An "Alice in Wonderland" Birthday Party

This past weekend was Isabella's 5th birthday...and my little Alice had a wonderful time in Wonderland with all of her friends : )  I was sooooo excited when she told me she wanted an Alice in Wonderland party.  The potential for magical moments was limitless.  It was difficult, but I think we were able to throw a magical party she will not forget...and if she does, I will constantly remind her : )

It started with the invitation that my friend Carolyn and I designed. 

And then the party got started...

I wanted to give the children a map to guide them through the party and hopefully provide a little order to the chaos that birthday parties can quickly become. So I drew up this card that tells them all of the things they were going to see and do while visiting Wonderland.  

The first stop was "Down the Rabbit Hole" which brought the kids to this room.  One of the first things I knew we had to have was the room where Alice shrinks to go through the tiny door.  I knew we were going to have the party entirely outside, so I built this faux wall with the help of my wonderful husband.  I painted the walls pink and white and added a chair rail and baseboards to make it look more realistic.  On the walls, I hung a couple watercolors from the vintage Alice in Wonderland illustrations. 

On the table, I had a small platter of tiny cupcakes that said "Eat Me" for the kids to munch on and then they would "shrink" so they could go through the tiny door.  And yes...I do know that Alice had to drink to shrink, but I opted for cakes instead : )

On the other side of the tiny door, was the Mad Hatter Tea Party!  I used a couple drapes from IKEA as a backdrop for the table and to hide the playground. 

Above the table, I hung pink paper lanterns and strands of paper "poofs" and giant paper pocket-watches. 

On the table, I decorated with paper place-mats I made using a garden trellis paper punch and 6 different colors of 12"x12" cardstock.

I also used a couple teapots to make fresh flower arrangements.  And then placed these adorable mushrooms...

...and these carved bunnies on the table to finish up the design.

I served traditional tea party fare with a couple of Isabella's favorites added in.  We had lemon poppyseed muffins with strawberry butter, mini powdered doughnuts, meringue cookies. 

Ham and cheese sliders (you can find the recipe here) and chicken salad croissants.

And fruit salad, pasta salad and my favorite...fruit pizza : )

We served lemonade and punch in these "Drink Me" glasses (You may recognize them from Ava's Camping Birthday Party).  I just changed the paper and ribbons and then they worked  perfectly for this Wonderland party.

I made these paper teacups and placed them on the Mad Hatter table, also on the food table and I also used them to make the favors.

I used these IKEA frames to display some of my favorite quotes from the book.  I placed them on the food table. 

Next, came the games...

Tweedledee and Tweedledum Three-legged Race...

...and Pin the Grin on the Cheshire Cat...

I painted this happy cat and then painted an extra smile that the kids could try and pin in place.  

...and the last game was the Teacup water Race.

For this one, the kids had to split into teams and try and carry water with teacups from one bucket to another.  The first team to fill their bucket to the the line would win the race. 

The last thing to do on this tour through Wonderland was to sing "Happy Birthday" to Alice and eat some cake.  

Before everyone left, Isabella gave them a paper teacup filled with sweet treats.  

And that's a wrap!  Isabella is now 5 and I am exhausted! But, I had a blast with the Alice in Wonderland theme.  I can't wait to see what she comes up with next year : )

Happy Birthday to my sweet and crazy munchkin!
You always make life more interesting and fun : )

* How to make Fruit pizza