Tea Party for 5 Year Old

Maybe this <a href=http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/party-miss-spider-birthday...; would be helpful. When you said "butterfly," I immediately thought of Miss Spider.

The only drawback in the Arbor Day Society idea is that they don't ship the trees until late fall/early winter; we joined in March 2008 and they shipped our trees to us in November. When we asked them why they waited so long, they said it's better for the trees to ship them when they're dormant.

Most little girls like the idea of tea better than the actual taste of tea, so I'd use fruit-flavored teas.

Food: cucumber sandwiches (cut in triangles, no crusts), sugar cookies, fresh fruit, mini-croissants with jam or marmalade available.

Favors: if you wanted to go with the garden theme for the favors, you can get little flower pots and packets of flower seeds at the dollar store, and let them decorate the pots with paint, and then plant flower seeds in them. One packet of mixed wildflower seeds will be plenty to divide up among ten girls.
You can probably also find hair barrettes and clips with either a butterfly or a flower theme at the dollar store.
Last December, some of the local nurseries had gift tags that were actually impregnated with seeds, and you could plant the whole tag after opening the gift. I don't know if they carry those year-round, but you could check.

Butterfly cupcakes: Make cupcakes as normal, then slice the tops off (like the muffin tops), slice the tops in half, and invert them so they look like wings (round sides together, flat sides to outside) I can email you a picture, I couldn't find one on internet. I found this idea in the cupcakes from the cake mix doctor book (which I use all the time). Use heavy icing to "glue" them back on, and decorative icing to decorate the wings. A line of black/green between then makes the butterfly body.

I just saw someone decorate the top of the cupcakes with little candies here: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/435059206_d1b997b964.jpg
Or just order cookies from a good cookie place :)

You can also buy butterfly larvae that could be growing in the weeks leading up to the party and release them at the party. http://insectlore.stores.yahoo.net/butgarwitliv1.html I've also seen this done at weddings, but the minimum order for that is 50. Butterfly face painting is something you could practice between now and then.

I've seen butterfly wands at hobby lobby pretty cheap, those would be good favors. antennae headbands would be good too.

Birthday girl could wear butterfly wings, and you could encourage everyone to wear theirs.

Also Barbie Mariposa is a movie about butterfly fairies, there might be some favor ideas if you use that character.

If I am at a loss for character activities (my girls had a little bear and a zebra party this year) I like to print out coloring sheets and I bet there are plenty of butterfly coloring sheets on the web. the kids love that for some reason.

I found this on birthdaydirect.com http://www.birthdaydirect.com/advanced_search_result.php?... Butterfly tea party!

Good luck ... Sounds like fun, I might convince my girls to have this kind of party!

Hey A.,

You have already recieved some great advice... so I wanted to just say that you already have your themes.. tea and butterflies. Now all you need is a color scheme (pastels, primary, etc) and then you can shop for what you need. I would think a local craft store might have some butterfly crafts that you could make in advance and attach to the tea cups or even stuff/activities for the party guest to do.
Below are links to things that might be needed ..

here is a perfect little tea set that is on sale
http://www.grandrivertoys.com/Pages/products/17_Pc_Butter...

http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/search/processRequest.d...

http://www.kids-birthday-party-guide.com/butterfly-birthd...

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=2008052816314...

http://partyideasbytreasureboxparties.blogspot.com/2008/0...

here is a search for butterfly party favors
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&amp;rlz=1T4GGLJ_en&amp...

here are two main searches and then you can scroll throught the results

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22butterfly+tea%22+AND+%2...

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22butterfly+tea%22+AND+%2...

and then there is always those live release butterflies. they are fairly neat but can be pricey... here is search for places.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&amp;rlz=1T4GGLJ_en&amp...

best wishes... it sounds like a wonderful party a;ready and has so many options.. from indoor to outdoor, garden like, prim or relaxed... they all sound enchanting. i hope the party is everything you and your little girl want.
-mb

Orientaltrading.com has lots of cute and very cheap/reasonable items. I would check there for different things for party favors and for decorations. They have a luau section that has some cute flower decorations. They also have a birthday party section that has cake toppers if you were making your own cake. i even think I saw butterfly plates, cups, ect. Good luck!

