The Best Tea Party Sets: Like the Boston Tea Party, only less important.
A very nice lady named Sara emailed me to ask, “I’m looking for a tea set to give my niece. I don’t even know where to find something which isn’t plastic and decorated with princesses.”
We all know how I feel about character themed items, so I felt compelled to save Sara. I found a few styles of tea sets which make no attempt to imply that Disney controls the world of tea.
My daughter is a pretty careful child, she’s never broken her toys or participated in that thing called ‘Rough Housing’. As a 3 year old she invited a friend who is a boy over for a tea party. He threw the ceramic teapot and three of the cups across the room in a fit of joy. My daughter sat, stunned and horrified. This little wooden set is unbreakable, which is important depending on the age and destructiveness of your child. It comes with a small cake, tea bags and even tiny sugar cubes. Sweet!
If you’re concerned about breakage, but don’t want to spend $45 on a tea set (which, by the way, will get you High Tea at the Waldorf) you could try this set from Schylling instead. This service for four is tin, which though possible to break, is kind of difficult. The green with pink plaid has a very 1940’s feel, which a child may not appreciate but I do.
Jack Rabbit Creations offers this nearly unbreakable enamelware option called The Poodle Party. The set comes with a service for three and a very cute teapot. Plus, everyone knows poodles like to party.
Maybe your child is more of a coffee drinker, there’s a set for that too. It’s plastic but it’s character free. It’s also durable for little people and comes in a handy bucket for storage. My daughter had a set like this and used it as a toy in her wading pool. Though you have to get over the fact that your child is drinking water they’re also sitting in, which is gross but sometimes when faced with gross or having a 2 year old entertained for an hour you’ll go with gross.
Alex toys has this porcelain option for the older or more careful child. I like this set because it’s classic but also because it comes in a cute wicker case. It also includes 4 polka dot napkins and a polka dot tablecloth, because everyone knows it’s gauche to serve tea without cloth napkins and a tablecloth.
The sets I’ve shared are pretty girl specific and tea parties are for everyone. This less girl-y set is the one my daughter had many years ago, the set which was thrown with jubilation. It comes with pieces in blue, green, orange and yellow and is a little larger than the other sets I’ve shared, this is ideal for the tea connoisseur.
The best tea set I’ve found is this porcelain one which is quite similar to Russel Wright’s pottery from the 1950’s. Sara, I’m not sure how much more modern (retro-modern) it gets. In fact I’d like the pitcher for my own kitchen which would be a great idea if I drank tea.
