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How To Host A Mystery Tea Party

May 2, 2011 By
tea-time

I love a good themed tea party and whether you are hosting a women’s tea party, a bridal tea party or a children’s tea party, using a mystery tea theme will add a unique touch. ( It will also keep your guests talking for months to come!)

Personally I have hosted numerous mystery tea parties over the years. I love customizing the tea party menu to reflect the “mysterious theme.”  Every theme has a unique twist of its own and whether you choose a Titanic, Old West or Sherlock Holmes plot line your guests are sure to have a good time.

One of my favorite things about hosting a mystery tea is the participation and creativity it can release in your guests.

Here’s how it works: Tea party guests arrive in costume and play a character throughout your tea gathering. You will be surprised at how the shyest member of your group can become the “star of the show.”

It’s true! A good costume and a stiff cup of tea can do wonders.

 

There are several keys to hosting a successful mystery tea party so please feel free to take notes.

  1. First off, you have got to get a good mystery kit. (there are a ton of duds out there.) I recommend http://www.MysteryTeaParties.com These unique parties are easy to customize but give you step by step instructions which help you have a great time hosting the event. They are also specifically designed for women’s tea parties. (though its possible for  a man to slip in from time to time.)

 

Maxine at Mystery Tea Parties has been writing kits for several years birthed out of her own love of mystery parties. After hosting a successful event in her own area she began receiving requests from friends and neighbors that wished they had been invited as well. One thing led to another and http://www.MysteryTeaParties.com was born.

Recently, I had the chance to review the two newest mystery parties from Maxine’s pen.

Who Stole The Wedding Bells &

The Case Of The Missing Artwork

Who Stole The Wedding Bells is the perfect spring/summer event! It would be hysterical at a bridal shower tea but could also be a really fun fundraiser or women’s tea party. The basic concept is that the literal Wedding Bells have been stolen and its up to a group of crazy women to solve the mystery.

  • What role did the groom play?
  • Was that a UFO?
  • How did the Secret Service get involved?
  • Is the Bride To Be destined for a life of grime?

 

The Case Of The Missing Artwork

is the answer for anyone hosting Children’s Birthday Tea Party or any tea party involving kids. This is Maxine’s first script kit for kids ages 8 and up.

The premise is an art contest with a $100,000 prize and a missing entry that was sure to win the prize.Who Dunnit? The children get involved solving the crime, answering questions that lead them down the path to finding the criminal.

I love the idea of a children’s birthday party mystery. Why come up with games, when you can harness a child’s natural dramatic side and love of costumes with a mystery tea? (this is WAY more interesting than pin the tail on the donkey!)

 

2. You need to follow the instructions carefully! Mystery tea parties are set up so that characters release clues in a certain order. For instance, in the Case of the Missing Artwork, the character Annie Artist has two sections of scripted information she must release. One is at the beginning but the other is later in the gathering and after Becky Baker is finished.

 

Hostess instructions are very clear in these kits but to have a successful event be sure you have read through both the step by steps and the script itself. You want to understand the big picture so your guests aren’t confused. Think of yourself as the director and be sure to direct the party.

3. Great food! Mystery Tea Party kits may include recipes and meal suggestions. You don’t have to follow them but they naturally lend themselves to the setting.  Again! Be sure to read the instructions. Tea party guests will expect wonderful food so don’t let them down. (if your play kit doesn’t include recipes there are a variety of great recipes listed on the MysteryTeaParty.com website.)

Here are a couple fun recipes from “Who Stole The Wedding Bells”:

WEDDING BELL SCONES

3 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup cold butter

1 egg

1 cup vanilla yogurt

½ tsp vanilla

2 tsp milk

Sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until mixture

resembles coarse crumbs.

Stir in egg, yogurt and vanilla just until combined. Turn out onto a floured surface,

knead 6-8 times. Do not over handle.

Roll into a 9 inch circle, cut into 8 wedges. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Brush tops

with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Used with permission – www.MysteryTeaParties.com

CARROT PARTY TEA SANDWICHES

2 cups grated carrots

8 oz. cream cheese

½ cup chopped nuts

1 tsp. lemon juice

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp salad dressing

Mix together and spread on assorted crackers or breads. Cut in party shapes

Used with permission – www.MysteryTeaParties.com

4. Costumes are optional but encouraged! A hostess can choose to ask her guests to come in costume or if the event is spur of the moment, she can provide a costume box filled with creative hats, gloves, boas and the like. The more involved your guests become, the more fun your party will be.

