Dressing up and Decorations

One of the funnest parts of a tea party is dressing up. This is the time to go all out!
You can find inexpensive feather boas at craft stores.
We also use inexpensive lace (the kind that comes on a bolt in your fabric store),
we bought ours at WalMart and it was very inexpensive! If you can't find that
try lace curtain panels wrapped around as a skirt or shawl. Don't forget
thrift stores for inexpensive dress up finds like hats, scarves, dresses, gloves, etc...
We like to decorate our table fancy with special cloths and flowers. Again,
this does not have to cost a lot. If money is an issue, and when isn't it,
you can make a beautiful table covering for the cost of about one yard of fabric.
Just cover your table with a solid colored table cloth and then
lay a square of a really pretty coordinating fabric across your table on
a diagonal. You may want to buy a white table cloth and then you can
pick up different fabric squares to change the look of your table
depending on the season or occasion.
We like to light some candles (but be careful,
and always have an adult around when you use candles.)
You can find lots of special tea cups at thrift stores and yard sales. Even
discount stores, you know the ones that sell things for under a dollar,
have cute tea cups. They don't have to match, everyone might have a
favorite one that they get to use. Or you can take turns using different
ones. Just have fun with it. After all that's what tea parties are for!

The Food

And of course you must have dessert! You can choose
to have one main dessert, or you can have different desserts to choose from.

Now let's plan our menu!

The Sandwiches

Cucumber

(Our personal favorite!! I learned to make these from a special friend.)

2 Cucumbers
1 Large Container Salted Butter (I prefer the whipped because it is easier to spread)
1 Large Container Cream Cheese (Again I prefer the whipped for easier spreading)
Loaf of White Bread
Salt to taste

1. Peel the cucumbers and slice into thin round slices.
2. Spread butter on one slice of bread and cream cheese on the other slice
3. Lay cucumber slices on the buttered slice to cover, sprinkle with salt.
4. Cover with the cream cheese covered slice.
5. Trim off crusts.
I like to cut these into either two rectangles or 4 squares per sandwich.
And I have to make a lot of these as they go like crazy!
Enjoy!

Cream Cheese and Cashew Sandwiches

1-8oz tub of soft cream cheese
1/2 cup of cashews
1 loaf raisin bread

1. Cut up cashews, (but not too small)
2. Mix cashews into cream cheese
3. Cut crusts off of bread
4. Spread cream cheese mixture on slices of bread and make sandwiches.
5. Cut sandwiches in half diagonally so you have two triangles and then cut
again diagonally in the other direction so you have four small triangles from each sandwich.

Tuna Salad

2 Cans Light Tuna in water
Mayonnaise to taste (I use about 1 TBS)
2 Green Onions
1 stalk of Celery
Whole Wheat Bread

1. Drain tuna.
2. Finely chop green onions and celery.
3. Mix all ingredients together and make tuna sandwhiches.
4. Trim crusts off. I usually cut these into long thin rectangles, three per sandwich.

Deviled Ham Pinwheels

1-4 1/2 ounce can of deviled ham
1-Tablespoon grated orange peel
2-teaspoons horseradish
1-loaf of UNSLICED white bread

1. Combine first four ingredients in a medium bowl.
2. Cut bread lengthwise into five 1/4 inch-thick slices. Lightly flatten each slice with a rolling pin.
3. Spread about 2 tablespoons of mixture over each slice.
4. From short side, roll each slice jelly roll fashion.
5. Cut each roll into six slices.
makes 30 pinwheels.

The Fruit

Grapes - seedless, (I use red and green, but you can use your favorite)
Strawberries - (You can use large strawberries with stems for an elegant look)
Oranges - (and other citrus fruits. Lemons, limes, grapefruits, etc.)
cantaloup - (and other melons. Honeydew, watermelon, etc.)

1. I like to cut the grapes into small bunches so it's easy to take a few and put them on your plate.

2. Oranges and other citrus fruits- I like to cut these in half lengthwise and then cut the halves into slices.
(These end up like the slices you put on the edge of your iced tea glass.) But you can also cut them into wedges.

3. Melon, There are many different ways to serve the melon. You can make melon balls.
You can cut them up as if you were making a fruit salad. I like to slice them into
slices about 1/4 inch thick and then use small cookie cutters to cut them into shapes.

Some of my favorite books about tea: All available from Amazon.com

Tea and Inspiration


Tea and Inspiration : A Collection of Tea Celebrations to Share With Your Lord and Your Loved Ones.
Recipes and devotionals


Miss Spider's Tea Party Let's Have a Tea Party!
If Teacups Could Talk : Sharing a Cup of...


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