Alice in Wonderland Birthday Party! - UPDATED
Yesterday was my daughter's 1st birthday party, and I chose an Alice in Wonderland theme - it was SO much fun. Everything went swell{except for the wind and our 1/2 dead grub-infested lawn} and I'm sharing my pictures with you! {More family & people pics from the party can be found at my personal blog.}
* Also see my Queen of Heart's wreath tutorial & play card invite templates!
* Also see my Queen of Heart's wreath tutorial & play card invite templates!
The invites looked like a playing card:
With my daughter as "The Queen of Hearts"
I printed it on paper with a cross grain texture, similar to what real playing cards have.
First, party guests we greeted at the door by my Alice in Wonderland wreath. {Note: I went with an Alice in Wonderland theme, not Mad Tea Party - so I used the Queen of Hearts as a lot of inspiration.}
I threw signs on the wall, throughout my house that said things like "Yonder" and "That Way", "This Way". Stairs got decked out with playing card garlands & The White Rabbit's watch.
Guests in need of the loo had to travel through the looking glass ;-)
I
Inside the bathroom I had these Alice in Wonderland themed soaps, by Gianna Rose!, that I scored at Home Goods a while back. If you look close, each soap was pressed with a different AIW image: The White Rabbit, Alice, a key, an the Queen of Heart's crest.
Eisley {aka Birthday Girl} was dressed as Alice. One of her grandmas made it for us.
And I made my husband wear a Mad Hatter party hat, and I crafted a "Queen of Hearts" crown for myself so that my little family of three all had a costume of sorts.
Crown close up:
We threw up the tent on our deck.
I love these heart shaped cookies I found at Cost Plus World Market. They're called petite palmiers and they're delicious!
We had more adults than kids, so this called for adult drinks. I made this sangria, which everyone loved. And take a close look at these glasses I picked up at Urban Outfitters. 
They have 3 different Alice in Wonderland images on them, so I picked up a few to serve the sangria with. 
I found that US Toys poker party supplies fit in well with our theme!
And I made this 3 tiered "Queen of Hearts" inspired cake. My first time working with marshmallow fondant went very well!
More card garlands decorated the back of the house.
And Eisley's high chair got a card garland tribute to her birth date {08/08/08}.
As a gift, I gave Eisley a 1950s copy of Alice. I scored this on eBay for 99 cents.
The crab apple tree we planted last year when Eisley was born got decked out in "Don't Step On The Mome Rath!" signs.
Which means I also had to create some Mome Raths.
Over sized playing cards made great wickets for croquet.
I lined the yard in sparkly hearts.
And made this garland which says, "The Queen's Croquet Ground", which is a chapter titled in Alice in Wonderland.
In addition to croquet, my husband and I created this bean bag game!
With matching bean bags.
Husband cut this guy out of plywood and I painted him up.
I also *had* to have some real flamingo croquet mallets, so I painted some light pink and game them some black beaks & eyes.
Finally, as Wonderland guests left, each family got a box of treats.
Which in cluded "Eat Me" petit fours and some Chessmen cookies.
It was a lot of fun to pull together, and I hope you enjoyed my photos!
You can check out more of the family photos here.
I threw signs on the wall, throughout my house that said things like "Yonder" and "That Way", "This Way". Stairs got decked out with playing card garlands & The White Rabbit's watch.
Guests in need of the loo had to travel through the looking glass ;-)
IInside the bathroom I had these Alice in Wonderland themed soaps, by Gianna Rose!, that I scored at Home Goods a while back. If you look close, each soap was pressed with a different AIW image: The White Rabbit, Alice, a key, an the Queen of Heart's crest.
Eisley {aka Birthday Girl} was dressed as Alice. One of her grandmas made it for us.
And I made my husband wear a Mad Hatter party hat, and I crafted a "Queen of Hearts" crown for myself so that my little family of three all had a costume of sorts.
Crown close up:
We threw up the tent on our deck.
I love these heart shaped cookies I found at Cost Plus World Market. They're called petite palmiers and they're delicious!
We had more adults than kids, so this called for adult drinks. I made this sangria, which everyone loved. And take a close look at these glasses I picked up at Urban Outfitters. 
They have 3 different Alice in Wonderland images on them, so I picked up a few to serve the sangria with. 
I found that US Toys poker party supplies fit in well with our theme!
And I made this 3 tiered "Queen of Hearts" inspired cake. My first time working with marshmallow fondant went very well!
