11 Sep An English Garden Party, Goodwill Style

Last month I planned an afternoon tea party for my mother’s birthday and wanted to create a look that was simple, elegant, beautiful — and within my budget! Naturally, Goodwill was my go-to place to buy the tableware and decorations to achieve a picture-perfect garden party.

I purchased all my tablecloths to cover the various outdoor tables from Goodwill, which at once created an inviting place to sit. I looked for similar pastel colors with flower accents. Next I purchased vases for next-to-nothing for the flower centerpieces and filled them with bunches of mixed flowers from the grocery store that I split among the vases.

To create a party atmosphere, I bought mason jars from Goodwill, filled them with votive candles and hung them on tree branches near the tables with store-bought paper lanterns.

For the food table, I found a brand new picnic basket at Goodwill that I used to hold the plates and napkins. Two mini cake stands, also from Goodwill, showcased the mini-cupcakes, one for the coconut and one for the lemon. All the sandwiches and biscuits were presented on glass plates. I found 10 of them at Goodwill for around $4. Best of all, I found plenty of china tea cups for less than 50¢ a piece.

With the addition of beautiful weather and wonderful company, the garden party was a great success. And I saved a ton of money by shopping at Goodwill!