Hen's High Tea

I have been busy this week having a ton of fun preparing for my little sister's hen's party - a gorgeous kitchen tea, complete with cupcakes and heart-shaped strawberry sandwiches, vintage cups and saucers, and 12 lovely ladies! The Bride gets married on the 20th of this month, and as many of her friends are pregnant or have little ones, we decided on a sophisticated afternoon tea to celebrate rather than the "more typical" hen's night (I didn't say "traditional" as the kitchen tea is actually the traditional celebration for a bride-to-be - Wedding Trivia Fact #27). And as the Bride's Maid (Ha! That's funny!) is still in Australia, I decided to coordinate the event for her, from invites to dishes, and including sending the Bride off to Sugar Plum for her very first facial (she hasn't lived!), while I busied myself in her beautiful little cottage making sandwiches and tarts, and icing the single most adorable cupcakes on the planet [Sorry, photos to follow - can you believe I forgot to take my camera??!!].

To keep the afternoon humming along, I decided to put together a few games and little gifts for the ladies and when I couldn't find a suitable way to contain said items, I went right ahead and made these:

Super quick to make, but exactly the right size and perfectly pretty stacked together on a vintage tray. I printed each of the guests name's onto my new fabric paper (which is my new favourite toy - I even made my own labels on my printer!) and attached to the front - a cute way to acknowledge each guest, but also perfect "nametags". Needless to say, we now have one very happy Bride (remember, children, facial + cupcakes = happy), who thanked your's truly with the prettiest mint green ironing board cover from here . Not that I needed to be thanked...this little event was so much fun to plan!

Next stop - my little sister's wedding! Can't wait - she will be the most beautiful bride EVER. One small hitch? I have started crying at any mention of her wedding. Already. And I have to do a reading. BUT I'm wearing Trelise Cooper - TRELISE COOPER!!! - so all is well.

And in the spirit of "what goes around, comes around" (and the pathetic number of comments on my blog which are more important to me than I care to admit), I am giving away a cute bag (similar to the one pictured below) to someone who leaves a comment on this post. I don't mind if you already have one of my bags - after all, you can never have too many bags - and I will post international. The prize will be randomly drawn on Friday the 13th of October (perfect!) and cannot be exchanged for cash (because I have none). The judges decision is final and blah, blah, blah.


Go on, comment - I dare you.