More card garlands decorated the back of the house.
And Eisley's high chair got a card garland tribute to her birth date {08/08/08}.
As a gift, I gave Eisley a 1950s copy of Alice. I scored this on eBay for 99 cents.
The crab apple tree we planted last year when Eisley was born got decked out in "Don't Step On The Mome Rath!" signs.
Which means I also had to create some Mome Raths.
Over sized playing cards made great wickets for croquet.
I lined the yard in sparkly hearts.
And made this garland which says, "The Queen's Croquet Ground", which is a chapter titled in Alice in Wonderland.
In addition to croquet, my husband and I created this bean bag game!
With matching bean bags.
Husband cut this guy out of plywood and I painted him up.
I also *had* to have some real flamingo croquet mallets, so I painted some light pink and game them some black beaks & eyes.
Finally, as Wonderland guests left, each family got a box of treats.
Which in cluded "Eat Me" petit fours and some Chessmen cookies.
It was a lot of fun to pull together, and I hope you enjoyed my photos!
You can check out more of the family photos here.
46 *´¯`* ℓσvεℓү cσммεηтs *´¯`*
There are so many lovely details everywhere, thanks for sharing them with us :)
ReplyDeletelove the card garland & bean bag toss!
ReplyDeleteWOW! What a wondrful job you did! The glasses, giant wickets and bean bag toss...all amazing! I love the garland of cards with her birthdate. Unfortunately, my daughter was born in 200, so it won't work for me :(
ReplyDeleteGreat job!
Thanks! That means a lot coming from you, Donna!
ReplyDeleteI'm hard on myself, keep thinking about all the details I *didn't* do!
Wow! I am completely impressed!!!!! You put a ton of work into this! I love the cake. So sweet. Everything looks wonderful. You're so talented! Question for you - what kind of glass container is that that you served the sangria in? I love that container. It looks so casual and summery. I'd love to find one like that as opposed to the regular old punch bowl.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Amber, you're too sweet!
ReplyDeleteThat glass jar is just one of these kind:
http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?PRODID=62633&CATID=74062
I've seen them at Walmart too for less than $10 in the kitchen decor area. Hope that helps ;-)
Thanks for sharing!!! I'm doing an Alice in wonderland party & your ideas really help. Your party looked AMAZING!!!!
ReplyDeleteoh my goodness gracious! what an amazing party! totally gonna save some of these ideas!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute birthday Party! I believe I am going to have my little girl this type of party next year on her 3rd birthday! Daisy~
ReplyDeleteOh MY! You are fab, your daughter is darling and your party is off the chain! I have a few Alice party tips on Shindigs & Soirees, and I would love to link your post if you don't mind! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI don't mind at all! Thanks for the compliments, they're so flattering & sweet.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Heather
Holy awesomeness Batman! That is incredible!!! What a wonderful way to celebrate your little one's birthday!
ReplyDeleteOh my!! LOVE IT. I'm having an ACE party for my son's first birthday and I may steal some of these ideas for his birthay---maybe masculine them up a little! :)
ReplyDeleteI greatly admire your attention to detail! I have helped throw 2 Alice in Wonderland birthday parties (for friends' children), and continue to see wonderful ideas online (as well as thinking up new ones). Now that I have my own little girl (3 mo.), I am happy that I'll be able to organize a 3rd!
ReplyDeleteI chuckled when you commented about the things you "didn't do"...you and I must be cut from a similar 'perfectionist' cloth ;)
Thank you for sharing your ideas and photographs: simply lovely!
Adrianne B
Thanks for the ideas. I have been planning an Alice themed tea party for my little girl's 2nd birthday (tea for 2). I am glad I'm not the only one, and that it isn't too adult a theme for a little girl. I LOVE the cards that you made with her as the queen. GREAT idea! I may have to borrow that one.
ReplyDeleteOh wow- you are sooo talented! I just had my first girl in November (I already have two boys!), and we named her- guess what- Alice. So of course her first birthday is going to be Alice in Wonderland- themed. Thank you so much for sharing such awesome ideas!!!
ReplyDeleteyou did such an awesome job!! I love all your ideas!!
ReplyDeleteSuch a sweet and cute birthday party you threw!You're so talented!! I have a question; where did you find those cute treat boxes?
ReplyDeleteomgoodness!! this is absolutely amazing!! so wonderful & perfect! love the mome raths! the invitations & croquet mallets are terrific!
