Today was the first birthday party we are hosting this week. Here’s how we made it simple, affordable, yet very nice.
I started by giving Patsy a handful of invitations I had saved when we moved. She wanted a small, special party so I have plenty from another occasion in my card bin. We chose a day after school when I knew I would have plenty of time to get ready during that day. She handed them out about a week and a half ago. Although we asked for RSVP’s, we only got one firm one, and a couple of “iffy” ones. So, we were not quite sure how many to expect. Then, I dug around in the cupboards and pulled out fancy dishes. These little luncheon tea plates are from garage sales and a junk store and I have had them for about 20-30 years. There are a couple that match, but mostly they are different floral patterns. I have 8 or 9, and got 4 chosen and washed and the others set aside in case we had any surprise guests that forgot to tell Patsy they were coming.
We are still quite new here, and had to also face the possibility that we would have only 1 girl, or even none if something prevented her from coming. There was a lot of anxiety going around here this morning. I was very proud of Patsy. It’s hard to keep trying and trying in life when there are lots of changes, and so much history of disappointment in the past. But, she was brave, and my prayers were answered. In the end, 3 girls ended up being able to come. They were delightful young ladies, and I enjoyed them very much. Patsy was so happy.
Alissa and Ja’Ana helped get ready this morning. They also worked a bit on school. They are almost done, and have very little to complete. Alissa brought decorating supplies and worked on the cupcakes.
She had frosted cupcakes I had baked and frozen last week. She added the candies on top, and we picked and added violas to make it special. We put Baby’s Breath on the fancy dish and…..gorgeous and special for pennies.
I bought 1–$5 bunch of Baby’s Breath. I used teapots I own, and roses and violas from the yard. I put one bouquet on top of the piano and one on the table.
I used a tea cup and put one in the bathroom to take the elegance even further. No extra money involved.
We bought some fancy mints and candy from the bulk bins at Winco. We used sugar cubes in the sugar bowl. The girls were excited about the cubes. They emptied half the bowl.
Ja’Ana and Alissa worked on the chocolate and white chocolate-dipped strawberries. I bought one carton of berries and a few melting chocolate disks from the bulk bins at Winco. Alissa brought some red sugar to use as well to make them even prettier.
I worked on pickle rolls. They are very simple. You spread cream cheese onto lunchmeat and put a pickle on it, then roll up and cut into circles. It is a family favorite at holiday times and Patsy wanted the treat for her birthday party.
I worked on little sandwiches, too. I cut white bread I got on sale for 69c for the loaf into circles with a biscuit cutter. I threw away the edges. If I was not gluten-free, I would have made crumbs from them, but we have no use for regular bread crumbs around here. I just make and use gluten-free ones.
I used some of the circles for cream cheese/olive open faced sandwiches. Then, I added 1/4 piece of turkey pepperoni on top. I spread cream cheese, then placed 1 cucumber slice and a piece of dill on the rest. I also made some egg salad sandwiches from whole pieces of bread. I cut the crusts off and cut into quarters. I used fancy toothpicks for those. I also made a veggie tray in a fancy dish. Snow peas, the remaining slices of cucumbers, celery, carrots, and cherry tomatoes filled it nicely.
The last thing I served was zucchini chocolate chip bread, baked and frozen last week. I also made 2 pots of tea. I let them choose and they chose Chai and Peppermint. That was easy enough, using my insta-hot on my sink. We used 4 tea bags, total.
The girls visited for a bit. They then proceeded to polish off almost ALL of the food on the table. How gratifying! I was very pleased that they were so verbally appreciative, polite, and apparently very hungry! Afterwards, they went outside and played croquet on the lawn until it was time to go home.
The items I made this food from were all inexpensive, common ingredients. It was the fancy dishes, the flowers, and making all the food tiny, decorated and fancy that made the tea party seem special. I did as much of it ahead of time as I could, even freezing a couple of items last week. I shopped yesterday for the things I needed. I washed dishes as I went, and then put all the fancy dishes away directly after the guests went home. I cleaned the house first thing this morning and some more after lunch. That is something that would just have to be re-done if I did it too far ahead:)
I made a list of food I wanted to serve on the whiteboard as I thought of it, and then used the list to shop and cook. I bought dill and used it more than once to get the best use of my purchase. I did the same with the Baby’s Breath. I figure if I’m going to buy it, I want to use it a lot.
So, I’m very tired, but satisfied and happy. Patsy had a great party, I did not break the bank, we DID have some girls come to the party and they had a great time, my house is clean, and I have bouquets of flowers to look at. I should sleep well tonight.
