Nostalgia

 This weekend I helped a friend do a "Chocolate Tea Party" for her newly turned five year old daughter.  It turned out darling - she did a beautiful job.  And it made me remember the "English Garden Tea Party" we did when Hannah turned eight.  It would have made Jane Austen herself proud!

So, for all of you party lovers out there, I decided to post some lovely pictures of lovely girls at a lovely party!

The Birthday girl - How beautiful she was in her fancy dress!

 I literally spent months scoping out thrift stores and antique shops for the perfect cup and saucer sets for each girl.  I wanted them all to be mismatched and cost less than $2.00 each.  Thankfully, I gave myself LOTS of time and in the process learned how to make really fancy three tiered stands out of thrift store glass plates and wine glasses!  And the best part was that each stand cost less than $1.50 to make.  Talk about shabby chic at its cheapest!

Table fit for any English nobility.  Check out the tiered stands!

Each English beauty received her very own one-of-a-kind tea cup and saucer to take home

The lovely ladies at the party dined on the finest finger sandwiches, strawberries and cream, assorted cookies, and of course "tea" (which was actually lemonade and punch- we are LDS afterall!)

I actually grew all the flowers in my very own garden!

And what English tea party would be complete without dancing?  Well, luckily, Eric and I had just started taking English Country Line Dance lessons so I was able to impart some of my newly gained knowledge to my young proteges.  But first, they had to be schooled in the art of Fan Language - an essential part of any young ladies education!

A fan was every girls secret weapon

They all caught on very quickly - maybe it is in every girl's nature to be coy!

Practicing for a Ball - Aren't they lovely?

 The cake was a yummy strawberry and raspberry jello and whipped cream cake.  The only objection was that the raspberries decorating the top began to drip down the sides!  Hannah had to make a wish fast!

It almost makes me want to cry to think back to that party and the little girl who just turned eight, got her ears pierced and was baptized.  Now that she is fifteen, I don't often have the opportunity to have parties like this for her.  Things have changed and she has changed.  Her last party was a murder mystery (I'll post that later) and there were BOYS there!  Oh, how time swiftly passes us by!  But, happily she is still my little girl who holds my hand when we go to the mall together and who cuddles on the couch with me when we watch Jane Austen movies!

I know what you are thinking, and I agree - I am a lucky mom!