Third Blog Anniversary - Part III - Tea Parties

As promised, today I'm sharing photos of some of the teas I've hosted in my home that were blog posts during the last three years, as well as some teas I've done at other venues. You'll see I have a passion for tea, dishes, and tablescaping - with me the three go hand-in-hand. I began with fall, and the seasons and holidays have calendar order progression.  I hope they won't put you in sensory overload. I'm cramming a lot into a few days so I won't drag my blog anniversary out too long.

It's always a pleasure to host a tea party in my home, and I blogged about 21 of them.  There were four 'traveling tea parties' that I blogged about, 24 tea parties that I coordinated for my church, and 11 tea parties that I did for business establishments.  I'm not featuring all 60 though.  ;-)

For seven consecutive years I hosted a themed birthday tea party for my daughter. #6 was the Anne of Green Gables tea that was featured in last Friday's post.  2014's theme [tea #8] would have been Downton Abbey, but between my mother's hospitalization, death, and the tasks that followed, it never happened.  I'm making up for it by taking her to England this May, and a trip to Highclere Castle is on the agenda.  That's better than a tea party, and we can hardly wait!

~ Fall Tea ~

I packed up all my things and took a 'traveling tea party' to celebrate my Aunt's 86th birthday.

 ~ I loved using tea tins as containers for the centerpieces ~

~ Halloween Tea ~

I hosted this tea for my high school girlfriends, and used their senior pictures as place cards. They were amazed that I still had them after all these years.  I confess!  I'm a saver.  ;-)

I did a Thanksgiving tea for a restaurant called Ardmore Park Place, located in an 1850's Victorian farm house.  It is pictured below.  The tea was a great opportunity to use my collection of turkey tureens as centerpieces.

[Photo courtesy of their website]

I'm sharing a few Christmas teas. Two were in my home - the Red Tartan Plaid tea [Sandy Clough china] and the Nutcracker Tea.  The other four are church Christmas teas where hostesses decorated their own tables.  

The flag's out.  Come on in for a tea party!

I tied gold teapot charms on the teacup handles as favors for the guests to take home, and placed individual fruit bouquets in ramekins at each place setting.

At the Nutcracker Tea, each guest took a chocolate ballerina home.

  Below are three of my tablescapes at the Christmas church teas.

"Snowflake Splendor"

"Symphony"

"Tea Time"

 I couldn't resist including a picture of my sweet daughter, Lori, my firstborn.  

I was a tablescape presenter at the historic Longacre House in Farmington Hills, MI for their 2013 Christmas tea.

Three different years I invited neighbor ladies over for an Epiphany/Twelfth Night tea. Below is a tablescape from one of those teas where I used my "Petals" dishes.

A New Year's Eve tea for my hubby and me.  Non-alcoholic sparkling white grape juice so we could remember it the next morning! ;-)

A Valentine's Tea with my three older granddaughters, using my Old Country Roses china.

[L-R:  Marissa, Brianna, Me, and Tiffany]

A St. Patrick's Day tea for two Irish ladies - my mom and my aunt.  

The Sullivan sisters were great sports and wore the tiaras I bought for them!

[L-R:  My Aunt Frances, Me, and my Mom]

Knowing my mom and aunt would appreciate my passion for J.L. Hudson's, I picked up my mom and took her, along with the fixings for a traveling tea party, to my aunt's house.  We had Hudson's famous Maurice Salad for our tea time together. These are very fond memories now that my mom is gone.

~ My first King Cake for Mardi Gras ~



~ An Easter Tea ~



~ Three Church Mother's Day/Spring Teas ~

"Here Comes the Bride."  I made eight cookie bouquets as centerpieces.  Another one of those "what was I thinking???" projects!  ;-)

It was a bridal fashion show, and I had several bride models, but I'm only showing my family models in this post.  My granddaughter, Tiffany, modeled my mother's 1939 wedding gown. 

Both of my daughters-in-law modeled their own wedding gowns.

[L-R:  Sharon and Samantha]

~ A "Springtime in Paris" Tea ~

[L-R: My Mom, Me, and Daughter, Lori]

~ In Honor of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee ~

Since Chocolate Biscuit Cake is one of the Queen's favorite tea time treats, I made individual bite-size cakes for everyone.  I have a lot of "What was I thinking???" experiences, but things always get done.  

 A Memorial Day cake for a family picnic on the patio with iced tea.

~ A June Pink Tea ~

~ A June Birthday Tea using my Blue Madrid Depression Glass ~

 And serving my most requested birthday cake - Chocolate Mound Cake.

I've done two White Bible teas, and am looking forward to doing a third one this August before my granddaughter Tiffany's wedding.

~ A July Patriotic Tea ~

 A 4th of July cake for granddaughter, Ellie's birthday.

Ellie was born on the 4th of July, 2012.  She's our little firecracker!

This post has to have some whimsy so I'm including two American Girl teas I did.  One was for the little girls at my church, and the other was a little girl's birthday party at Ardmore Park Place.

A couple of  'wannabe' American Girl dolls in the group.  ;-)

Lastly I'm including four informal, 'traveling tea parties' that I coordinated at my church's District campgrounds on a lake.  Not all tea parties have to be fancy, but they can still be nice.  I prepared everything at home and transported it to the campgrounds.  It doesn't get any easier than disposable tablecloths, eating utensils, and the lunch was packed in disposable take-out containers.  Clean-up was a breeze - everything went in the trash can!

~ Sunflower Theme ~

~ Apple Theme ~

~ Sands of Time Theme ~

Here they are all stacked up in the refrigerator at the campgrounds dining hall just waiting for tea time!

~ Bird Theme ~

The End.  Whew!  I'm tired just thinking I did all these teas, but each one was rewarding and fun. Tea parties are such a wonderful way of ministering to others.  Thank you for allowing me to share them with you. All photos are protected by copyright, so please don't share them elsewhere unless permission is given.