Ladie's Valentines Tea

I recently hosted a Valentine's Tea in my home with some of my girlfriends.  We had a fun afternoon of yummy eats, good conversation, and a little crafting...

I pulled out my mismatched dishes and china...collected on clearance and found at thrift stores.  Some match but I like separating them so they are layered in different designs and colors.  Plus it is always fun to see certain girls be very purposeful about picking a table setting they love.  Ladies after my own heart!

I decorated with things I had around the house and all my Valentine's decorations are from past years.  I am proud to say this is the first holiday that I have not bought one single new item this year!  It must be due to my all of my decluttering.  But I feel really good about loving and using what I have and making it work in new and different ways.

The table was covered with layers of tablecloths and doilies...adorned by candles, flowers, and individual cupcake stands...one for each girl!

As you can see, I was pretty smitten by my cupcakes!  Nothing special but 100% cute!  I used a yellow box cake with some chocolate chips inside and tinted pink vanilla frosting.  When I am going all out with the decor, I choose to keep the baking basic but pretty. 

Vintage valentines were picked up at an antique shop a couple years back...and I love conversation hearts!  I held out on buying them until right before the party because I knew the hubster and I would eat them all up!

Here's me...getting ready...this is probably my favorite event of the year...something about just girls and lots of pink and red...

I always feel so Sandra Lee...you know how her outfits always match her themed meal...makes some gag but I love it!

When all the girls arrived we enjoyed our lunch and tea...

And then we got to our little craft project...we made super cute t-shirt scarves...

Even the sweet baby joined in on the festivities...

What can I say?  I am a sucker for staging babies...

All the girls got to work, looking adorable in their v-day outfits!  Many joked that they have learned whenever they come over to my house now they are always "camera ready" !!!

Some even found a place to work on the floor {we were all very focused}...

Can you spy the sweet baby?!!!  Love her!  She slept the whole time...fooling all us non-mommies that newborns are perfect!

Some close ups of the braiding process {which I did not go into very much detail about in my tutorial...but it has been since updated with more photos and explanation!}

Sometimes it is easiest to just use your feet!

They all turned out so cute!  I always love seeing the different colors and designs the girls pick...each has their own sense of style...

A wonderful day, blessed by lovely sweet girlfriends.  We took a group shot with our necklaces, but of course I was too buy fusing with the camera to remember to put mine on! 

I am always reminded, that though it takes work, when I take the time and energy to organize these little get togethers, I think I am the one who gets to walk away the most blessed.  It takes time to find girls to trust and who get you...so when you find them...invite them over, feed them food, and let them know you care.

Thanks girls for being a part of my life and letting me get all Martha Stewart on you!  It feeds my creative and relational spirit! xoxo

T-shirt necklace tutorial can be found here.
Check out last year's Valentine's Tea here.
Dew Dropz earring giveaway still going on here.