DEBBIE-DABBLE BLOG: HARVEST TEA, Part 1, 2014

On October 8, I was a Hostess for our Church's Annual Harvest Tea.

First I want to Thank Claire Justine over at ClaireJustine for featuring my post,
How I Created an Elegant Fall Tree, from last week's Creative Monday Party!!

Thanks so much, Claire!!

I also want to Thank Mary over at Back to the Basics for featuring my post,
Fall/Halloween Decor in the Living Room, Part 1, from last week's Tuesdays with a Twist Party!!

Thanks , Mary!!

I also want to give a big Thank You for Sherry over at The Journey Back, for featuring Debbie-Dabble on her Series Sleepover Saturday!!
Thanks so much, Sherry!!

Please take the time to stop by and visit these great parties and link up a post or two!!

Back to the Harvest Tea......

My Theme this year was White and Gold Christmas

Many people have asked me just how this concept works.

The Harvest tea is a Fund Raiser that is held to help provide a Scholarship Fund for several deserving Seniors in our Parish. These students go through a process of selection and if chosen, receive Scholarship Money toward advancing their Education whether it be College or Trade School.

As a Hostess, I am responsible for several things:

1. Decorating my Tables/Tables according to a Theme that I chose and it does not have to be an Autumn Theme

2. Inviting Guests to attend the Tea who pay a $10 Fee that goes to the Scholarship Fund

3. Providing the Food and Favors for my own Guests

4. Donating a Door Prize for a Raffle that is also held during the Tea.

The Church provides Coffee and Tea..........

A lot of planning goes into being a Hostess.......

First you pick a Theme which I do right after the each Harvest Tea so I have all year to get things together and plan.

There is a lot of Prep Work and Planning to do before the Tea.......

I bought these after Christmas last year for half price at Dollar Tree

They are actually Gold Glittered Christmas Trees but I decided to make them into Christmas Tussie Mussies for my favors.......

I made the floral arrangements to fit into the cone ......

See on the end of the ottoman how they look.....

About 5-6 years ago, 2 cases of these Victorian Christmas Angel Boxes came into our Church Flea Market and I bought them thinking that I would do something with them and they sat up the attic until now.......

I decided that I would fill them candy and also use them for a Favor.........

I always provide a bag for my guests to take their Favors home in.......

I want to add a nice little saying to the bags along with all of my Guest's Names.......

I ran these off from the computer.........

" Friends are the Family You Choose" would be perfect as my Guests were all friends....

Then I set up my "Table" on my DR table to see what it looks like, what I will use or not use and I take pictures to make it easier once everything is loaded into the Hall......

Here is what I was playing with......

I love the look of the Angel Boxes on the Clear Dishes and gold Charger Plates.......

I did change things around a bit for the Tea.....

This is what I decided to do for the center of the Table.....

I was going to have a total of 15 Guests, including Joe and I and yes, I had 3 men at my tables, at 2 round tables.

I decided to connect the tables with a 4 foot table that I use for my Craft Fairs.....

This is what I was going to display on that Table between the Guest Tables......

I took my pictures and printed them out after downloading them to the computer........

Now I packed up everything that needed to go up to the Hall.......

Here is what my LR and Hall looked like before Joe packed up the car........

And all of that, tuned into this!!!!

Now let me show you each individual Table.........

All day on Tuesday, the day before the Tea, the hostesses were able to go into the Hall and set up their tables so I took a picture and then printed it out and created this..........

Here is what everything looked like all set up........

Let's start with Table Number 1......

I had decided to wrap the flatware in the napkin which was trimmed in gold at the bottom and use a gold napkin ring........

In the center of the table is a gold vinyl Poinsettia Place Mat that was bought last Christmas on Clearance at Bed, Bath and Beyond......

One of my gold Churches sits in the center with 3 of my white and gold Angels that are in my LR Hutch all the time , surrounding it.

And 3 clear votive cups.......

I also placed gold glittery snowflakes around the table....

The gold goblets were used for water and the clear cups for coffee or tea and both were plastic!!

The Gold Tussie Mussies were placed by each table setting.......

I added a ribbon at the top so it could be hung and a ribbon bow at the bottom.......

And here are the bags all done up and placed on each seat for my guests to take their favors home in.....

Table Number 2.....

Pretty much the same as the other table........

Love how the Angel Boxes looked on the gold charger plates and clear dish......

The Angel Boxes were filled with candy.....

Again, a gold Church in the center, surrounded with white and gold angels.....

The 2 tables were connected with a 4 foot table that I used as a Display table.......

The Buffet Table is in the back but we will come back to that.....

This is basically what my Dining Room Buffet is going to look like for Christmas this year!!

The Ice Houses were gifted to me last year.......

I bought the Gold Tree with battery operated LED lights on it Clearance at J.C. Penney's last year.....

The Star is from Dollar Tree.....

The white snowflakes were another After Christmas Buy!!

The white and gold Sets were bought at Sam's Club many years ago and I use them in my home every year!!

I did wind a set of battery operated LED lights through the Buffalo Snow.....

And here it is lit up......

Everyone comfortably fit around the tables......

7 at each table.....

And now back to the Buffet Table......

It actually was not a Buffet Table because I served my guests but this is where all the Food for my Guests was going to be displayed.......

I used gold and white plastic tablecloths to cover the 8 foot table provided by the church......

And then placed the gold vinyl poinsettia Place Mats on the table.......

In the back of the table, I set up a little area that went along with my Theme of White and Gold Christmas.....

A Gold Angel, the White and Gold Christmas Tree from the Snow Man Set , small white Trees, gold glittered Candles, Churches and the Tussie Mussies used as trees like they were intended to be........

Another set of battery operated white LED lights lit up the back of the buffet table.......

I had ordered 2 trays of Hoagies along with a tray of Chicken Salad on Slider Buns but I intended to place these trays on top of the 3 crystal cake plates that I had on the table........

At this end of the table , I set up my beverages.......

You can see the dish in the back because that is where i sat when not serving my guests to grab a bite of something to eat.....

I thought the cake plates would look nicer then just plopping the trays on the table......

I also used this condiment server for 2 different types of cheeses and pepperoni cubes......

And this concludes Part 1 of my post on the Harvest Tea.......

Soon, I will share the other Hostess's Tables and the night of the Tea.......

The Tables were really stunning this year.....

It is a lot of work on the part of the Hostesses......

But also a lot of fun.....

Here is a Sneak Peak of some of the other Tables.....

Mad Hatter....

Frozen....

A Night in Paris...

Crystal Clear.....

I also still have to share my Dining Room and my Victorian Doll House all decorated for Halloween so I hope you will come back to visit.....

I apologize for not returning comments and visits faster than I am but I was so busy getting the House decorated, planning the Tea and now I am knee deep in plans for the Craft Fair and Specialty Basket Raffle that I Co -Chair for our Church.

This is my busy time of year........