Teddy Bear Tea Party

My friend Nicola claims not to be terribly crafty, but she seems to have a knack for assembling super cute birthday parties. I’ve been meaning to post for some time about this teddy bear tea party she hosted when her daughter turned 4 years old. In a similar spirit to my nature fairy party and marvelous messy party posts, here’s the how-to:
Invitations: Purchase teddy bear themed invites or print them up at home using teddy bear clip art procured online. Invite your child’s friends to bring their favorite teddy bear to the party.

Story Time: Once all of the guests arrived, the party started with a story circle time. Any teddy bear, tea party, or hat story will do. Nicola read a teddy bear story then invited each child to introduce her teddy bear.

Tea Party Hat Craft: The table was set with a large straw hat for each girl plus a mini matching hat (underneath, a cute surprise!) for the teddies. In the center of the table were two large baskets filled with feathers, ribbon, pompoms, birds, and silk flowers. Kids used regular glue to affix items to their hats, or adults helped with hot glue guns (necessary for affixing heavier items such as craft birds, plus dries much faster and stronger compared to regular glue). All supplies are available at local craft stores such as Michael’s or A.C. Moore, though Nicola purchased the mini hats from Oriental Trading.

Tea Party Play: After the hat craft was done, the girls played tea party with the bears (in the living room) while the craft table was cleared and lunch was set up.

Tea Party Table: The table was set with teddy bear plates, teddy bear confetti, simple foldover place cards (with teddy bear stickers on them of course), and cute little bud vases with flowers.

Tea Party Food: Lunch consisted of PB&J and cucumber & cream cheese sandwiches cut out using teddy bear cookie cutters, Teddy Grahams, veggies, fruit salad, and tea. Cupcakes (topped with teddy bear and tea pot candles from Oriental Trading) and ice cream were served for dessert.

Thanks for the adorable inspiration, Nicola!