Sunday Afternoon Tea Party

Welcome to my Sunday afternoon tea party!  Sweet Little Miss Crafty (Juliet)  is hosting a 3 day tea party over on her Altered Art Appreciation Society blog.  She made the most adorable invitation so really, how could I refuse? 
My tea party this afternoon is somewhat of a hybrid--real cupcakes and paper mache tea set.  As soon as I read Juliet's invitation I started thinking about making something out of paper mache.  I picked up 2 tea cups and 2 saucers at the 50% thrift store sale and used them as bases.  I had some help early in the week from Ebby and her friend.  They each covered a saucer with Vaseline (for easy release) and then glue & water soaked newspaper.  I was in charge of the cups and the teapot.  The teapot started as a pink balloon.  We didn't do too many layers of newspaper, as evidenced by the wonky, warped nature of the tea set.  I must say though--I like it.  Especially the way the tea pot lid is all curled up on itself.
Decorating the paper mache was, of course, the best part.  Followed closely by decorating the cupcakes (sure, the mix and frosting are store bought but I didn't watch Martha's Cupcake Week for nothing!).  First I gessoed all the pieces, then painted with regular acrylic craft paint.  I freehanded the swirl design on the teapot and saucer.  The dots on the tea cups are punched out of cardstock.  I also went dot crazy with my black Stickles for a touch of sparkle.  Speaking of sparkle, I love how the pipe cleaner handles turned out!  Silver was the only color of pipe cleaner I had in the house and my refusal to go to Michael's when I have an entire room full of craft supplies, dictated that I use them.    My little surprise is the pair of wee birds peeking out from the bottom of the teacups (also had them on hand).  The final touch was cutting out the letters and placing the words on each object.  I love those letters, they're from a  1940s children's magazine.
So here we are, my tea set and me holding down the fort in my studio.  I'm just waiting for some lovely little girls to come by to drink some tea and nibble on pink sugared cupcakes...