Tea parties are pretty much a rite of passage for most little girls. I know my girls love to have pretend tea parties with their dolls and stuffed friends. They have had several tea party sets over the years, and each one has been well loved (read: used and abused.) I love the way tea parties inspire the imagination and creativity.
My friend Heather has a site called Garden Party Teas where she sells everything you need to host a fabulous tea party. She contacted me and asked if I’d like to receive a package to have a tea party with my girls. Well yes, as a matter of fact, I would love that! So she sent a big box full of hats and beads, a purse, a fan, a parasol, a tea (coffee) pot, a variety of demi spoons, and a cute little ‘party pal’ sandwich cutter — perfect for making petit fours from a regular size sheet cake.
We eagerly dove into the box when it arrived, and my four-year-old has been playing with the hats and beads and parasol for weeks. Finally we decided to actually have a tea party. She had a friend over, and we broke out all the goods. I put orange juice in the “tea” pot and pulled out some of my fine china for them to use. They put on the hats and sipped juice out of china cups and ate cheese sticks and apple slices and pretended to drink tea. They had a blast. Here’s my daughter, hamming it up.
And here they are enjoying their “tea.”
Garden Party Teas is full of tea party supplies for all ages. One of the products I want to call your attention to is this Tea Set by Green Toys.
I’m familiar with this brand, so I immediately zeroed in on it when I visited the site. It is actually made from recycled milk jugs and contains no phthalates, BPA, or lead. It is manufactured and assembled in the USA, and even the packaging is made from recycled materials and is recyclable itself. It makes a great gift.
But in addition to that, there are supplies for REAL tea parties like this traditional Blue Willow teapot and even teaware by Vera Bradley, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Take a look around and see what you find. The prices are quite reasonable.
And because I shouldn’t get to have all the fun, Heather has generously offered 3 giveaway packages to Musings readers. You may enter to win one of the following:
Giveaway #1: A container of Elmwood Inn Early Grey teabags, a teabag squeezer, 2 tea caddies, and a set of 12 teddy bear demi spoons — perfect favors for luncheons and showers.
Giveaway #2: A a container of Elmwood Inn loose leaf Indian Chai tea, a tea tip strainer, a symphony stainless steel demi spoon, and a tea cup in the Sophie pattern.
Giveaway #3: A Blue Willow teapot with infuser for loose leaf tea, cobalt creamer & sugar set, and a traditional pattern sugar ladle. (How CUTE is that!?)
To be eligible to win one of the three giveaway packages, visit Garden Party Teas, poke around, and then come back and leave a comment on this post telling me one of your favorite products. I will randomly select 3 winners next Friday, May 7.
In addition, all Musings readers are eligible for a 10% discount off of all orders from Garden Party Teas, including sale items, with the code musings-10.
Disclosure: I was given a box of products from Garden Party Teas, as listed above, to facilitate this review.
I collect teapots so this made me so happy.
I would love that white songbird teapot, ohhh and those cute vintage gloves for the girls…
There were so many pretty things on the site, but I think my favorite is Cake Plate and Server, Porcelain in a Blue Floral Pattern. It’s just beautiful.
The green toys teas set has been on my wish list for my daughter for a while now. I love the party pal to make little sandwiches as well. Perhaps when she is a little older I will get her the Child’s Tea Set With Tray in the Eloise Pattern. It looks a little fragile for her now!
I LOVE the Vera Bradley stuff, but I am nuts over pretty much anything VB.
I’m an avid tea drinker and collect a few (ahem) teapots. So a number of years ago when my youngest (now 10) was about 4 or 5, she wanted a tea set for her birthday. Cost prevented me from spending a wad, and I didn’t want to buy the tiny WalMart versions that you can’t REALLY have a party with. I want to train my girls to understand REAL tea drinking!
So, I went down to the local indoor flea market, where there are various stalls. I bought a pot, creamer, sugar bowl, and about 4 cups/saucers, each very inexpensive. And it was a beautiful set, with fun, creative parts, mix and match. We’ve enjoyed it ever since.
Anyway — lots of fun and tea delight to you and your girls!
(And as I sit here typing, I’m drinking my first concoction of water & apple cider vinegar. Actually, it’s not too bad, and I can tell immediately that what’s in that glass is happiness to my acidic pipes. Just sayin’)
I went over to her site and under the “Necessities for Children” area I saw a section titled “Accidents Will Happen” with this excerpt: “The child is sternly chastised, and genuinely embarrassed. The self righteous adult has unknowingly made himself/herself the fool in the situation. Just how important is a cup of spilled tea in the scope of this child’s life? It is extremely important if the opportunity is used to embarrass and humiliate the child. Don’t do it. There are terrorists in this world, a cup of spilled tea is nothing.”
I think I love her.
My daughter loves to play tea party. She will set her little brother up with a cup and saucer and pour him “tea” (water) for as long as he will drink it.
Love, love, love the VB teapot!!!!!!!
I loved the handpainted two gallon glass canister! And giveaway #3!
I love the cornflower blue English style teapot! It would be perfect in my soon-to-be redone kitchen!
