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LITTLE GIRLS' DRESS-UP TEA PARTY

© Jo Ann Wentzel

LITLE GIRL'S DRESS UP TEA PARTY
By Jo Ann Wentzel

A Dress-Up Tea Party combines the fun most girls have dressing up in grown up clothes with a chance to practice their etiquette. I'd plan this party for girls' aged 6-8 and limit guests to 6. Too many guests will make party arrangement difficult since this party requires quite a bit of supervision and adult intervention. The age suggestion is just that, suggestion. Sometimes parties will work for younger as well as older guests. It depends on the kids themselves since individuals don't really fall into one-fits-all descriptions.

Send invitations that are hand made and shaped like a big Gone-With-The-Wind-type hat. Add real ribbon, pressed or artificial flowers to the hat. You may design these on your computer, by hand, or even select a ready made one and embellish it with your own touches. I would schedule this party for about 4 hours in the afternoon. The tea party could be staged inside.

There will be two distinct parts to the party, the dress -up part and the actual tea party. Let's start at the beginning. Dressing up should be expected to be a large part of the entertainment and could take up to half your time. Trying on everything, and ooohing and aaahing about every change is fun.

Set up a section of a bedroom or other room to recreate the feel of an old-fashioned dressing room/boudoir. Use curtains, decorative screens, or whatever to give privacy and to add glamour. A real vanity filled with soft lip-gloss, pale or clear nail polish, powder with a real powder puff, suitable-light-scented cologne, atomizers, and lots of clean combs, brushes and hand mirrors will add to the atmosphere. No vanity, dress up a small card table. Old sheer or lace curtains can be draped and tied with large bows and flowers to add a romantic look. A large old steamer trunk filled with the actual clothes would be wonderful, but once again, improvise if you must. A cardboard storage box can be made to look like a trunk with a few touches and some spray paint. Now, go on, don't tell me it won't look like a trunk, it will, with some imagination. Yes, you can do it. If all else fails, throw them onto a bed and let the little ladies just rummage through.

You need lots of "gowns," fancy dresses, made of fabulous fabrics. Silk, velvet, satin, sheer stuff, shininess, beads, sequins, flowers, ribbons are what dreams are made of for little girls. When I was a little, I played dress-ups at a friend's house whose grandmother was involved in the church bizarre thrift store. Constantly, she returned with treasure for us to. Some would be quite valuable by today's standards. She found a 1920's flapper dress, which was heavily beaded. It weighed so much, we almost could not wear it, but we did. It became one my favorites. She would bring armloads of outrageous hats with hug flowers, feathers, or just unusual shapes. And costume jewelry from the '30s and '40s .It was great stuff. We wore oversized high heels and sported amazing handbags. We wore something with our fur stoles, and feather boas. This is what you want to try to find.