When the tattooed mama and me decided to have a bridal shower for the College Boy's lovely Bride to Be a tea party sprang to my mind. Miss Bride is so sweet and we wanted to do something very special for her. Thus I came upon the idea of a "real" formal tea party and we began planning. I was pretty sure we could pull it off since we are so crafty and clever, and I figured I would find all the "How To" I needed online.
I did find a lot of good information and especially quite a few recipes to choose from.
But I was starting from scratch for tea partyware and with a limited budget I set out to do the best I could to create the elegant tea party atmosphere that I envisioned. We were estimating about 20 guests, so my idea was to set up 4 tables with 4-6 place settings at each.
So off to the Goodwill I went.
I discovered that there are plenty of pretty dishes to be had for 49 cents each. Since I was planning on a "mismatched" place setting for each person that would work. It would take several trips to several different thrift stores and I added in the cups and plates from Mr. Rainbow Creek's grandma's china set which I had stashed in the basement for years.
Oh yeah, and I also thought it was totally worth all the trouble to have to peel off all the price stickers and handwash all those dishes before and after the party.
Teapots are somewhat more difficult. I managed to find 2 for $3 each and then purchased a new one from the Corningware outlet store for $7. The little tea light candleholders were from the dollar store. They were cute and matched our "spa theme." But I forgot to light them. DUH!
I found some pretty napkins at Tuesday Morning. 
So keeping with my clever and crafty theme, I assembled the tiered platters for the food using thrift store plates, wine glasses and my trusty hot glue gun. 
I had this well planned out, but it was a little scary because you have to get the dishes centered while handling a hot glue gun and, as I soon learned, the hot glue sets as soon as it meets the cold plate. So, you have one shot at getting it right or you get to start over again.
So here are a few tips on hot gluing dishes together to make a tiered serving plate.
1. Use small dots of glue around the edge of the glass, not a thick bead.
2. If you get the plate off center DO NOT use a razor blade to try to unstick it while holding the plate with your other hand and pointing the razor blade at your hand! Ask me how I know.
3. If you need to unstick the plates run some hot water over the glue beads and gently wiggle the plate until it pops off. The glue can then be removed by rubbing it with your fingers, no razor blade required.
The plates turned out really pretty.
Next up: Fabulous food and how to spend an entire day making 35 brownies.