I love the “Necessities” tea set for kids- so cute. I like the painted glassware for me
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I am in love with any and all tea pots and love the site! My 2 little girls would love the tiny sets, too.
Well I love tea parties and even more I love good manners. I totally want this book that they have on their site (especially now that a little princess is on her way) — Children’s Tea and Etiquette: Brewing Good Manners in Young Minds
What a cool website! My favorite thing is the white bird teapot. I have often entertained the idea of collecting teapots, but that could sure take up lots of room if you had a big collection! We have a family full of daugthers, so we are no strangers to tea parties. JoLynne- I’m new to your blog, but I really like it and will return.
Oh I was in tea party heaven. I adored the blue bird salt and pepper shakers! Too cute.
The “Elegant Silver Plated Tea Strainer” is lovely! I have to admit the website isn’t great quality, so if it weren’t for your review, I’m not sure I would trust the owner enough to make a purchase. The products are adorable though, and like you said, reasonably priced. Unfortunately, the shipping is not so reasonably priced…
Love the pics of your daughter!
I can’t wait to have tea parties with my twins! My nieces love to have tea parties, and I remember how much I loved pretending when I was little…this post brought back memories, thank you!!
I ADORE the Iced Tea Set Adorned with Yellow and Pink Roses…I may just have to purchase it!
I’m adding this website to my favorites! What beautiful and reasonably priced products they have. One of my favorites was the set of 4 Blue Willow teacups though I also like the Sophie pattern a lot. I know where I’d like my next gift to come from. Thanks for sharing!
The Blue Willow teapot with infuser–it matches my dishes, and also my mothers dishes!!! LOVE Blue Willow!!!
I love the cobalt teapot with infuser! Or any of the teapots with infusers. I drink loose leaf tea all the time, but it’s such a hassle to deal with and I have a bad habit of not cleaning separate tea strainers right away.
OMGosh! That site is just the sweetest!! My 3 daughters LOVE having tea parties with me
We are missing though, a pretty tea pot, sugar & creamer container! I would LOVE to win the 3rd prize, oh my word they would just be so tickled 
Thanks to Heather and you for the giveaway!
I would love anything for my granddaughter. She loves to have tea parties. To be truthful, her other Grandma would have the real tea and I would have lemonade or something else in mine!
Thanks for having the giveaway. You are always so generous.
pscole3467 at gmail dot com
I liked the cornflower blue teapot, and the toddler party hats. My daughter would love those!
My 6 yr. old daughter would love so many things from this website! I love the Child’s tea set in the Eloise pattern.
A serendipitous exploration on Google led me here… what perfect timing! I have been searching high and low for tea accessories for days now. I was *so* close to buying a complete tea set on Amazon out of frustration because I couldn’t find anything else that I liked. How long will the 10% discount be in effect?
I browsed through all the sections of Garden Party Teas. There are so many things that I wouldn’t mind splurging on
But the one thing that appealed to me the most was — a book! “A Year of Teas at the Elmwood Inn, Afternoon Tea Menus and Recipes.” As an avid tea lover, I’ve been wanting to try brewing my own tea, and I would love to try new recipes to feed my friends when they come over 
Couldn’t you have posted this about 3 weeks ago? I just had my baby shower last weekend & it was a cupcakes & tea theme…this site would’ve been FABULOUS to help plan!! I’m big into finding cups & saucers with interesting patterns but I love that she has tea strainers…& that bamboo one is really neat! I haven’t been able to find a tea strainer locally & I would love to try loose leaf tea so that will be a big help!
I love the cobalt blue teapot.
Love, love, love the Cake Plate Set in Porcelain in the Petit Rose Pattern.
i love the bluebird salt and pepper shakers. Such an unnecessary thing and I love that!! I have several teapots in my collection….there is just something about them that appeals to the little girl in me. thanks for another chance, one of these days i am actually going to win one of these things!
That site is dangerous for a mom of boys–think I could get them to have a tea party with me?
I do love the Vera Bradly pot and cups and the assortment of nice teas–especially the orange and spice combination.
I really like the children’s tea party set.
I love tea drinking. My dad spent part of his childhood in England and passed on the love of tea to his kids (although I am a bit of a tea snob!). I miss being near a tea room that serves a true tea.
I really like some of the books that she has listed: The Tea Table, A Year of Teas, A Tea For All Seasons, and Children’s Tea and Etiquette.
There are so many things that I would like to have it is hard to choose one item!
I think my favorite thing has to be the little bluebird salt and pepper shakers…how cute are they! Love them. I enjoy browsing Heather’s site and reading her blog, just good people.
I love the wide-brimmed party tea hat for girls in pink.
Ooh, Andy’s restaurants use Elmwood Teas. We have a huge bag in our pantry. Their blueberry is to. die. for.
How sweet! I bet my girls would love this! Especially since we just had our annual “May Tea” at church!
I’d love to have a teapot, we don’t have one. *gasp* I really like the Caffe Latte Collection by Vera Bradley…so pretty!
Thanks!