 

5. Have a camera and takes LOTS of photos. Take pictures of the food, take pictures of your guests in character, take pictures of the criminal and those who solved the case! Post your photos on face book, your blog, website and be sure to submit them to Maxine as she loves to feature your personal version of one of her many scripts.

 

That’s it! That is all there is to it. Now grab a calendar, pick a date, and order your Mystery Tea Party Kit. You can be hosting your own themed tea event in just a few days.

To order your Mystery Tea Party kit visit http://www.MysteryTeaParties.com or call Maxine at 951-301-7218

Tea Party Girl Asks: Which Mystery Tea Party script looks the most interesting to you?

Filed Under: Children's Tea Party, Tea Party Themes

Teas and Faeries – Creating a Magical Tea Party

March 14, 2011 By
0903162001

Somehow, teas and faeries just seem to go together, so why not host a whimsical tea party based on a fairy theme?

 

Kids of all ages will love this type of party, and it gives everyone a chance to sample some wonderful floral teas that they may not drink on a regular basis. You can create a magical party with a lot of imagination, and who knows?

 

Maybe the fairies will make an appearance!

 

Activities

Depending on the age of guests, you can have a wide range of activities available if so desired. Many arts and crafts activities are fun for kids of all ages. Make wands, create fairy sun catchers (low cost kits can be purchased at craft stores), or even read fairy tales. Guests may also enjoy creating or painting fairy figurines.

If there is a fairy expert in your area or an artist who specializes in fairies and fantasy, ask that person to be a guest speaker. When you start asking around, you may be surprised at how many fairy fans there are! Get creative in the room by making a fairy ring so your guests can step inside and make wishes.

Or think of ways you can make fairy dust, such as mixing colored sands (available at most craft stores). You can also go on a fairy hunt, either inside or out; whether or not you choose to hide fairy figurines or hope to find the “real thing” is up to you!

Decorations

Fairy decorations are abundant; the hard part is choosing. There are many low-cost fairy themed party packs or supplies sold through party stores or online. Purchase lightweight and whimsical fabric to drape around the room, creating an “airy” feel.

Use pastels to create a fairy mood. You can also purchase shiny cutouts such as stars to spread around the tables and floors. If you’re in the mood, purchase or make wings for your guests to wear, or as the host, you can dress as a fairy yourself.

Any type of whimsical garden and nature theme will work as well. Create tree and flower decorations or purchase flowers to decorate the tables. Let your imagination go wild!

 

Music

At a loss for what music will set the mood? Think classical and airy, such as harps or “new age” music. For fairy-specific music, ask your local retailer. Some ideas are Fairy Nightsongs by Singh Kaur and Gary Stadler, The Fairy Ring Suite, by Mike Rowland, Victorian Fairy Harp Music by Elizabeth Jane Baldry, and Come, Gentle Night by Music of Shakespeare’s World/Galilei.

 

Invitation Ideas

You can purchase fairy-inspired invitations at a party shop, online, or make your own. To capture the colors and theme, look into the wide range of specialty papers available through local retailers. Many copy stores offer a broad selection. Create a nice invitation using colored tissue paper cut and place over regular paper.

Take advantage of you computer graphics as well to create unique invitations for your party. If you choose to use glittery cutouts for decorations, you can also include some in the invitations–just remember that while some people will find this fanciful, others may be annoyed if many small pieces fall out.

 

Foods

Think small and dainty! Finger sandwiches are a perfect choice for a faerie party and a good compliment for tea. Small cookies and deserts are also a good choice, and you can decorate them to match the theme. Fruits, nuts, and cheeses are also an excellent choice. Faeries don’t like salt, so avoid these types of foods.

 

Teas

What types of teas are best for a faerie party?  Those with a floral flavor such as Bloomsbury Afternoon available through www.Gilly.com or Lychee tea, which is a smooth China black tea blended with the nectar of the lychee fruit, available through www.TeaSource.com.

