My Queen of Hearts Tea Party!
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"Do you care for tea?"
As many of you know, I - along with a few ladies among my family & friends rotate monthly hosting tea parties! It was 3 or 4 years ago I hosted my first Valentine tea for my Mother and Sister that has since been a lovely tradition to look forward to and grown in attendence. Every year I usually host 2-3 months out of the year and February is one of them. This year though, I knew that I wanted to do something a little different than the usual Valentine theme but what to do since my house is already decorated for it? Last December I happen to be watching TV and saw an early trailer for the upcoming Alice in Wonderland movie (UGH - I am sooooo NOT happy how they have turned into into another gothic looking movie - Icko) but it did give me an idea to incorporate the heart theme of my decorations into a Queen of Hearts tea party!
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Now don't be late for this very important date! Hop down Janeen's Rabbit Hole at 12:00pm wearing your Wonderland best!
Yes, that's me as the Cheshire Cat!
I decorated in red, white and black colors using ideas from the story.
The Queen must have her Army of Cards in attendence right?!
I set out the tea service on my coffee table...
Recently my lovely Mother-in-Law gave me this pink candy dish and I was thrilled to be able to display it today filled with treats!
Guests are arriving! Yeah!
On tea party days, usually none of us have breakfast because we know of the feast that awaits us and today I didn't disappoint my guests either...
Dreamy Creamy Scones with Lemon Curd
Topsy Turvey Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Queen of Hearts Deviled Eggs
Cheshire Cat Open Faced Sandwiches
Wonderland Berry Medley
Mad Hatter Cake
(It will make you a little bigger no matter which side you eat it from)
Your teacups are bottomless so drink all you want,
prefer Pink Champagne then I'll call you a cab!
After we ate our delicious lunch, we settled into a card game called Spoons! It is VERY easy to learn and we laughed for a good hour from all the fun!
Jenifer was the first person to get all 4 Queens and the winning spoon!
Next it was time for the Hostess Gifts! In our early days, we mainly gifted each other small items that would help eachother build up our entertaining cabinet of dishes and acessories. Some of us are well established now but it's still fun to carry on the tradition because we continue to see fun things throughout the year that remind of eachother and buy them up waiting with anticipation to bless them!
Look at this Queenly bag!
I SQUEALED with delight at this Crowned Knife! Makes me think of Pate on Toast when I see it for some reason. ha ha
Look what else was in the bag! HOMEMADE Petit Four treats in Raspberry and Chocolate Ganache and decorated Sugar Cubes! (Sigh.... I lurve looking at this picture!)
Victoria got me these YUMMY and BEAUTIFUL Marzipan hearts dipped in Chocolate to go with a gift card to Starbucks! A little chocolate to go with my coffee... lurve the combination.
My lovely Mom got me this BEAUTIFUL glass pendant necklace. This picture doesn't do the colors justice but trust me you'd LURVE it!
Ann got me my very own Toasting Glass! Whenever we have gatherings I like to say a "toast" to something because there is always something or someone to be celebrated. Notice how the picture on the glass resembles ME! Complete with bangs that are swept over perfection! ha ha
Hours later it was time to say good bye and I quickly remembered to take a picture of who hadn't left yet with their little party favor!
I wrapped up a deck of cards in honor of teaching most everybody a new card game and now they could take home a brand new set of cards to enjoy with their families! I enjoy keeping the tradition alive of family game time!
Then I began the task of getting the house back into order and washing all the dishes. As I look at this picture I can tell you that except for a few items, EVERYTHING was a gift to me at some point through the years. I am SO BLESSED!
Then I put those lovely decorated Sugar Cubes away in their special box that I keep them in, ready for the next occassion for tea!
Then... one final treat for the night... another cup of tea and some of those handmade Petit Fours!
Such great memories! I hope you enjoyed the party along with us! Next month my Mom is hosting ~ perhaps she will be dressed as a Leprechaun? Mmmm, a yummy stew sounds good right now!
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12 Cha Cha Bloggers left a comment:
Oh my goodness, everything looked wonderful, especially your creamy scones and the petits fours of course! Great idea also to give a deck of cards as party gifts. Thanks for sharing your tea party with us. :)
It looks like a grand tea party! I love the pink heart tea pot & pink candy candy dish. You are THE Queen of Hearts : )
What a wonderful, fun tradition this is! You certainly outdid yourself with the theme, goodies and decorations! Everything looks scrumptious! :)
This was so MAGIC! I loved every bit of it. I sure wish I could have been there. The food looked yummy and your decorating is so so creative. I love playing Spoons! It is so fun and people really get into it. :) I will be in Palm Springs on March 1st. Is that a million miles from you? Tea parties. Who couldn't love them?
I now pronounce you the hostess with the mostest because you've proven you know how to throw a tea party. BTW, great theme. Scones with lemon curd...mmmm!
You asked about Rachel and my meal on Friday...we split a grilled pimento cheese on pita bread and the Peloponnese Platter. It has 2 types of cheese, olives, stuffed grape leaves, peperoncini peppers, lettuce and assorted breads and olive oil. Yummy delicious!
Wow this is so magical and beautiful. I wish I had a tradition like that! It's great to enjoy the party with you virtually though :)
That looks like a lot of fun. Those scones look just DELICIOUS!!
Yum, yum, triple yum.
Maybe one day we can have tea, you and me. Wouldn't that be lovely?
I am absolutely devouring every morsel and photo, Janeen! I am there with you and your guests! Absolutely beautiful! You should definitely consider being a party planner, Janeen! You are so talented!
This was the next best thing to being there! :))
What a marvelous tea party, Janeen! I love all the little extra touches you provided. And what pretty teawares ... LOVE that piece with the crown on it! Thanks for sharing the fun with us!
Sounds like you had a great time. It's wonderful that you have been able to keep the tradition of these teas going on for so long.
Now, you'll have to teach us the spoon card game!
Hi Janeen. Wow, what fun it is to look at all the great photos taken at your lovely tea party! I love the theme, and I love the menu! Thank you so much for sharing your party with us. ~Arleen
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