Baseballs, Butterflies, & Blessings: May Day Tea

Recently, Ellie & I hosted a May Day tea party for mothers and daughters (& local grandmothers!)

We sent out invitations to a few of our friends with toddler girls and planned the tea party under the trees for a day when Mr. Party Animal (aka Will) would be at preschool and not be sad to miss out on the girly fun.

We invited several of Ellie's little friends and their mamas and their grandmothers if they lived nearby.

(A few big sisters who weren't in school came too.)

I can't wait for next year when friends with new baby girls or who are pregnant with girls right now can attend with their daughters!

Guests were encouraged to bring a copy of their favorite childhood book and also to wear fascinators.

As guests arrived, we oohed and awed over their dresses and fascinators and feathers and then ushered them to the quilts under the trees for coloring crafts and stories. I've been collecting stories from ebay and amazon all about tea parties. I even found one from 1929 & one from 1880! Those have the most beautiful illustrations of tea parties and little girls. Precious keepsakes.

(As a mother of a boy, it always amazes me how differently boys and girls play! Girls are so content to sit and color quietly! Boys would have been running all over the place!)

Ellie reading stories...

about tea parties (of course!)

Great Grammy knows how to make a statement!

Such a sweet day to spend with friends

The two big sisters

Karen's first mother daughter event ever! (She's a mom of all boys but came with her daughter in law & granddaughter!) What a special day to share with her!

Sophie modeling the tea party hat

playing pretend tea party

(thanks to ebay, I found great deals on several plastic & porcelain tea sets!)

It's a little hot for hot tea so we served strawberry lemonade, fruited water, & ice cold almond tea.

But of course, there were fancy tea cups! (collected from estate sales or my great grandmother's collection!)

(Some of the little girls used plastic but I'm sure in future years they will be ready for the real thing.)

sweet friends

I wanted feminine and whimsy. I tied ribbons and fabric on a rope for a garland, ordered a little pennant banner for my swing from etsy, and cut flowers from my yard. Easy

hydrangeas set in an antique tea pot I found at an estate sale awhile ago and simple foods made for an easy serving table

We were given this antique silver basket for our wedding. It is from the 1800's & I adore it. The perfect place to display pretty linen napkins

The menu consisted of grapes, cheeses, cucumber & pimento cheese finger sandwiches, flower shaped pb & j for the little girls, sweet potato chips, and salted caramel strawberries.

Serving tea

Lunch with friends outside always tastes better!

For party favors, each grown up mama took home a May Day paper cone filled with roses.

And each daughter took home a new book:

for little girls I had copies of My Very First Tea Party - a sweet board book.

The two big sisters that joined us received the vintage classic, Little Mommy (Little Golden Book)

Ellie gives these lovely bear hugs now.

The feel of those arms as she wraps them around your neck is priceless.

swinging with grandmas

Dessert was cupcakes served in antique tea cups

Ellie was a fan

One of my Ellie's bffs ("other Ellie")

4 generations of mothers and daughters

This is why I filled a very busy month with one more thing. I just wanted time to be with friends and more importantly, time to spend celebrating my own mother and grandmother and daughter. How I've longed for a daughter to share special mommy/daughter events with.

It was a precious day spent with people who have so shaped my own mothering.

Each guest was requested to bring a copy of a favorite childhood book to be donated to a local hospital's pediatric wing. Typically, when a child is headed to the hospital, mom and dad are busy wrapping up things at home, making sure siblings are cared for, and packing over night bags. They don't always think to cram a favorite story in their bag. But a book can bring comfort and cuddles and some much needed distraction to hospital rooms.

Ellie & Will & I had fun sorting through everyone's favorites and then we delivered them to the hospital for the Children's Miracle Network child life specialist to loan to kids on the pedi wing.

Have any books you no longer are reading in your home? Donate them to your local CMN or hospital pedi wing- they will be so loved by the children (& their mamas searching for ways to comfort them).