Sunday, March 14, 2010

American Girl Doll Tea Party

Hadley is THE party planner. She has been planning and talking about her "American Girl" Birthday party for at least 3 months. She knew she wanted an AG doll party but wasn't sure about any of the other details. I threw out a few ideas, like modge podging something with stuff cut out of AG catalogs, but was quickly shut down. "I'm not sure that would really be fun, mom. I was thinking we could do something like a word search while we watched an American Girl movie." Did she really say she'd rather do a word search? We finally decided she would have a tea party, make some sort of craft and watch an AG movie. I made the invitations but she was hesitant about passing them out without having all of the fine details figured out. "What are we going to eat at the tea party? What time will we start the craft? What craft are we going to do?How can we pass out the invitations?" I promised her that she was going to have an amazing party and that we still had a week to figure out all of the details. She happily passed out her invitations. We went to Michael's Craft store the next day and she found the perfect craft idea--a wooden frame to paint and modge podge with AG scrapbook paper.

The invitation


She invited 15 girls (and their dolls) to her party. I wanted to keep the party small but she really love all of these girls and wanted each of them to be at the party. She is very lucky to have such great friends and cousins.


I think I had more fun planning this party than Hadley did. Gavin kept joking that I was more excited for my party than Hadley. My favorite part was finding all of the china and tea cups. I used both my grandmother's and mom's china for the place settings. It brought back so many memories to see my grandmother's china again. All of those Sunday dinners at her house, eating off of the exact same plates. It was neat to be able to use them for Hadley's special party. And I also found this amazing cake stand, hiding in my mom's cupboard. It was a wedding gift 45 years ago. I don't remember ever seeing her use it. It is glass with tarnished silver. Beautiful. It completed the table.


The cake -- I used fondant for the first time. So easy and cute!

As the girls arrived to the party, I took a picture of each girl holding their doll and then they sat their doll down at the doll table. I realized as I was taking this picture that these dolls enjoying their tea party is a little weird. Cute but weird.

The dolls table


The big girls table

THE MENU:
Ham and Cheese or PB & J sandwiches
Chocolate dipped strawberries
Grapes
Carrots and dip
Mini colored marshmallows on a toothpick
Cupcake
Hot cider with sugar cubes

Passing around the bowl of sugar cubes

The Birthday Girl

9 candles!!!


Gifts. And more gifts.

American I-"Doll" -- karaoking to a few songs.

Arts and Crafts. Each girl painted a wooden frame and modge podged AG scrapbook stuff on them. They turned out really cute and were each so different. I put the picture of the girl with her doll that was taken when she first arrived to the party. I wish I would've gotten a picture of all the completed frames but ran out of time. I barely got all of the pictures done by the time the parents were here to take them home.


Hadley's frame creation

They ended the night with popcorn and the AG movie, Samantha.


Parting Gifts-- teacup and saucer full of yummy treats and their picture frame.

A big thank you to Jill and Oakley for all of their help. I kept them running all night and wouldn't have been able to enjoy the party without all of their help! Thanks, girls!!!

25 comments:

Adrienne said...

Awesome idea!! You did a great job with the decorations and cake!!! So cute!! What a lucky girl!

JenB said...

Wow, looks like quite the party! I'm just not a "party" mom ... I dread birthday parties.

DKAZ said...

So cute! This looks crazy from the mini-china (my moms would've worked great) to the menu to the number of Girls and girls you had there! How fun though. Will you and Hadley please plan my birthday party? Happy Bday today Hadley!

Sharon said...

Love the photos and all the cute party details, such fun!

My name is Sarah said...

Such an adorable party. I love everything about it.

kecia said...

WOW! what an awesome party! So many cute ideas! She looks like she had a great time! SO fun!

Wren said...

AMAZING!!! That has to be the best little girl's party I have ever seen!

Scarehaircare said...

LOVE this! I shall blatently copy the idea for The Love Magnet's next birthday party

Cami said...

Darling! Thanks so much for having Emma, she had a blast! Happy Birthday Hadley!

Jenni and Chad Stewart said...

Everything turned out so cute! And I know Rilee had a blast. We should do a mother/daughter/grandma party like that. Wouldn't that be fun? Did you buy the fondant? Was it easy to work with?

THM said...

OK, so I guess I know who to hire for Roya's next birthday party - holy cow - Heather that looks like the funnest party ever. I'm taking notes.

Summer said...

What a fun party! I love the cute table setting and fun crafts! You throw a great party!

Emily said...

DARLING idea!

Monica Crumley said...

Oh my goodness, you just laid out and planned Greta's 5th bday party. Well, it won't be quite as fancy, being only 5 and you should see her AG doll's hair! But, she wants a princess tea party (where girls dress up) and if they brought dolls, that would be a fun twist. Also, we'll probably be beading and not decoupaging at this age, too! LOL. The decorations and cake and all the girls were precious. I'm sure your daughter had an awesome time!

The Gardener said...

Where do you find the time? What a show stopper!

Grandma Bethany said...

Oh my! Makes me sad I wasn't here to see it all. Thankfully, you took the best pictures. I can't imagine a better birthday for a sweeter birthday girl!

Karol said...

You have outdone yourself on this one! Everything looked SOO cute! ...and I think you should inherit the pretty cake platter for keeps! :)

Andrea said...

Oh wow! That is incredible. The cake turned out so well! In New York we went to the American Girl's store (I had Kirsten back in the day) and they have a free service there where you can take your doll and they have hairstylists who will do their hair for free. This party was even better than that. I'll have to remember this.

Heidi Rushing said...

Amazing! There is no turning back now! All your kids will expect the same every year but if you had fun doing it than all the better! I am sure she had a great time and the party will be the talk of the school for years! happy birthday Hadley!

Bethany said...

Amazing party woman! What is even more amazing is that every single one of those girls have an American Doll ... must be a new era! LOL

Carrie said...

What an awesome party!! I love everything about it--I can't wait until Miss B is old enough to have tea parties!

Do you and Hadley want to come plan Miss B's first birthday?? I'm usually a good party mom, but this time I'm at a loss!

Becca said...

Wow, this is about the cutest thing I have ever seen! You're so thorough! I would have a party like this in my imagination, but could never in a million years pull it off. I always end up taking the easiest route. LOL

Gak jeas mode on.... said...

wow...
great job !!!

Teresa said...

What did you use to make the doll table?

heather said...

Teresa--
Sorry. I don’t even remember what I used for that doll table now.