{Summer Camp} How To Design A Summer Princess Tea Party

Hi everyone!  I'm Chris Nease, editor of Celebrations At Home website, and a party stylist.  If you need inspiration and ideas for hosting a baby shower or childs birthday party, we have tons of ideas for you on our blog!

I'm thrilled to share with Design Dazzle readers, some ideas for hosting your own backyard Princess party, with many DIY elements you can easily do yourself.  I styled this shoot with a team of vendors (see full list at the bottom) to help inspire moms like you.  I hope you'll find something you'll want to re-create!



I began by setting up a table for a tea party using a color scheme of various shades of pink and a touch of gold.  I found a gold colored crown at a home decor store and used it as the centerpiece, surrounded by flowers.  A little bit of floral foam is all you need in order to make this work.

Each place setting uses glass plates set on top of a paper doiley - simple yet festive!  A few extra touches make it even more special though.  I made cupcake pedestals by purchasing small glass candlestick holders at the $1 store and spray painting them in our color scheme.  I then placed a china saucer on top using glue dots.  This way they are sturdy enough but can be disassembled at the end of the day.  The saucers are an eclectic mix in our color palette and can be found at any thrift store.  I placed a cupcake on each pedestal and topped with a pretty printable circle from Bird's Party!


Another great project for this theme were the embelished napkins.  I used white cotton napkins and iron-on transfers from the craft store to create our "bejeweled" princess napkins.  I love this idea for creating something custom, and you can purchase inexpensive napkins from Walmart, or simply cut out squares of fabric using pinking shears.

For the snacks, pink lemonade is our obvious choice, along with peanut butter sandwich wands cut out from cookie cutters and inserted with a lollipop stick!  Beautiful themed cookies from Lori's Place are added and could also be used as the parting favors.

One of my favorite things to do when setting up a party outside is to bring some indoor furniture, out.  It helps to warm up the space and makes it feel cozy.  For this party I used a book case to hold the desserts & treats.  To coordinate it with our theme, I cut a piece of pink fabric to fit the back and attached it with spray adhesive.  I followed the directions on the can for "temporary" use so the fabric could be easily removed afterward.

To create a visual border to our space, I hung ribbon and a banner from the tree branches, and an empty frame for photo opportunities.  The little girls loved running through the hanging ribbons, and you can see how adorable the photo frame area is. 

I hope you've gotten some good ideas to use for your own little princess or other celebration.   The projects are simple to do but when pulled all together they make a fantastic party!  For all the vendors seen here, please check out the list below.  Cheers! 

Vendors:

Styling - Chris Nease - Celebrations At Home/ Photographer - Julie Renee Photography/ Printables - Bird's Party/ Princess Motif Cookies - Lori's Place/ Tutus - Cole Baby Tutu's/ Tiaras, flower wands, flower headbands - Fluffy Tuffies/ Cupcakes - The Sweetest Thing

Chris is an entertaining expert with over 15 years of experience planning, designing, cooking, and hosting small celebrations.  She now shares her expertise and design asthetic with others via Celebrations At Home blog, and contributions to several other websites including Celebrations.com and HGTV.com.  For endless inspiration for stylish entertaining follow Chris on Facebook and Twitter too.