Here are some of my favorites: CUCUMBER TUNA: I purchase Finger rolls (small dinner rolls), split them, spread with Tuna salad, top with a slice of cucumber, top with the other half of the roll. The cucumber gives a nice crunch! CREAM CHEESE ON DATE BREAD: Make a date bread in a loaf pan using a mix (or from scratch, if you're ambitious). After cooling split the loaf horizontally into 4 layers. Spread cream cheese blended with powdered sugar in between all the layers and re-stack the bread. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Once chilled you can slice the bread like you normally would. The layers stick together because of the cream cheese, and YUM! EGG SALAD on PUMP/PINWHEELS: Take a whole loaf of soft pumpernickel bread and slice horizontally. Roll the bread with a rolling pin to flatten. Spread with egg salad. Roll up jelly-roll fashion, starting with the long edge. Chill. Cut into 1/2" slices. The light egg salad and dark bread make a nice combination. You can also do other things, such as carrot and celery sticks. Cubed cheese, crackers, pepperoni or ham. Fresh fruit skewers are popular with the children, also. Cut various fresh fruit into bite size pieces (melon, kiwi, oranges, grapes & strawberries (leave whole). Skewer like kabobs, putting the whole strawberry on last, and stick skewers into a whole pineapple (if you are serving buffet style, this lets kids help themselves, and it is beautiful!). BEVERAGES: Iced Tea, Lemonade, or Fruit Punch, served in a punch bowl with sherbet and fruit floating in it. DESSERT: Obviously, there should be a cake. It should be decorated with flowers, fresh or icing. And there could also be small cookies, chocolate dipped fruit, and pretty wrapped candies, or unwrapped chocolates, made into a nice platter. Instead of a cake you could do individual mini-cakes, or cup cakes. Ice cream, scooped into paper muffin cups, decorated with flowers, or sprinkles, then frozen, make a nice cool treat as well. GAMES & ACTIVITIES: If the girls are encouraged to "dress-up" for this party, I think a good activity would be to take pictures of them, in groups or individually, or with the party girl, with an instant camera, and let them take the pictures home as a party favor. Set up a picturesque spot with a nice seating area for the photos. Another activity would be something crafty. Making picture frames for the pictures, perhaps? Painting each others fingernails, or giving makeovers? Of course, there will be gifts to open, so don't forget to have a blanket to spread on the ground so they don't get their pretty dresses messy! There probably won't be any boys at this party, which could be a good thing, right? I considered inviting the Moms of the girls; I know we don't always know the parents of our children's friends, so this would be a good opportunity to meet them. I think this is a great idea for a girls party, but if anyone has attempted something similar, or has any other comments, I would love to hear them! Maybe I can convince my daughter to let me do this, just this once...I never get to do anything I want!  |
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