This years party theme was a tea party or high tea. We decided to hold the party in the morning, mostly for scheduling around the baby and to maximise the chance of a couple of hours sun, so it was probably more tea party than high tea….but we were working along those lines. Astrid loves nothing more than going out for morning tea and holding tea parties with her toys so it was a good choice for her 3rd birthday party.

I asked Astrid what colour theme she wanted and she originally wanted yellow, but we couldn’t find a lot of nice yellow things in a hurry (I planned it all a bit last minute) so blue and white spots and stripes were the next choice.  It all worked out very well in the end.

Don’t ask your almost 3 year old what cake they want, as it changed every day for a couple of weeks!  We were close to having a number 3 cake but in the end we negotiated a white chocolate and raspberry layer cake with fluffy mock cream, in blue with white spots.  It turned out not too badly, although looked better before the birthday girl put her fingers on it!  The best bit was that it tasted really nice…….

For the decorations we went with blue and white balloons, since the toddler balloon obsession has seemingly not yet ended, and every house needs 50 balloons, right?  The party bags were blue and white stripes and the plates, cups, and napkins all matched in with our blue and white theme.

After two years of making food in owl and bug shapes, this years tea party theme was comparatively easy. We did a fair bit of the baking the day before the party and the last minute items the morning of the party.   We had:
* individual tiramisu
* mini lemon meringue pies
* chocolate brownie squares
* caramel popcorn cups
* lime and chocolate baked cheesecake with lime toffee
* fairy cakes
* scones with home made blackberry jam and cream
* chicken and mayonnaise finger sandwiches
* cucumber and cream cheese and chive finger sandwiches
* cheddar and bacon quiches
* caramelised onion, mushroom and brie quiches

The scones and fairy cakes were made by Astrid’s Grandma (Lorraine) but Anto, Astrid and I made the rest (with some assistance with sandwich and quiche assembly just before the party). Since it was a tea party we also had coffee and tea brewing (and of course water, juice and soft drink for all the kids or those who wanted something cold).

The food all looked and tasty yum.

Then there was the party girls outfit.  Astrid had a lovely dress made by a friend who runs Little Bapple handmade children’s clothes. She wore this dress to my brother’s wedding and it was a perfect excuse to get it out again.  Of course every three year old thinks they are the bees knees in a petticoat and gorgeous dress!  She kept that dress on all day, and even walked the alpacas in it in the afternoon………

Astrid was also excited that her hair is now long enough for pigtails and ribbons! She has declared she now has Rapunzel hair! We thought she looked pretty cute, and oh so grown up……

As that is more than enough photos for one post, all the party celebrations and excitement in part 2!