You received some great answers. The only thing I would add, and your daughter may already have this, is a great book for this age----Miss Spider's Tea Party. Some early childhood teachers use this in their classrooms. If you are not familiar with the Miss Spider series any good bookstore will have them. It might give you some ideas and/or may be a time filler if you need someone to read it aloud to the girls to add to the fun. What a special time this will be for you, your daughter and her friends. Enjoy.

I did a little research on the net for tea party's that is a good place to started. One idea I like was go go to the dollar store and get some straw hats , ribbon,flowers and other things the girls can use to decorated their own hat, also go to the second hand stores if you do not have enough tea cups . At the table sating you can use pony hair holders for the napkin ring with different color to match the tea cup. Also enlist your hubby or some teenager boys to act as the butlers and service the ladies.For take home treat get small flower baskets and full it with grass sat center stage a pair of princess slippers, around it some beaded jewelry and play make up. You could also read to them the story Little Miss Spider Tea Party. Have someone teach them tea manners. One lady had a Asian tea party with kimonos and everything.

For almost all of my kids' birthdays, I have used ideas from FamilyFun.com. I've checked, and if you do a search the site for "Tea Party" you'll find lots of ideas for a birthday party, including invitations, decorations, party favors etc. And, I have found that most of their stuff is relatively easy to accomplish. You probably don't need it, but, Tthey also have zillions of cake ideas at http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/cakescupcakes/. I never do a party without them. (By the way, the magazine "Family Fun" is great too. I'm not usually a huge Disney fan and this is a Disney publication. But, I have found that it has great ideas for crafts, family time, dealing with discipline issues, chores, etc.)

Hope this helps!

Hey A.,
I'd go to the Dollar Tree or equivalent NOW and try and get spring stuff (if they don't have that stuff go to Hobby Lobby and look-they usually have an "outdoor"/garden section). I wouldn't wait for later I'd go before spring is over that way you can get lots of butterfly/flower type stuff.
I got some little hanging decorations at Dol. Tree with a little butterfly/flower at the end of them (they were 6/$1). You can also find little watering cans that you could put candles in and sit around the room.
I'd think about getting some fabric and putting over your curtains in the room you will be using too-something that looks like plants with flowers/butterflies/bugs on it :-).
You can also look at Oriental Trading and order stuff-they always have fun craft things for the kids to do.
For my daughter's 3rd birthday I got Bubble wands at Walmart for a buck each and cut out Stars (you could do Butterflies/flowers for the girls instead of stars) from construction paper and we made princess wands with them-just take a glue stick and stick it all the way round 2 pieces-leave about an inch un-glued for the wand to fit into. Our girl's party was a Dress-up Princess Party. Also, we got a thing you hang in the doorway and it has a cutout for a face-you could set up a photo booth too...
Just my nickle.
Good Luck! :-)
I'm sure the cake will be beautiful :-) so that's one less thing to worry about.
C.

A tea party will be so much fun!! I had a tea party for my daughter and 2 of her friends when she was 3 1/2. I bought some fresh pink flowers and put them in a very nice crystal vase in the middle of the table and put a very pretty white table cloth on it and for th food I fixed fruit and fruit dip (cream cheese and marshmellow creme) and vegetables and vegetable dip and we also had little finger sandwiches, I bought the foot long subs at Wal-Mart that were already made for a couple of dollars each and just cut them up and put the cute little toothpicks in them and then sat out a couple little bowls that had mayo and mustard in them. For the drinks we had lemonade and of course tea. For her cake maybe you could do a really pretty butterfly cake and put a special little tea set in the middle that your daughter can keep. I also had her little friends dress up in their princess clothes and bring their favorite baby dolls with them. It was a lot of fun. I would keep the decorations very simple. Maybe you could get a few big butterfly balloons to hang around. For the crafts you could buy little foam butterflys and have the girls decorate them and then put some string on them to hang up in their rooms.
I hope you have a great party!!

