We started by finding a website that offered teddy bear kits that could be shipped to the home, to serve as our party craft. We chose 4 different animals from the website and saved their pictures to 'paste' onto our party invitations. Our invitation was done on the computer, but could just as easily be made the 'old-fashioned way'. The invitation was simply an 8.5" x 11" piece of cardstock folded in half: page 1, was a picture of a little girl having a tea party with her dolls, with the caption "You are invited to a Teddy Bear Tea Party"; page 2, was the date, time, the request for dressy attire (to be sure that the girls would be wearing their dress shoes), the food they could expect (we served a light lunch because of the times we chose to accomodate our 1 year old's naptime), and directions with our phone number; page 3, gave the RSVP date with 2 boxes they could check off (No, I will not be able to attend & Yes, _____________ (name) will be able to join the Tea Party! I will be accompanied by ______________ (i.e., Mom, Dad, little sister...). Then we pasted the 4 pictures of the animals with the request to please circle their favorite friend. On the 4th and final page, we designed a postcard with our address, their return address and a stamp, so they could cut this back card off to simply mail their reply. This invitation should be mailed at the latest 5 weeks prior to the party with the RSVP date no later than 3 weeks prior to allow ample time for your shipment to arrive (depending on the company you choose).  In the meantime, I found little oversized, short-sleeved beach shirts and baggy dresses to serve as liners(you could find at the dollar store, yard sales or consignment stores for a few dollars), then I dug thru tons of leftover fabrics, ribbons & laces to make very simple NO-SEW tea dresses like this: get several old towels and roll them (I also secured mine with large rubber bands and/or tape.) to create a form that will fit inside and stretch the shirts/dresses, so the girls will be able to slip the finished dress easily over their heads and to provide a firm surface as you decorate them (I made 3 forms so I could work on 3 dresses at a time continuously.  As the hot glue dried on each dress I could start another section on another dress). Then I purchased tuille (very inexpensive option or a sheer organza for a lovely alternative) at the fabric store - for each dress I folded about 3 yards lengthwise by thirds (so the length from the waist to the bottom of the dress would be just below the knees). Then I folded that in half so that the final product would be about 4.5 feet x 18". With a wide-eyed needle, I threaded a 30" piece of yarn or strong thread (with an old bead or a button tied to the end). Very quickly 'weave' - down thru the holes, go an inch, and back up thru the holes, repeat - along the 4.5' length of the tuille about an inch from the edge. When you finish, you will have a poofy skirt to tie around the waistline of the shirt/dress liner. With the tuille skirt in place, I tied little knots thru the liner & the skirt in at least 6 points evenly around the waist to hold it firmly in place. Then you hot glue GENEROUSLY like you've never glued before! Simply cut fabric, ribbons and lace to cover your dresses.  I recommend beginning with the bodice by cutting 2 rectangles of fabric approximately 30" x 6" - iron a half-inch seam along the 30" sides, hot-gluing any trim or lace onto the sides (the outside edge looks like a pretty ruffled sleeve when trimmed with lace). Now, hot-glue your strips in a criss-crossed design from the front of the waist, ending over the shoulders and laying straight (somewhat vertically) down the back to the waistline. You can choose to cover the tuille/organza skirt with matching fabric and finish the dresses with 3" wide sashes (approx. 60" long) made from fabric or preferably ribbon, hot-gluing only along the front and sides... and leaving the back to be tied once the girls have been comfortably dressed. Another recommended option is to tack the ribbon on each side for extra stability. NOTE: We let the girls take these home with their bear friends as party favors, so be sure to tell the other mom's that these dresses are not sewn, so they don't get thrown into the washing machine! It may take some convincing because the dresses turn out so beautifully they won't believe you at first!! Something else we did to involve my mother-in-law, who loves to sew... We bought her a simple pattern for a teddy bear dress to fit our animals, then bagged matching fabrics & ribbons for each bear to have a matching tea dress! That was a HUGE hit with the girls... AND the Mom's!  When the girls arrived, we had them sit (on little wooden chairs we borrowed from our church) at the coffee table we had covered with a beautiful floral vinyl tablecloth (from the dollar store) in the center of our living room. After eating tea sandwiches and tea pretzels, they excitedly stuffed their new fluffy friends. The animals we chose came with 'birth certificates', were made with wonderful furs, had pre-stuffed heads & zipped up the back, with an option to 'lock' the zipper in place. (I also stuffed the legs and arms, leaving just the belly for the children to stuff, to keep any frustration-induced tantrams from affecting our lovely party guests.) Then off they went to the 'Dress Shop' set up in our daughter's play room... By removing our 3-section canvas laundry sorter bag from its chrome frame, this made a great dress rack at the perfect height for the girls! There we hung the dresses with the teddy bear dresses for the girls to choose. Along the perimeter of the room we had baskets and boxes full of dollar store rings, necklaces and bracelets, along with fluffy boas & drawstring purses that we had purchased. In the corner of the room, the girls could choose their own plastic Tea Set for Two(that we had found at a KB Toy Outlet store for $3.88 each). Originally we had planned to have a play cash register set up so the girls could 'purchase' their items with pennies, but with a last minute run of winter colds through our family, we were short on time in the days leading to the party.  Once everyone (along with their bears) was dressed and seated back in the tea room, we filled each little tea pot with pink lemonade tea (to match our decorations) and served tea cookies... although, most attention was paid to pouring and getting lemonade refills!  Later we brought in my daughter's heart cake - per her request - with 4 little candles we found shaped like a teapot, 2 tea cups and a sugar bowl... By the time the presents were opened and the party was winding down, about 3 hours of fun had passed!   Something else we made sure to do was to take pictures of all of the girls with their furry friends, so we could include at least one picture in the frame cards we purchased for our thank you notes. Each party guest went home that day with their teddy bears, their tea dresses and accessories they chose, their tea sets and precious memories that we are still hearing about, months later!