Filed Under: Children's Tea Party, Tea Party Themes Tagged With: , ,

Tips from a Children’s Tea Party Pro

March 3, 2011 By

 

This guest post features Donna Collins. She has been planning special events for over 20 years. Her children’s party planning business, Party Wishes, is located in Santa Clarita, CA. Check out her website at www.partywishesscv.com.

 

Being a children’s party planner, I have the pleasure of introducing children to the wonderful ceremony of having tea. Of course, a child’s tea party is slightly modified from an adult tea party but the elements are basically the same. Whether I’m hosting a party for 2 or 20, there are some simple rules I like to follow.

First the decorations must be festive and capture the imagination. For example, when I host my Mary Poppins Tea Party, I include decor to reflect that of the theme. I have Edwardian inspired china and serving pieces. I have a giant penguin holding a tray of goodies and framed pictures of Mary and Bert on the table. The girls wear Mary Poppins inspired hats with cherries and daisies on them and wear white gloves.

When my daughter and I have a Fairy Tea Party, it is outside under a tree. I attach a pink netted canopy from a branch and spread a blanket out for us to sit on. Don’t be afraid to use your “good china”. It teaches the children to appreciate it and you will be surprised how gently they treat it once you explain the importance of it. My daughter has been sipping out of 100 year old china tea cups since she was 3 years old.

Next, the food should be small and fun to look at. Sandwiches are much more fun to eat when they are shaped like flowers and have a maraschino cherry half as it’s center. Pretzels and marshmallows dipped in chocolate and sprinkles are fun and easy. Chocolate cupcakes frosted red with white chocolate chips (tips pressed in first) look like magical mushrooms! Anything you can put sprinkles, colored sugar, make into different shapes or make a different color usually makes wonderful children tea food. Even scones dusted with colored sugar before baking can become child-like. Some fun cookbooks to reference are the Pink Princess Cookbook and Fairies Cookbook. You can try to introduce real tea to children but I found it is easier to start them off with lemonade. My kids favorite is Raspberry Lemonade.

Of course, the constant in all tea parties is manners. When I host a party for children, I always go over the “rules” of the table. The first item I go over is the magic words- please and thank you. Napkin on your lap and NO slurping! When food is offered and they don’t want one, I tell them it is polite to say “No thank you. I don’t care for any”, not “I don’t like it.” And if they touch-y, they take-y . Look first and then pick up what you want. Only take one of each item, never more than you can eat. That is even difficult for adults when everything looks so yummy! I always have them asked to be excused to leave the table for any reason. It’s amazing how well behaved the children will act when at a tea table and they know what is expected of them.

Although it is not required at adult tea parties, I always like to have an activity for the kids. My daughter and I go on a walk around the neighborhood and collect items to build a fairy house. We then come home and build it together. It’s wonderful to see her little imagination at work and deciding if a certain rock will make a good table or a chair. After the construction is done, we then have our well deserved tea. Just last night, my husband and I introduced our children to the game of croquet. My daughter immediately planned a weekend croquet tournament with a tea party. What a fabulous idea!

Tea Party Girl’s note: Which of Donna’s ideas do you like the best? There are some terrific ones here! Leave a comment and let us know.

Filed Under: Children's Tea Party Tagged With: ,

A Children’s Tea Party for the Horse Lover

March 2, 2011 By
horseparty2

 

horseparty2.jpg

Can the elegance of the tea party mix with rural horses? It isn’t easy, but it can be done! I experienced it in action last Saturday at a birthday party for a friend of my daughter’s. With guidance straight from Let’s Have a Tea Party!: Special Celebrations for Little Girls anyone can combine two of little girl’s favorite loves: the teapot and the horse.

Not every horse tea party can start as this one did, with pony rides. But if you can pull it off, the girls will never forget it.

 

 

Even if you can’t offer real horses, most young girls own a horse or two you can use for decorations. Check out the simple centerpiece setup for this horse-themed tea table set up under a canopy outside.

horseparty.jpg

The mother used blue ribbons for simple napkin rings. She served three different kind of tea sandwiches cut with a horse-head shaped cookie cutter, spinach pinwheels, and the highlight: chocolate-dipped strawberries.

horseparty3.jpg

And what girl can resist a pink teapot-shaped cake covered in Skittles? Notice the teapot lid, a simple round lollipop stuck in the top.

horseparty4.jpg

My daughter called it one of the best days of her life. I wish I had taken a picture of the darling favor bags the mom put together. She folded the top of simple paper bags and stapled them like the top of a teabag, complete with attached yarn and small paper square like the tabs on teabags. Darling! And the birthday girl loved hosting her guests, telling them to pick out their teacups and pouring the “tea” for them.

