But you can’t have a party without games! The first game was Jane Austen trivia and the second game was a tea tray memory game. For the third game I decided to go with “Guess How Many Sugar Cubes”. For the last game I wanted to do “best dressed”, but my sister refused to help me by judging the winner. So instead we did “What’s In Your Purse?” I had wanted to do a Tea version a friend did a few years ago at a party, but I couldn’t find a copy of it and neither could she. I found this one online instead.
This game is always fun, and of course it just depends on whether the guests brought their big purse or a little one.
I know I’m sure you all wondering what else could I possibly share but I’m not done! I still have my music choices, my hair, my regency dress, and what kind of party favors I gave out to to share. Stay tuned!
But you can’t have a party without games! The first game was Jane Austen trivia and the second game was a tea tray memory game. I went back to my earlier ideas of creating a Jane Austen Guess Who Game, but decided against it as it seemed too hard for my group of friends that were attending. Unfortunately all my friends who actually Jane Austen fans were unable to attend. So I thought for a while and decided to go with an old wedding shower/baby shower favorite: Guess How Many Sugar Cubes.
So with this game you usually have a jar, or other clear/see-through containers with a lid and fill it with some type of candy, or objects, and have people guess how many are in the container. As this was a tea related party, I used my glass teapot (and I covered the openings with tape to make sure no bugs came in). I fit 125 sugar cubes in my teapot.
People had a lot of fun with this, and my Tia actually guessed the exact number of how many sugar cubes were in the teapot. She chose prize one.
I know I’m sure you all wondering what else could I possibly share but I’m not done! I still have one more game, my music choices, my hair, my regency dress, and what kind of favors I gave out to to share. Stay tuned!
But you can’t have a party without games! In my last post, I shared about the first game, Jane Austen trivia. For the second game I was looking online and I spotted a post by Plum Deluxe about ideas for Tea Party games. One of which was to have a tea tray memory game.
I have played versions of this game in the past at many bridal or baby showers, and a few years ago I did this exact game for a friend’s Spring Tea Party Bridal Shower. This is so easy to do, all you have to do is collect tea themed (or in my case Jane Austen and Tea themed objects). I used the following items:
“I ❤️ Mr. Darcy“ Clutch Bag (I won in a giveaway by Ellery Adams)
I wish I had taken a better picture, but I wanted to snap one quick before we played the game.
Oh well…
We had a lot of fun playing this game and people thought it was easier than the trivia game. My friend won this one by getting 17/23, and they chose prize two.
So as I have been saying in every post, I have been planning my Jane Austen 29th birthday party for a few years (it was originally supposed to be my 27th birthday celebration but things happened); and I was finally able to have it.
So in my previous posts I went over the invitations, the prizes, the decorations, making a teapot piñata, the menu, etc. The next step in my party planning was activities. I ended up choosing to have the activities of paper fan making and croquet for those who didn’t want to play the games; or for the little girls to do while the adults played the games.
Party time!
So originally I had planned for three games, but I ended up doing four. The first game I had wanted to play a type of guess who game where I gave an Austen character to each party guest. I planned for each to have a short bio of their character along with a list of characters everyone else was going to be. I planned for each to act out their character, the first person to get someone to guess them right would receive a prize. I thought it would be a lot of fun, but then my sister and mother pointed out that the people attending were not really Austen fans.
Yes it turned out that all my friends who had actually read or watched Austen’s works were unable to come and the friends that were attending had very limited exposure to Jane Austen. So it was back to the drawing board .
Hmm…?
My next thought was that I would do a game that was more of “Who Am I?” I would give everyone a list of characters and then I would read out a short bio of each character and they would have to match up who goes with which storyline. I thought this would be easier and I could do it either before or after the trivia game, that way it would help people get a boost in answering one of the games.
But when I presented it to my mom and sister, they both still thought it would be too hard. So it was back again to try and come up with a new idea.
Hmm…
I decided to shelve it altogether and instead work on the Jane Austen Trivia game I had planned. I sat down and wrote it up, but then when I looked it back over, I realized it was too hard. I ended up throwing it out and starting all over again.
So I rewrote it, and then this time it was far too easy. I thought if I used it then everyone would be a winner. That one joined the other in the trash.
