One of my favorite memories from childhood is celebrating my 5th birthday with an elaborate tea party for me and my closest friends. Everyone dressed in their frilliest dresses with gloves and hats and Mary Jane shoes. We sat on the porch in the backyard for hours feeling like real grown-ups, sipping our pretend tea and feeding finger sandwiches to our teddy bears, but having the fun that only kids can have. Whether it takes place in your backyard in the afternoon sun or in your living room with the "good china," give your favorite little girl a Birthday Tea Party that she will remember forever.

Invitations

A creative idea is to cut out patterned wallpaper in the shape of a teacup and glue it to a piece of cardstock (also cut out in the shape of a teacup). Write all of the tea party details on the opposite side, and hand deliver the invitations to your closest friends. Another idea is to purchase mini bears dressed like little ladies and attach an invitation to the paw.

Decorations

Rose or pink colored dessert plates, napkins, tablecloth, and cutlery are all a must! They will set the tone for the party, as will the crepe paper, doilies, and pearl balloons. Play some classical music in the background to add to the elegance of the party.

Centerpiece - In addition to the tea kettle in the center of the table, place a nice basket with chocolates or wrapped candies inside of it. Tie some balloons to the handle of the basket to add to the presentation. Make sure to place the different tea condiments around the table as well. Another idea is to use straw hats with floral decorations as the base to anchor pink and white balloons.

Menu

Make finger sandwiches with the crusts cut off. It's best to make things like grilled cheese and peanut-butter and jelly since girls are likely not fans of watercress and cucumber. If you're feeling super creative let the girls use cookie cutters to cut their sandwiches into different shapes. There are so many different teas to drink out there, offer a variety of tasty beverages like strawberry, raspberry or apple cinnamon tea. For dessert have each girl build her own sundae! You might want to suggest the kids bring a grown-up's old shirt to wear over their dressy clothes while they are building their sweet masterpieces.

Activities

• Make tea party cookies! Buy some sugar cookie mix and refrigerate it for a few hours before the party (to ensure that it will be easy to roll). Buy some small cookie cutters in various shapes (a set of 8 can be found at Williams-Sonoma or your local kitchen store), and let the girls go to town! Buy sprinkles and other fun cookie top decorations so everyone can decorate their own cookies.
• Have each child make her own special tea party place mat. While the kids are busy making cookies have someone take the homemade place mats to Kinko's to be laminated.
• Buy each child a set of white gloves (they can be found at most discount drugstores) and let her decorate them with clothing paint (or puffy paint).

Party Favors

Purchase or try making Victorian angel heart boxes and plastic iridescent dress-up beads in white, pink, and purple. In addition, each child gets to keep all of her crafts from the party (cookies, place mat, and gloves).