Dog Tea Party -4yr- Paw Print Invitations

My daughter had a formal Dog Tea Party for her 4th birthday.  This was a very detailed and labor intensive party, but it was worth it. 

The invitations were formal, with layers of vellum and pretty paper from my scrapbook store.  There were dog prints punched out all around the edges, and the girls were asked to bring their favorite dog.  One actually brought her REAL dog. 

I made identical dress-up clothes for all the girls with layers of satin and chiffon and lot and lots of satin ribbon.  Each dress had to have a label so they would know whose was whose (because of size), so we added a little poem about what we thought made that girl special - like a beautiful smile. 

When they arrived, there were tables set-up to get ready.  They could decorate a purse, which became the goodie bag.  Then they made their jewelry - beaded necklaces, plastic rings and stick-on earrings.  Of course, tea parties must have hats - pith helmets with edges turned up look very cute, and were the least expensive way I found.

I had been buying bags of misc. silk flowers from our local discount craft store, so they used these, plus lots of ribbon to embellish the hats.  We also decorated fans from paper doilies folded in half and glued to a Popsicle stick.  The girls made matching dog collars for their stuff animals. 

Finally, they could put on play make-up - it goes on easy and washes off even easier.  This was the first half of the party. 

The second half took place in the dining room with a formal sit down tea for all the girls and mothers.  The tables were covered with white cloth table clothes and layered with pink tulle.  The, I put all our stuffed dogs (with ribbons and flowers on) all down the middle.  My daughter collects tea sets, so these were placed down the center, too, also with lots of ribbon and flowers. 

Each place setting had a play china tea set with flower, place card (dog holding bone with name on it) and a pink ice cream cone filled with flower shaped lollipops (jelly beans in the bottom keeps them upright).  I used grown-up paper places with flowers and hot pick silverware and cups. 

Of course the tea was really pink lemonade.  All the food was cut into the shapes of flowers or hearts.  The ice cubes were made in the shape of flowers using the same mold we used for the lollipop.  The napkin holder was really a flower and bow glued onto a small barrette, which all the girls and mothers had fun wearing. 

The cake was in the shape of a tea pot.  I made two tube cakes and turned one upside down.  The other went on top.  A third very very small cake went upside down on the top for the lid.  The spout and handle were cut from foam core board and iced (marzipan would also work).  I used gum drops and premade flower and dog decorations, because by this time, I was too tired to do anything else. 

Finally, the piñata was really just one of those honey-combed shaped center pieces.  I had a pink one in the shape of a tea pot.  Before opening it, I just cut away the inside, leaving about 1/2.  Then, I filled with candy and closed it with paperclips, instead of glue.  The girls pulled ribbons tied to the paperclips and it sprung open.  Big mistake here, though, was to put in lollipops - the sticks kept getting caught in the honeycombs and didn't really fall out on their own. 

This party took about 200 hours over six months to pull together.  But, since my daughter and I had a lot of fun doing it together, we're doing something even bigger this year.