There’s only one thing I would have done differently, besides serve real tea, and that is to plan a short etiquette lesson. As the only adult around at the time when the girls sat down, I was slightly taken aback (though not terribly surprised) when one girl began to lead the others in a burping contest. What did surprise me was that when I immediately stepped in with some gentle correction and guidance, they didn’t all respond very quickly. As a homeschooling mom, I still believe young children (I don’t think any of the girls were over eight) expect adults to guide them. And I hate to think, truly, that any young girl may already be ruined for graciousness and gentility in certain situations.

Teach your children well, dear readers. Don’t assume they know how to act. The window of opportunity is often smaller than we think.

Filed Under: Children's Tea Party Tagged With:

Teach Your Children Well–The Top Five Mealtime Etiquette Lessons for Children

January 11, 2008 By
kids and manners

Today my son’s grammar lesson involved handwriting a snail-mail letter. As we went over the process, I showed him how to address the letter he had chosen to write to his grandparents (Mr. and Mrs. Male-Name Evans). Now, my mother is not the least offended being called Mrs. Husband’s Name. But plenty of my college friends would be. And I couldn’t help thinking, am I teaching my son something that is obsolete?

What role do manners and etiquette play in the twenty-first century? Tea Party Girl wants to go on record as saying they play the same role they always did: to help us show preference and honor to others over ourselves. Good manners will never be obsolete and it is correct, for example, for my son to address his grandparents a way they are comfortable. “Hey, Pops!” does not work, on an envelope or to their face.

I’m always a little amused how many adults I have tea with who feel uneasy about their manners and make a comment about it. Teatime is not meant to be stiff and awkward, but somehow adults know it’s not a time to let it all hang out, either. So they worry about the minor things like whether they’re supposed to stick out their pinkie (you’re not! Unless your goal is to make fun of tea drinkers). But they’ll take a cell phone call during the tea or place their purse (that’s just been on the car floor) on the table and not think anything of it.

Do your children a favor, learn basic meal etiquette, and then teach it to them in the evening at the dining room table. A children’s tea party is an excellent, fun way to teach etiquette as well. But children need some of the basics reinforced over and over and over again (unless your children are different from mine in this regard).

So here’s some basic fundamentals of mealtime etiquette, modified from Emily Post’s The Guide to Good Manners for Kids. As a mother and Tea Party Girl, I’ve chosen the top seven I wish every parent taught their child.

Arrive at the table with clean hands and face. I admit, I did not do this every time when my children were very little. Now I regret it because I have to remind them all the time. It’s not a habit. Do you have the habit of washing your hands before you sit down to eat? Do your children?

Start eating when the host begins, or when everyone else does. Even in your own home. It breaks my heart to see hard-working mothers serving their families only for the other members to chow down before she can even sit down. She deserves her work to be respected by waiting.

Don’t criticize the food. Oh, that my children would never do this when at other people’s home.I can’t stand it when other children do it to me. Serving a meal is a labor of love and the one receiving it should never criticize it. My children are not allowed to say, “I don’t like…”

Talk with everyone at the table. We don’t live in a society anymore where children are seen but not heard. I don’t think, however, that they should be allowed to talk on and on with their brother about the latest video game, either. I am trying to teach my children to ask questions of others and listen to one another. I do this because as an adult, I have sat by many a dominating or exclusive conversationalist.

Thank the person who prepared the meal. I have served countless, thankless meals in my home to other people’s children and my own. This is another manner I wish I had enforced more consistently when they were really little because they constantly forget. It means a great deal to me as a host when another child thanks me for serving them food.

Tea Party Girl Asks:   Anybody have an etiquette lesson they’d like to add to the list?

 Please leave a comment below.

Filed Under: Children's Tea Party, Tea Party Etiquette Tagged With: , ,
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