I heard of the cutest idea that I think you might use if it is in your budget. A friend had a party for her daughter (hers was camping theme) but she got one of those covered portical tents and put it in the living room--draped it with greenery and little Christmas or patio lights. I thought it was a cute idea. Also, you might go to Garage Sales and look for "garden" themed stuff. An antique outdoor wrought iron chair would be cute with pillows for a "picture spot" and the Dollar Store is a great place to find cheap pots, colorful butterflies, etc. You could put your food items in flower pots (chips in a pot) etc. ANother friend of mine decopauges terra cotta pots with leftover napkins from parties--might be cute to decopauge (sp?) little terra cotta pots and fill with candies or lollipops that look like flowers for favors--have fun!

A.,
For each little girl, get a piece of white poster board. Trace with a dark marker,a connected pair of butterfly wings, with some simple pattern on them. Let the girls color them in and then wear them. If you ask them each to bring a belt, you can cut two slits in the back and them belt them onto the girls, under their arms. Or put them on each girl over each arm, like a backpack with wire or white shoe laces.
Speaking of butterflies, there is a cute Christian children's video, called Hermie, about a caterpillar, who becames a butterfly
Oriental trading does have lots of cheap cute stuff.
Have lots of fun!
Love, H.

My daughter had a tea party in the living room for her little girl at I think she was 4, they did it in the living room. She made these cute little girly purses ( bought small plain canvas bags at Hobby Lobby) and put the girls names on them with the puffy paint and added boa to the top, her daughters said princess Ally as that it what she wanted. She used different color paint, found out the girls favorite colors ahead of time so the purses would be ready. Anyway they did a mommy and me manicure pedicare treatment with nail color every child had a towel to sit on and use, they took their nail color home with them and some little necklaces I had made out of beads, she found some cute little rings, and i think she also put some candy and things into the little purses she made. She made little finger sandwiches and they had punch in their tea cups. Plus they had cake and cookies.
You are going to have a blast.. Thei is a lot of butterfly stuff out their at the party places. Have fun.

What a sweet mom you are!

What about plant-a-tree party favors? They (and their moms) can pick their favorites to take home with them!

You can get 10 trees from the Arbor Day Foundation for a year's $10 membership! What a deal! 10 bucks for all of your party favors, all in one fell swoop. Cheap, and good for the earth, and gets kids excited about caring for a tree :) http://www.arborday.org/shopping/memberships/memberships.... They even provide information for the best trees for your area. You could tie pretty ribbons around the trunks or around cute pots that they can use for flowers once they've chosen a place to plant their tree (and don't worry - those who don't have a spot to plant a tree on their own property - say, if they live in a condo - can just plant their tree wherever, like at Grandma's, or in a place nearby where they can take a watering can to it and watch it grow).

L.

PS your own bakery, cool. Have you heard of using beans instead of flours? Gluten-free people would like that. They're moist, delicious, and nutritious. You don't even know there are beans in them. There's garbanzo bean cake, which is easy and delicious: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Garbanzo-Bean-Chocolate-Cake... There's also an incredible black bean chocolate brownie recipe, but it's more involved than I like to get in the kitchen. I can vouch for them, and the garbanzo bean cake, both. Just incredible. http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/amazing-black-bean-b...

Oh that sounds like so much fun. We went to a tea party for one of my dd's friends when they were about 6 or 7. The mom made pb & j sandwhichs for the kids becasue that is all her dd would eat. However, she cut the crusts off and used cookie cutters to get different shapes. She let them eat off her good dishes. She used a three tiered display with teh sanwhichs on it and decorated with flowers. Everything was very girly and fancy. I forget what other foods she had. I think they drank lemonade out of little teacups.

For the craft, they dressed up in "dress-up" clothes like princesses, etc., she made pictures of her dd with each of her friends and printed them on photo paper on her computer. Then they made and decorated frames . My dd still has her picture with her friend hanging in her room even though we moved away 3 years ago and have not been in touch with them. It was one of her most memorable parties.

Good luck!