tea party

Photography by: Parrish Studios – Amber Parrish

(barring up close photo of cake, potion bottles, Cheshire cat suckers – those

were from our phones)

Our Sweets Table!

The gorgeous cake was made by the talented Frosten‘s! The backdrop was plywood backer board covered in a checkered cloth from Amazon . I was hoping for a larger checkered pattern, but when it came in, it was the little pattern. But alas, it was cute anyway! The table was laden with all sorts of sweets: candyfetti, sugar cookies topped with toppers by My Artisan Bakery, pretzels filled in treats cups that I handmade out of our store’s Alice in Wonderland cupcake wraps and topped with the matching toppers, sour apple taffy from orientaltrading.com, sour fruit wedges, elegant fruit cups, pixie powder in mini shrunken bottles (my shop), Cheshire cat lolly’s (my shop), sixlets from orientaltrading.com, cake pops from Nibblerz, krispy treats, and more!

This cake from Frosten‘s is one of my favorite cakes of hers she has made for us and otherwise. It turned out too cute and I love all the details that she put into it.

I ordered mini glass vial bottles and applied them with mini “Try Me” stickers. We then filled them with pixie powder from pixie sticks. These bottles can be purchased from my online store without filling. They can be filled with juice or pixie powder or whatever you can fit and we can make the labels to read “Eat Me” or “Drink Me” or “Try Me” etc.

I ordered suckers off of Amazon from Birthday Express and added on some of my Cheshire Hat Graphic Toppers and Smiles. These are also available for purchase in my shop. You can purchase just the downloads and supply your own suckers. Or you can purchase the suckers from me – all dressed up and shipped directly to you.

We had two long stretches of tables (2 tables per length) that we covered in bright, different colored cloths. We ran some more of the plastic checkered cloths down the center as table runners. I had been gathering teapots and teacups at different vintage and thrift stores. We put flower pinwheels across the table – from the Dollar Tree! I placed a tall candle holder on each table length and placed a handmade paper mad hatter hat (larger version of the hats we made for our craft table made hatter hats below). I also had several large glass vial bottles that I placed along the tables center to represent the “bottles” that Alice drank.

At each place setting I put a pocket watch print (printed on 12 x 18 cardstock and trimmed) as a paper charger and placed flowery plates atop the print. These plates were purchased from the Dollar Tree! I also placed a teacup at each place setting from the collection I had acquired from the different thrift and vintage stores. Every child got to take home their own teacup. I also made name cards for each of the place settings. These namecards are available as a digital download in my shop for purchasing and printing at home.

We tied different brightly colored chair wraps on each of the guests’ chairs. We also placed a large winged back chair at the end for the birthday girl – to mimic the animated classic cartoon’s tea party setup. My darling husband, who is such a blessing to me when I need things for my parties, built some pvc pipe standees/holders where we strung paper lanterns that we purchased from oriental trading company.com. To sort of “hide” the poles, I printed and placed Tolgy Wood signs up and down the poles. These can also be purchased in a digital download format from my shop.

We also placed clocks here and there along the tables in odd ways – lending to the odd setup the March Hare and the Mad Hatter had in their own little unbirthday tea party.

I affixed “Drink Me” tags to the Glass Vial Bottles that were running along the center of our tables. These can also be purchased from my online store as a digital download for printing at home.

On our sweets table we placed two white rabbits on each of the corners along with “red-painted” roses and a red paint tipped paint brush – as table side pieces.

We used fancy plastic goblets from the Dollar Tree to display cups of fruit for our guests. These was an inexpensive way to add some fun and elegance to the setting. And the kids loved eating out of “fancy” glasses.

We bought sugar cookies at our local grocer and topped them with these ADORABLE handmade fondant toppers from My Artisan Bakery. The candyfetti was purchased from Sweets Indeed and is one of my favorite treats to serve at parties.

These Krispy Queen’s Guards were adorable! I just dipped store bought krispies, dipped them in melted almond bark, and then placed on card logos made from candy melts and a mold bought on Amazon. These were placed on a bed of brightly colored candyfetti. The faces for these cards can be purchased to make your own treats – in my online store as an instant download for printing at home.

You can also purchase the Alice inspired food labels in my store as well!

These adorable cake pops were one of the highlights to our table! Nibblerz did a fantastic job on them! They were all so cute and added such a perfect detailed item to the table!