ReplyDeleteAnon,
ReplyDeleteThose treat boxes were from the Martha Stewart line at Michael's. When I bought them, however, these specific ones were on clearance. But do check out Michael's and Walmart for their Martha Stewart kits - she always has treat boxes up. Cake decorating supply stores (most craft stores have cake decorating supplies) often carry various treat boxes too!
Thanks for the comments!
Valuable information and excellent design you got here! You so talented.
ReplyDeleteparty rentals
Loved your box of treats idea, i linked it to my blog. www.rivernorthlove.blogspot.com
ReplyDeletewhat a wonderful party, great original ideas and a cute birthday girl too!
ReplyDeleteNicole
www.strawberryfieldspartyplanning.com
Very cute birthday party . I'm pretty sure you guys really enjoy this party . Wonderful ideas . Thanks !!
ReplyDeleteFound your wonderful blog when I was looking for inspiration for an Alice in Wonderland party I'm doing next month. I particularly love the flamingo mallets as I'd been puzzling how to best do some for my party, (mine aren't nearly as pretty as yours but I'm still pleased with how they turned out).I'll be very happy if my party looks as beautiful as yours did!
ReplyDeletehi friends
ReplyDeleteHi! I love your party pics! I'm planning an AIW party for my birthday this year and was wondering where you got the oversized playing cards?
ReplyDeleteHi Sugarkuky -
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment!
The over sized playing cards were from a toy/party store called US Toy. It was in their poker party section.
I would recommend looking at nearby party supply stores for poker party supplies and you might just find some!
Cheers,
Heather
Looks like a great party I only wish my mom would do this for my upcoming birthday :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great party! Looks like a lot of fun! Thanks for sharing your ideas.
ReplyDeleteWe are throwing a belated birthday party for my 13 year old daughter ("I'm late. I'm late. For a very important date."). So many of your ideas will work just as well for a big girl as it did for your little girl.
ReplyDeleteI am going to snoop around your blog and look for other great ideas!
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful ideas!
ReplyDeleteThat looked so awesome. Would love to spend a weekend at the hotel with my 21 yr old daughter and a day just like yours at the Spa. It did look like heaven!
ReplyDeleteEssex mobile disco
Please Help! I love your template and would love to use it for my daughters 1st birthday. I have opened it in Windows Paint umpteen times done my text box, added text and then gone to save it and it not only become blurry suddenly but also all the sudden my text adjusts and changes to the complete opposite of what I did. Any suggestions? I know it can't be this hard.
ReplyDeleteHi Tamar,
ReplyDeleteI really dislike Paint for many reasons. My best suggestion would be to go download Google's photo editor - Picasa. It's free software, really easy to use and you can easily add text to any image.
You can download it here:
http://picasa.google.com/#utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-bk&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=picasa
It may seem like a pain to have to download a whole other program - but I can promise you Picasa is worth it! Plus, from there if you have any problems editing the text I can help you. I'm not really familiar with Paint as I dislike it so much and never use it. :-D
Cheers,
Heather
WOW. I LOVE what you did! All of the details were amazing. You included everything so cleverly! I'm a HUGE Alice in Wonderland fan and though I am only 18 and not nearly close to having a child, I'm definitely bookmarking this so I can try some of these ideas out in the future when I do. Excellent work!
ReplyDeletethanks for this details with qualities,Keep it up! Good luck for the future success of this blog.
ReplyDeleteThis is ADORABLE!!! You know how to throw a party!! :) I'm a follower now!
ReplyDeleteI am planning a Alice in wonderland tea party for my twin daughters upcoming 3rd birthday and let me just thank you for giving me some AWESOME ideas. Everything looked amazing and I especially liked the mome raths!! The flowers hangin form the tent on the deck are too cute...did you make them yourself?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGreat party.
ReplyDeleteHow do you think of that kind of amazing party? Everything is just so perfect. I also love all the signs that you put all over the house. It makes that whole place so cool. The food looks so tasty. That is one great party theme.
ReplyDelete1st birthday remains memorable whole the life because its parents makes video and always try to enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteIts looks like a wonderful birthday party is going on ... food, music, dance and birthday party games are also needed to make a memorable birthday party ...
ReplyDeleteYou are incredible. I just love everything about your party. I'm certainly going to try a few of your ideas for my twin girls' 1st birthday party. Thank you for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI love the theme of this kid party. :) I love the idea of labeling the doors :)
ReplyDeleteLark & Lola love hearing from you!