By Suzanne Fox
Downton Abbey came to a close back in 2015, but we were inspired to give you some ideas on how you can create your own tea party influenced by the show. With inexpensive dollar store projects, quick and easy flower arrangements and semi-homemade recipes, you can put this together in a snap. When your friends ask who’s hosting the next party, you can confidently say, “I will!”
The three-tiered server is an essential item for serving your fare. Don’t worry if you don’t have a silver server handy. Three pedestal cake plates will work just fine. If you don’t
This “crystal like” cut glass bowl is actually a glass bowl from the dollar store with a candlestick glued to the bottom with E6000 glue. Make this and your servers a day ahead of time so they will be thoroughly dry when you are ready to use them.
have pedestal cake plates, all three can be easily made from items at the dollar store for a total of $6!
Glue a 4-inch glass candlestick to a glass plate with E6000 glue. Stack three of these to make a server for a tea. We like to use plates that are three different sizes, but you can use whatever sizes you wish.
Once you have your server assembled, you can begin arranging your fare. Always put savories and meats on the bottom tray, scones and breads on the middle tray and desserts on the top. Your guests will eat starting on the bottom tray, followed by scones and dessert.
The flower arrangements can be made days ahead of time because they are part silk. Donít be afraid to throw in silk flowers when you are making fresh flower arrangements. Harder-to-get flowers like peonies are easy to find at a hobby store, and they look real. In this flower arrangement, we used one silk peony, fresh roses, fresh poms and silk spray roses. This arrangement can be made in 10 minutes once you have your supplies handy.
Quick & Easy Flower Arrangement
- Use a cake decorating rotating base to make it easy to turn your arrangement. Put a piece of double stick foam on the bottom of the candlestick to mount to the cake base.
- Use wet foam that is higher than the bowl. We stacked two together and used a skewer to hold them together.
- Start with large flower in the top center. Place it at the height you want your arrangement to be. Take roses and peel off any brown or torn petals. Use fingers to push out the petals layer by layer, starting with the outside, until they are full and open like garden roses. Place roses in bunches of three around the upper middle. Turn tray to make sure they are even.
- Place poms and hydrangeas in between roses to fill in the holes. Alternate the two.
- Finish with spray roses around the base of the arrangement even with the top of the glass bowl. Fill in with greenery.
