Red Carpet Annie Tea Party

My daughter, Christina loves the movie "Annie"--the original version and the new version! So, it only made sense to make Annie her 6th birthday party theme! The picture above the cake made a perfect back drop, with Christina dressed as the original “Annie” and my brother’s dog, Levi who was perfect for the role of “Sandy.” She loves roses so I added them throughout the table. I painted tea pots and tea cups and glass bottles that I already owned with metallic spray paint and sprinkled them with silver glitter. Sweet Hunny Bee By Rijya from Etsy created the cute cupcake toppers of red princess tiaras and black bow ties.

Children were asked to be red carpet ready for the party. Everyone was greeted with a Shirley temple garnished with several red cherries and Sprite in a champagne flute.

In the movie, Annie was adopted and she loved her dog Sandy. So I created a Puppy Adoption Center! It consisted of cute plush puppies which I purchased from Oriental Trading. I added treats of “Pupcorn,” “Pupcakes,” “Puppermints,” “Tootsie Pups,” and “Pawtato Chips” for a festive touch. I labeled a puppy for each child and they got their puppies and created a name for them on an adoption certificate.

A ton of friends attend Christina’s parties each year so it’s important that I have a bunch of activities for them. We had a Red Carpet VIP photo area and a lot of photo props for pictures which were taken by Elisha with Kustom Kreations. I hosted a make-up station in the Star Treatment Room, which I personally did for the girls. We had caricatures created by Ashley with Ashtoons Caricatures. The children had coloring pages and they were given the chance to create their own photo prop as a craft.

Next, the BIG performance! My daughter and a few of her friends practiced for months with an incredible Choreographer, Carnissa Kilgore. She created a wonderful production of the “Hard Knock Life” which was a complete success! Followed by the song, “Opportunity” which was performed by Kela Williams and Christina. Next, the song “Tomorrow” was sang by Christina and finally a duet performance of “Together at Last” was sang by both me and my daughter.” At the conclusion of the performance, we had a balloon drop of dozens of red balloons.

After the performance, the children had fun swinging at two piñatas shaped like cinema reels! We then sang “Happy Birthday” to the birthday girl and served cake and treats to the guests. The party concluded with a fun and energetic dance contest and face painting with entertainer Sherry with Clowning 4 U. The kids had a blast and so did I! My favorite part was watching my daughter perform as “Annie.” I was so teary eyed, it was truly a special celebration.

• What People Ate

  The food consisted of finger foods such as cucumber sandwiches, croissants filled with ham or turkey, ham salad and chicken salad sandwiches, and pepperoni pinwheels which were passed throughout the party by “Annie’s” wonderful “Maids.” A concession of popcorn, fruit, veggies, sandwiches, meat, cheese, and crackers were nibbled on during the event.

• What People Drank

  My daughter and I drink a cup of hot tea every night as our quality time together. For the tea party concept, I created a tea station of assorted tea flavors. I also included hot chocolate as an alternative option for guests.

• Desserts

  The dessert table consisted of a fabulous Red Carpet cake created by Certified Event Planner, Monica with Trendy Fun Party. Tea party treats such as blueberry scones, cranberry scones, lemon cookies, petit fours, chocolate covered strawberries, cupcakes, and mini pastries were from our local grocery store Publix.

• Party Favors

  The scavenger hunt items served as their favor bag. In addition, girls were given red sequin tiaras with matching purses and boys were given sequin bow ties to wear at the party.

• Activities / Games

  When entering the party, each child was given a scavenger hunt sheet listing 6 items to celebrate my daughter’s 6th birthday. The items they had to find were a silver star with their name on it, a coloring page, a photo prop, a ‘puppermint,’ a tootsie ‘pup,’ and a puppy with an adoption certificate. After they found the items, they were given a prize of either sunglasses or a string of costume pearls.

• Elisha Akram

  Photographer