bunny tea cup for fairy tea party
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HOW TO CREATE A MAGICAL FAIRY GARDEN TEA PARTY

I have lots of little girls in my life. I have granddaughters and great nieces that fill my heart to the brim. Since only my great nieces live nearby–they were my inspiration for this fairy garden party. It’s the time of year for imagination and dress up and a tea party in the garden.

These sweet girls LOVE to be outdoors. They love to wear the fairy wings and fairy dresses that are in my stash of dress up clothes.

Last spring I found the sweetest little bunny tea set at a Lamon’s Antiques that was perfect for a garden party. Easter came and went…summer moved quickly. Heat and humidity prevailed.

August rains set in.

Then, with cooler temperatures…planning began.

My first step was the setting. It was to be a garden party for sure. I had already purchased the plates and napkins with from Hester and Cook in Franklin, TN. I have shared those from the English Garden Theme collection on the blog before here.

A repeat visit to that favorite store found more and new inspiration…There in front of me was the sweetest fairy garland. This wouldn’t be just any garden tea party.

Frenchtown Station’s garden area provided my next inspiration for this event. There in front of me was this sweet fairy concrete planter for the centerpiece to that table….a perfect holder for that fern.

It had a new theme…

Now it was a fairy garden tea party in the making.

My next step was to make that setting perfect. Selecting the table, table cloth, chairs and centerpiece were easy.

A skirted tablecloth from drop cloths had been created years ago and it was the perfect tablecloth for the party. A garden bench for all of them to be seated together fit into that garden setting.

Then came that sweet bunny teapot and dishes–after all, bunnies and fairies must live together in that garden setting, right?

The menu was the next order of business for that fairy garden party. Hmmmm…..what would fairies (or little girls) love to eat.

Those sweet great nieces LOVE fruit. Fruit added to the menu…check!

Since one is not a fan of crusts…little sandwiches with no crusts were added to the menu.

Tiny pumpkin muffins, cake bites and bite sized lemon cheesecakes would suit them all. The littlest also needed bunny crackers added.

Time to select the beverage.

Since this was a tea party, tea was in order for the menu–right?

I have lots of sweet teas that I thought they would love. They selected a cinnamon version to be the perfect compliment to the menu.

Since not ALL are fans of tea–a wonderful pitcher of water filled with cucumber, blueberries, strawberries and mint was the perfect choice.

Fairy Garden tea party food was in the making.

Pumpkin spice muffins were made and baked in tiny mini muffin pans and in sweet liners to match the fairy garden tea party theme.

Tiny sandwiches with those crusts removed were added to the menu. The most delightful cream cheese filling was made for the cucumber sandwiches with fresh herbs from the herb garden.

Whipped Herb Cream Cheese

An easy and delightful cream cheese with fresh herbs to add to cucumber sandwiches or simply served with crackers.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American

Ingredients
  

  • 1 8 oz. whipped cream cheese
  • herbs of your choice, chopped chives, dill, parsley, celery and basil are my favorites

Instructions
 

  • Chopped your favorite herbs.
  • Add herbs to your container of whipped cream cheese and combine completely.
  • Use as spread with cucumber on cucumber sandwiches or serve as a dip with crackers.

Notes

This is a great spread to add to sandwiches for a tea with thinly sliced cucumbers on top OR to serve as a spread for crackers.
TIP: Flavors will be more intense the second day.
Keyword cream cheese, cream cheese filling, cucumber sandwiches, herb cream cheese, herbs

Cookie cutters were used to designate the different sandwiches–teapot cucumber ones, leaf and acorn nutella sandwiches and then the peanut butter butterflies were the perfect choices for the “fairies” in the garden.

Tiny lemon cheesecakes were made with lemon zest added to the top. These are a favorite that I love to make.

Lemon Cheesecake Tarts

A fast and easy cheesecake perfect for individual servings for any party!
5 from 8 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American

Equipment

  • mixer

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pkg phyllo shells
  • 1 pkg Mad Dash Mixes- No Bake Plain Ol' Cheesecake Mix
  • 1 8 oz. Cool Whip
  • 2 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • 1 lemon, for zesting

Instructions
 

  • Soften the cream cheese and add to a mixer.
  • Add Mad Dash Mixes- No Bake Plain Ol' Cheesecake mix and blend until creamy.
  • Fold in Cool Whip.
  • Add to a ziploc or pastry bag with a tip to pipe into phyllo shells.
  • Pipe cheesecake filling into phyllo shells.
  • Using a grater, grate a little bit of lemon zest on top of each cheesecake tart.

Notes

I have served these lemon cheesecake tarts at weddings, proms, birthday parties, engagement parties and now, a fairy garden tea party.
These are the perfect bite sized serving for large gatherings or small crowds, as well.
Before I used the Mad Dash Mixes cheesecake mix, I have used Philadelphia Cream Cheesecake filling already made. The Mad Dash Mix is heavenly, though, and well worth a try!
When ordering at maddashmixes.com, use the code FEETUNDERMYTABLE at checkout to save 15%!
Keyword cheesecake, lemon cheesecake, MadDashMixes

Now–It was time to set up that fairy garden tea party!

The table was set under the plum trees where beauty abounded all around.

Can I tell you that we had a magical moment in the stillness of setting up for that party?

Now out on the edge of the woods before the clearing of the lawn, came a small doe. She just stopped as if to see what we were doing. We all stopped and held our breath. Hoping she would stay. It truly set the atmosphere for a special fairy garden tea party for sure.

Onto the tablecloth, all of the decorations were put into place.

Dishes and the tea set were carried to the tea party area.

On the top of one of the tiered trays sat a teapot filled with a sweet floral arrangement of hydrangea, lantana, zinnias and ivy.

The fairy planter became the centerpiece of the table.

A sweet concrete bunny–nestled amidst kale– adorned the top of a wired tiered tray that held fruit, veggies and some of the bunny teapot set.

At the foot of the table were added in sweet containers of flowers cascading among a garden angel and some bunnies to join us.

Sweet plates, and napkins from the English Garden series at Hester and Cook were added to the table.

Enter those sweet great nieces!

The fairy garden tea party began.

Aren’t they adorably dressed in their sweetest dresses accompanied with fairy wings?

That sweet nine year had helped supervise the cucumber sandwiches, added the fruit to the water and helped to taste test the muffins, herbed cheese and lemon cheesecakes to make sure they were perfect. She helped take all of it to that table.

That six year old made a proclamation for the fairies and also, declared that pinkies had to be up for drinking tea which she drank gloriously.

The two year old happily ate her cake bites, bunny crackers and drank that water with a spoon.

A butterfly net became a wonderful source of entertainment.

With much laughter, tea and feasting, there was talk of fairies and bunnies and woodland animals among the trees, the lights and that beautiful setting.

Memories created and treasured. Feet under that table on the lawn.

I need to recreate this in Boise and Marietta for granddaughters there…

Hope you’ll create meaningful moments and memories with the littles in your life.

And if you do…won’t you share them with me?




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