A Very Merry UnBirthday Tea Party
A very merry unbirthday to me? To who?
A very merry unbirthday to me! To you!
Let’s all congratulate me
With a present I agree
A very merry unbirthday to me
This weekend my little daughter celebrated her birthday! Since she adores rabbits, tea parties, and wearing hats, I thought an Alice in Wonderland inspired Very Merry UnBirthday was the ticket. Above is a slide show of the pint-sized event with photos of the girls and below are some still photos with a little text on how I put it all together. Since my daughter is just a toddler, I kept it small, simple, and as whimsical as possible.
Little girls love pretty things! And with such big imaginations it’s easy to transport them to a whole new world (like Alice) with just a little bit of help. For the Tea Party Tablescape, I chose brightly colored sprinkled cookies, cupcakes, and treats. I didn’t buy a lot of one item, rather just a few of each because I knew the girls would want to try one of everything. This kept the cost-low but the table seemingly-bountiful to the girls!
I added wiggly eyes to florals to re-create the look of the flowers in the Disney version of the garden scene. I placed the flowers inside double-high stacked white mugs and tied brightly colored ribbons around the handles. I didn’t paint these cups because I wanted the flowers to be the focus. It worked! The little girls thought these were the best! I included mini-bouquets of the flowers for each girl on her place setting. 
This is not pictured. The party was quite last minute and so quite a few of the photos I had wanted to get I wasn’t able to snap! You’ll notice on the cookie plate close-ups that they were taken after the girls began eating! So is the life of being a mommy!
I moved some of the furniture out of my little girl nursery and set it up for the divas. Before the girls entered the room, each of them had to slip through “The Rabbit Hole”, a small tunnel I had on hand that I labeled with a whimsical sign. I definitely loved this because it was so cute watching these girls in their puffy little dresses crawl through the rabbit hole. Again, I wish I had photos!! When they entered the room I had Alice in Wonderland music playing that I downloaded from iTunes and they each chose a hat to wear out of a basket. (My Vienna chose bunny ears because she loves rabbits…that and her hair doesn’t really accommodate most hats!)
I purchased inexpensive small mugs at a thrift store, 
stacked them on top of each other and then painted and decorated them with bright colors, ribbons, and marabou. I had originally wanted to purchase real tea cups and glue them on top of each other, but I was unable to find the time to go look. So this was Plan B. But I liked the finished product. I didn’t worry about doing everything perfectly. I actually on-purpose made everything a little imperfect with the paint and ribbons because I think part of the charm of an Alice in Wonderland themed party is everything is a little undone. Nothing is perfectly as it should be. 
To keep the party simple, I placed miniature little “eat me” “drink me” or “take a bite” signs around the cupcakes, cookies, and drinks. I have seen many adorable Alice in Wonderland treats written with the words in icing on top but I found this to have the same effect without the work.
Special Note! These Alice in Wonderland Tea Party invitations are now for sale at Loralee’s Etsy Boutique here along with coordinating items and many other fun party themes!
Popularity: 98% [?]
Oh my goodness. This is too cute. I love the googly eyes in the flowers, and the bottles for the drinks are perfect. My friend wants an Alice in Wonderland bridal shower and I plan on using your mug idea. What a way to save $$ and express yourself!
Absolutely perfect! Girly without being over the top. I absolutely love it and my 10-year old daughter thought it was fabulous. You did great!
What great ideas you have going on here!
This is waaaayyyy too cute of an idea! You clever girl you
) What a lucky little girl. I am linking to you from my blog.
http://www.where-did-i-see-that.blogspot.com
Thank you for sharing!
This is so precious! Love the googly eyes on the flowers-very creative.
You have completely outdone yourself. Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorite themes and I’m so jealous of this party! May I use a few pictures (credit to you) and link to you on my blog? This is so, so wonderful!
Loralee, THIS IS FABULOUS!!!! My Sydney is turning 2 in Nov. and THIS is what I’m doing!!! Could I pay you to re-create the invite with her name and date on it? This whole idea just made me happy!! THANK YOU for sharing!
This is such a cute party! Do you mind if I repost some of the pictures on my blog with a link back to you?
Thanks!
This is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for in planning my toddler’s 3rd birthday party! Great ideas!
Great ideas! I especially love the invitation; did you create it yourself? Any tips on “recreating”? I’m hoping to do a similar birthday party for my (28!) year old daughter and would love to use a similar invitation!
The flowers are really very creative!
So adorable, you are very talented! I am throwing a Mad Hatter teaparty themed baby shower in a couple of months – I would also love to hear any tips on recreating a similar invitation!
Love it!!! Fabulous and very creative!
Hi there, great ideas and I love your invitation, do you mind if I ask you how you did it? thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Lorna. I designed it from scratch using inkscape and photoshop.
Great ideas. Love the invitation. How can I recreate it?
Thanks
This is GORGEOUS. I love the invitation, I love the color-scheme, your presentation is spectacular! I love all the details and how you kept it so perfect for the toddler age group. This is such a whimsical, dainty, soft take on Alice and Wonderland, and I find it very inspiring and just plain fun to look at! Thanks so much for sharing your fabulous creativity!!! Kindest Regards, Kate Landers (Boston-based childrens event planner)
Working on designing a bedroom for my daughter in a Madhatter’s Tea Party theme. Love the idea of the potions – maybe on a ledge in her room! I’ll have to look for some! Also great idea on the flowers…
Love it all!
http://oursemihomemadelife.blogspot.com/2010/03/semi-homemade-girly-bedroom-concept-1.html
[...] My hands are tied. And in me and Johnny’s defense, I have added a few little extras to the Alice in Wonderland Very Merry UnBirthday Tea Party I threw for my daughter last [...]
Oh my goodness, perfection!
I found this last night when I was looking around the web for birthday party ideas. I only hope I can order your invitation product when I have her final date and place in July!
I LOVE the flowers with eyes! So clever!
Hello Loralee!!!
First let me congratulate you on this beautiful post. Love all the ideas and little datails, and I must tell you, your daughter is so cute…
I’m from Bogota – Colombia, and am starting a blogsite about birthday parties, soirees, showers, etc. I would like to feature your Alice’s party on my blog.
If you want to visit me go to: http://www.fiestascreativas.blogspot.com
Please let me know…
Cheers!!!
Fiestera Chic (Chic Party-girl)
I love the invitation you made! Would you be willing to share it?? Thanks!
Thanks, Alissa.
These Alice in Wonderland Tea Party invitations are now for sale at Loralee’s Etsy Boutique here along with coordinating items and many other fun party themes!
Hi! LOVE your party!!! Where did you get the giant tea cup? These are the exact colors I choose for my daughter’s Alice party in June and it would be THE perfect tea cup!
Loralee – I must say that this is stunning. I am planning a little birthday party for my daughter and was unsure if Alice in Wonderland was the ideal theme for her and now I am convinced. I loved your ideas, the small details are just amazing!!
[...] I glued googly eyes to the colorful daises, too {idea from No Fuss Fabulous}. [...]
Loralee,
This is so very precious. I absolutely love it. Can I feature this page on my website, with the link coming back to you.
thanks
Bobbie