For the Love of Character: 3rd Annual Nutcracker Tea Party

Sunday, December 2, 2018

3rd Annual Nutcracker Tea Party

For the past few years we have held an annual tea party with the Nutcracker dancers from Ballet Wichita. We were excited to welcome them back again this year! Around twenty littles got together for a morning of treats, dancing and fun. Their faces light up as they walk in to mingle with the dancers that arrive, and we have loved keeping this tradition alive. Special thanks to my talented friend Jill for capturing the event.

The nutcracker supplies that we got in this season have beautiful tones of pinks and blues, so we ran with those colors for the look. We picked a couple fun holographic and oil slick plates to add some dimension to the table, and mixed them with a pretty blush pink. Each guest received a Nutcracker hat or Sugar Plum fairy tiara to wear. Those are a fun way to add a pop of color to the table. I worked with a shop favorite, Avery & Grey, again this year for the party favors - glitter snap clips (when we have had boys attend in the past, we usually do a mini nutcracker for their favor in case you need an idea!). We always like to have fun with our backdrop for this event, and this year was no exception. In perfect timing, Creative Heart Studio posted a nutcracker balloon mosaic template on her website last week. We had never attempted one of her fun designs, but thought this would be the perfect one to start with. It was a lot of work, but thanks to shop girl, Emily, we had it created just in time for the party to start! The pink nutcracker was a hit and kids loved how whimsical he looked.

Food wise, I kept it rather simple and tried to stick with a morning tea theme. I happily hired my talented sweet go to girls: cookies by Sweet Sugarlicious and cupcakes by September Moon Cupcakery. They did not disappoint - all the littles were excited with their pretty desserts. I picked up some mini cinnamon rolls, muffins and scones, as well as some fruit. The fruit I laid out to look like Christmas wreaths for a fun touch.

The dancers from Ballet Wichita always do such a wonderful job! This year, they sent the Sugar Plum Fairy, Clara in her nightgown, a rat and the Nutcracker. The danced with the children, smiled for pictures, and performed the Sugar Plum dance. The kids were in awe and loved dancing along (if they weren't being shy). I always love seeing the littles that are excited to show off the dance moves they know. We cannot thank them enough for coming and performing for our tea party! I highly recommend snagging some tickets for this year's Nutcracker. They have a new artistic director and he is putting together a beautiful, traditional Nutcracker with a touch of magic!