We served buttered popcorn in these ice cream cups that matched our dining plates. These were also purchased from the Dollar Tree. The toppers were made from mini printable Tolgy wood signs that are available as digital downloads in my store.We placed carrots and a small shot glass of ranch dressing (in the middle) inside clear plastic mini bowls that were purchased from the Dollar Tree. We also offered a tray of meats and cheeses.

We served Sweet and Unsweet Tea, water bottles wrapped in our Alice inspired bottle wraps (available in my online store), and also purple “Cheshire Cat’s” punch!

Beverages were served in these adorable balloon “dipped” milk bottle glasses. We finished the glasses off by tying “drink me” tags an a little black bow on the straws.

Off to the side of the room we displayed our “mome raths” we had made from popsicle sticks, paint, googly eyes and feathers. We also had a playing card Happy Birthday sign, and some fun party props to add some of the odd whimsy details from the cartoon.

We featured a craft table where the children were able to “paint” their own roses red. I bought packs of gray plastic pots, squares of floral foam, bunches of white flowers, red ribbons, and red shreds – all from the Dollar Tree. I cut the foam squares into fourths to make smaller square that would fit down into the bottom. I then hot glued the foam square to the bottom of the pot. And stuck in 3 different roses cut off of the bunches. Then I covered the foam with red shreds and tied a red ribbon around the pot and secured it with hot glue in a few different places to hold it at top. I then also put a personalized pick on the table so that when each child finished painting their roses, they could insert the pick and know just which one was theirs. Overall this was a very cost effective craft as you would get about 2 pots worth of rose out of every bunch for $1. And the pots came in packages of 3 for $1. And the bag of shreds did several pots at once time. The red ribbon did about 3 pots per $1. and the foam squares were $1 each. The red paint came from walmart. And I also placed cups with water on the table for them to wash their brushes out. I got a whole pack for only $1 at the Dollar Tree. And the Dollar Tree also had the pack of bristle brushes that we also used for $1.

The kids also played flamingo croquet. I printed out cardstock cards on 11×17 and taped them in an arch. We bought a light weight plastic ball from Walmart. I also found these adorable blow up flamingo toys that the kids used as their mallets from walmart.com. The children loved running around and trying to whack the little ball under the cards.

We set up another craft area table to make our Mad Hatter Hats. I had pre-crafted (printed, cut, and hot glued together) several different colored hats. These were made from cardstock from my designed templates. I also put little slits in the bottom where the children could insert headband through or they could attach a hair clip. The boys used the hair clips so they wouldn’t show or have to wear headbands.

I bought a couple different packages of brightly colored headbands from the Dollar Tree. They came several to a pack. I also purchased plain colored hair clips so they would blend in for the boys. I also placed spools of ribbon that I had purchased. And I put spools of tulle that I already had leftover from some other craft projects. I purchased fethers, and stick on gems, and washi tape from oriental trading .com. I also provided glue dots for the items they needed to stick on. I was also there with my hot glue gun in case there were any items that needed extra securing. But I handled that so the kids wouldn’t get burned.

I designed mini character boxes for the kids to fill up with candy and treats to take home. I also made larger character inspired bags for them to put all of their treats and their crafts in – to take home. All of these items are available in my shop for purchase.

A few of the last details around the room. I made an apron for the front of the sweets table to give it an “Alice” appearance and feel. I also made some paper flower for the backdrop and placed some frames and boxes and fun whimsy items around the table to give it that odd feel – like when Alice was tumbling down the rabbit hole. I made a paper flower Tiger Lily and even made the Old Lady Gladiolus. And one of my favorite aspects of the table was my paper art Bread and Butterfly that sat atop our backdrop. We added a few of the Tolgy Wood signs and then hung an Alice dress/apron inspired name banner across the backdrop. And for my very favorite piece of the whole party – I made the doorknob and his door out of foam core, print outs and a little gold paint for finish. If I get time, I will do a short tutorial for the doorknob and his door at a later date and link it here.

Here are links to the above items in my shop for Alice in Wonderland inspired products and a few other Alice Items not seen here:

Door Knob Toppers

Clock Graphic – medium size

Water Bottle Wraps

Mini Character Treat Boxes

Tolgy Wood Signs

Mini Tolgy Wood Topper Signs

Krispy Card Head Toppers

Name Place Playing Cards

Food Tents/cards

Alice apron name banner

Mini Clock Toppers