Ugh, so hard.
I did a few more drafts and then finally settled on one that I thought wasn’t too hard, but also not too easy.
However, it still appears that I made it too hard as everyone said it was really difficult.
From Clueless
My friend who won got 9/15 questions correct and chose prize three. I will attach the Trivia file below and let me know what you think. Was it too hard? Too easy? Or do you think just right?
At the end of the post I’ll put the answers. Let me know what your score is.
I’ve been having so much fun sharing all these things with you, and even though the party has ended I will be continuing to share all my other party plans!
So as you know if you have been following my page, I just celebrated my 29th birthday with a Jane Austen Garden Tea Party.
Party time!
Some of you might be wondering why I am so extensively going through all the party planning and it was because I had been planning to have this two years ago, in my last year of being a Jane Austen heroine (Anne Elliot) but life got in the way so I decided to wait and now I’ve finally been able to have it.
So far we have gone over invitations, decorations, prizes, and how to make your own piñata, etc. Now I ended up having four games, but I know not everyone is interested in being a part of games-and I had four little girls who needed something to occupy themselves with. So I started thinking what else could I offer my party guests?
So the first thing I had planned was paper fan making. I thought the young girls would have a lot of fun making those, plus if the adults got overheated they could make one too.
But that would only occupy them for a short while. So I started thinking of something else to have…
Hmm…?
So one thing I really, really wanted to have at my party was croquet. I love croquet, but I wanted it not only because I like the game but because I wanted to be like Austenland.
Ah, if only I had JJ Feild: Mr. Tilney or Mr. Nobley. I’d settle for any of them.
I’m all about him!
So I started looking and I couldn’t find any croquet sets that weren’t costing an arm and a leg. I searched everywhere, every site I could think of and just gave up. I thought I would just have to find something else to do.
Sigh
But then in April, about two weeks before my party was planned, I went antiquing with some friends. I found some teacups, mugs, and other things in this amazing multilevel store. As I went to go outside to the shed, I spotted something sad, forlorn, dirty, and ignored.
I’m not sure how old it is, but it is certainly vintage. I got the set (minus the arches) for $30
This set needed a lot of work, someone had not been kind and left them out in the elements: they were dirty, full of cobwebs, the paint was peeling, etc. And of course after I purchased this set every site then had full new croquet sets for sale.
Oh well…
So I set to work taking care of it. I had to clean everything, then sanitize it, paint it, and in the end varnish it. I had a lot of help, which was good, as this was tiring.
From The Iron Giant
And I think it came out pretty great.
The official rules of croquet were published in the mid 1800s, but people had been playing long before that.
For those who don’t know, the game of croquet is a race of hitting balls on the lawn. Similar to golf, one must hit their ball but through an arch or hoop to score points, then tap the pole at the end to win.
The role of play is on the wickets and the peg, you must play in the order of the colors.
The first player gets one strike and whacks their ball in an effort to get it through the hoop.
Each player gets one shot and they are played in turn (unless extra shots get earned).
‘Running a hoop‘ (passing through the correct hoop) gains one extra shot. Hitting one of the other three balls (a roquet) gets you two extra shots as well.
You can hit another ball (make a roquet) and earn two extra shots. In this case the first of those (the croquet stroke) must get played by placing it in contact with the roquet ball. To do that, you move your ball and place it anywhere in contact with the ball that got hit. The roqueted ball must move or shake with the next strike.
Balls can get struck off the lawn. How I’ve always played is like golf, you hit where it lands. But official UK rules say that if a ball is knocked out of bounds, you may move it one meter inside the lawn.
Players must hit each ball clean and without moving any other balls, hoops, or pegs. The best croquet strategy is to strike the balls with the face of the mallet to make a clean shot. (Or as seen in the Austenland video, hold you ball with your foot, and smack it into another to move them out of the way.)
The ball gets removed from play once it hits the peg at the end of the course.
You score one point for getting the ball through each hoop. You get an extra point for hitting the peg. First person or team to do so, wins!
We played with it, the young girls did as well, and we all had a great time.
I’ve been having so much fun sharing all these things with you, and even though the party has ended I will be continuing to share all my other party plans!
janeaustenrunsmylife 