Host a Beauty-Inspired Tea Party

Is there anything more fun than having your girlfriends over for a tea party? Afternoon tea has fast become the new sleepover, and it's oh so ladylike to get dressed up and have cake and cookies in the afternoon. Make your tea party even more girly by giving it a beauty twist.

• Start with the invitations. Draw and write invitations by hand, illustrating them with a cute picture of a lipstick or compact. Be sure to write that it's a beauty-themed party, and ask guests to wear a bright lipstick or eye shadow.

• Dress up your table. Put a tablecloth, a vase of pretty flowers, and lots of interesting mismatched china on the table to create a vintage feel.

• Make interesting place settings. Let your guests know where to sit by making beauty-themed place cards. For example, glue cutouts of lipsticks to cards with guests' names written on them. If your budget allows, attach the cards to actual products.

• Involve the food. Bake cupcakes and top them with different shades of pastel icing, like blue, green, and pink. Embellish them with sugary cutouts of beauty products. You can buy icing sheets from any grocery store in the baking section.

• Swap stories. Go around the table and have each guest dish on all the new beauty products they've recently brought and why they love them. You'll all gain some very interesting tips!

• Make swag bags. Remember when you were a kid and every party ended with a goody bag of lollypops and little toys? Make your own grown-up version by decorating plain paper bags with ribbons and filling them with samples from beauty counters. The freebies make wonderful take-home treats.

Image courtesy of pinterest