Tea Party Idea: The Old Fashioned Candy Shop

courtesy: Art.com

We have tea parties twice a year. They are one of the most important events of the year for my daughters. If you haven't already read about these, you can read about them here.

Theme: The Old Fashioned Candy Shop

Verse: They (referring to God's laws) are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Psalm 19:10

Colors: rich shades of brown and gold

Invitations: an invitation in the shape of a candy machine was mailed a week ahead of time.

Decorations: The dining room was transformed into a candy shop. The table was covered with a brown satiny tablecloth (old, with a dish placed over a stain) and elegantly decorated with small quantities of various sweets as well as a few fancy wrapped candies that the hostess bought for the occasion from the local bakery. Homemade taffy, cookies and brownies were on a three-tiered serving dish (inexpensive from a cheap variety store-similar to a dollar store). A dish of pennies was available and all everyone received ten pennies each. Some items cost a penny while others were quite expensive at two cents. A large sign was hanging on the wall -

"Ye Old Fashioned Candy Shop."
Come one, come all,

sweets for the sweet,

let's have a ball.

Menu: Tan with gold ribbon and a little girl. The picture was downloaded from the Internet and several 4x6 prints made for 15 cents each- one for each menu.

The entrees were hand printed inside the menu:

Ye Old Fashioned Candy Shop's Special Spinach Quiche
Scrumptious Almond salad

Cream Cheese Roll ups

Mango Iced Tea or Cherry Mineral Water

Dessert: Cameo Chocolate Surprise
*Your choice of coffee or tea will be served with the Dessert

Craft: Hardanger needlework was introduced by the hostess. She provided the materials (a needle, piece of cloth and a few colors of embroidery floss to choose from- less than 3.00 per person) and showed the guests a book with several pictures of this beautiful craft. She explained how the art of hardanger has been passed down from generation to generation in her family.

Gifts: The leftover candy was bagged with lace tied up in pretty ribbons and given to the guests. The guests gave the hostess a small single serving tea pot and cup wrapped in pretty paper and ribbon.

We generally eat as soon as we arrive and then work on the craft. Later we have dessert with our tea and exchange gifts. This candy shop was a wonderful idea that my friend came up with. We were all so pleasantly surprised when we arrived into her transformed dining room. The girls were delighted when they saw the candy shop. I think this is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the tea party. The guests always enter into a room that has been transformed into something from the imagination. We don't spend much money but must plan carefully. My dear friend is really quite amazing. She is better at this than I. She will rearrange the pictures and coffee tables in her room, take out items and bring in knickknacks from other rooms; drape sheer lace over the table from the ceiling, move the dining room table to another location or a different room. We have eaten in bedrooms, balconies and living rooms. (No tea taken in the bathroom yet :-) We have never had our own private yard so unfortunately, garden teas are not possible for us. Many of our ideas come to us from looking through old magazines.

 I do a lot of quiet thinking before I do anything. That helps. We may buy a cheap serving dish that looks lovely or a piece of sheer fabric, cut and hem it ourselves for drapery. Then use strips off the ends to tie bows on the backs of the chairs. Sometimes we use matching dishes that we had on hand- usually cheap clear glass because it goes with anything and then use a set of tea cups or a hodge-podge. We buy really cheap figurines that match our theme and them give them to the children afterwards. We don't buy special food, but just make it look very fancy by cutting sandwiches with cookie cutters or placing salad in a carved out butter roll. We often add edible flowers to the dishes. We choose crafts that aren't expensive. I will try to give more details about these ideas as I post each tea party theme that we have done.