Oh, what a beautiful party! Everything looked yummy. I really dislike how people so rarely RSVP even when asked. It makes planning so hard.
One of the dad’s apologized for not RSVP-ing. He said his daughter had read the invitation wrong and thought it was in July. So, stuff happens. I’m just glad they were able to make it. There would have been a lot of leftover food and a really sad girl if no one had been able to come, so….I’m just glad they came.
Everything looks so lovely and sounds delicious! I am so glad that Patsy had such a special birthday party and I love the way that your family all pulled together to make it so wonderful for her. Please wish he a happy birthday for me!
Thank you. I will.
Beautiful table and food. I have also noticed people on responding to RSVPs for kids’ parties and it’s so awkward to,Track people down for a commitment. What a nice thing that so many family members came together to make the party happen
Right now, I’m needing all the help I can get:)
Such a sweet, festive, tea party birthday! I love everything about it!
Thank you. I enjoyed myself.
Well done! You certainly have an eye for beauty. I love vintage dishes too. I used to go hunting for Fiesta ware with my college roommate, and I have a few dainty tea cups/saucers too. I guess it runs in my family. My grandmother collected tea cups. Fun post!
Thank you. I love my pretty dishes, but only use them occasionally–so it was fun to get them out.
This party was so special for Patsy. I loved how your ‘big’ girls helped so much. It really is all about family and making memories. It’s not about how much money is spent.
Put your feet up and get some rest, you certainly deserve it. Cheers,
I’ll crash and burn after Ja’Ana’s party Saturday?
Wonderful news. Youngsters are fickle and can’t be counted on these days if it is something new and different. Glad the girls made it. I’m sure they were glad too. Everything looked wonderful – very English tea party – and I bet many of the girls had never been to one. It sounds like a smashing success and you did a great job. You can pass the dishes to me if you get tired of them. I love flowery pieces.
Thanks! I did get rid of a lot of my dishes and other things when I moved, but am afraid I kept quite a few. I do enjoy them. I have nothing that I am not willing to use–it’s my little rule for myself and I need to use it every year or two if I want to keep it, so whew! I get to keep those lovely dishes for a while longer:)
I agree. Why can’t people just say yes or no when invited. We all understand emergencies. I consider it an honor to be welcomed into someone’s home and try not to treat it lightly.
The party was lovely.
Jeannie
GetMeToTheCountry.Blogspot.com
Thanks. We enjoyed ourselves, and I was very happy with the girls who came. They were very friendly and polite:) I do love a good tea party!
I think it was a smashing success!
Me, too!
What a beautiful table and a lot of delicious looking food. I read your story and i was very inspired. Where are you in your journey now? Are you living in a camper or are you settled in a new home?
We are settled in a home. It is about 1/3 the size of our old home, and is in town, which are the hard parts. But, the good outweighs the bad. It is 1/3 of an acre, which is a large lot. Rob has a shop. There is a garden area, and I’ve been able to grow many, many veggies and berries. We have been able to learn to live with 1 bathroom (sometimes we have a crisis with a lot of yelling when someone is desperate), but we did put in a sewer hookup for our camper, so we hooked that up when we had Thanksgiving and when we had friends stay there as our little guest house. https://wordpress.com/post/beckyathome.wordpress.com/4848
I’m not the most savvy blogger, but I think this link will take you to the first post I did about the new house.
Rob has a new job at the school, as an instructional aide for special needs kids. He has just started back there after summer. It is a position where each year they will decide if his position is needed or not, and hire him, or not. So, we are thankful to have a job for another year.
I work as a PSW for my special needs niece and nephew, and Rob does that occasionally for more hours of work, and he did it quite a bit during the summer. I lost all my piano students when we moved, so I needed to find another job where I can earn some money. I do hope that I can start that up again, little by little, after some times passes. I do enjoy this job, too.
We are doing well. God is good, and we have much to be thankful for. We were able to go camping a bunch this summer, and were able to go on a Mexico missions trip, as sponsors, with a bunch of youth from church.
Each weekend, I do a weekly update post and put how I saved money that week, and what our family did. I try to put up other posts, as we do things, so you may want to read some of the back posts to get really caught up. My main goals on my blog are to keep my family updated on our lives and to encourage people. So happy you decided to join in.
I appreciate your reply. I’ve been trying to access the post you recommended and provided a link for but for some reason I am having a problem. I keep getting directed to log in and even when I do, it doesn’t work. Can you send me an email and let me know what date the blog post was posted and I will look for it that way. Thanks so much!
I wrote that post on August 14, 2016. It is called The New House–At Last. I expect you can access it through the archives. Thank you!