Birthday girl

Come January our family is still celebrating.  It's time for birthday bashes, and this year Sarah wanted a Garden/Musical birthday tea party.  We culled ideas from Emilie Barnes' Let's Have a Tea Party.  This book gives tea party themes and suggestions for invitations, decorations, activities, and recipes.  OBT's mom supplied the birthday cake(s):  a big piece of homemade Red Velvet that was OBT's father's birthday cake from their church (his birthday is in January too) and a cake from the Balboa Dessert Company.  I like the fact that "Sweetness is used sparingly so the natural flavors are what you taste." according to their website.  Yum!

 The placemats were musical and purple, Sarah's favorite color.  Each one had a number on the back and shaped notes on the front.  Everyone present sang their notes in order and then guessed what the song might be.   "The Doxology", one of Sarah's favorite songs, was the right answer.

 

We ate flute cookies - pirouettes with black icing for keyholes,

piano key sandwiches - white bread with cream cheese and pineapple, pumpernickel with apple butter, thinly sliced apples and chopped walnuts,

 

sunny sandwiches - bread cut into circles with apricot preserves inside and raisin faces plus baby carrots for the rays of the sun,

snowballs - peppermint and vanilla ice cream balls rolled in coconut,

and drank raspberry tea.

Happy, Happy Birthday, birthday girl!

And happy birthday in January to me too!