We’re all mad here!

  

We’re all mad here!

We were walking through Ross the day after my princess turned 5 and found the most adorable tea-sets.  We bought them even though we didn’t know how we would use them.  Later that day, Liliana and I decided her next birthday party (in one year!) had to be Alice in Wonderland.  She asked for, specifically, cartoon Alice and not crazy-real-people Alice.  (I love the way kids express themselves.)

I think I say this about every party but this is my favorite theme so far.  The possibilities were endless.  It was actually a challenge to keep it under control.

I knew I would make my own table-runners again as I did with the “Fashionista Minnie” party.  My first mission was to find fabric to match the tea sets.  I think I ran to Joann’s fabric about 4 times and got opinions from 4 different people before I decided on a colorful, flowery pattern with hummingbirds.  So far so good...  :)

 

Those wonderful invitations

Next on my list were the invitations.  I knew I wanted to use a picture of Liliana in an Alice costume.  From time to time, we take the girls to a playground in a park that has some really tall and eerie trees.  It suddenly hit me, this scenery was perfect!  The outcome was awesome.

 

  I really like pocket invitations with multiple layers of papers in assorted colors with folds in interesting ways.  I did all of the above!  I picked my favorite pictures from the photo shoot and used them on the cover of the invitation.  The inside had a pocket that would hold a number of large tags with the invitation information.  I incorporated the table-runner fabric by scanning it and using it as a background of the pocket.  I used my Cricut to cut out the skeleton keys, clocks, picture borders and the large tags.

Where is all the Alice stuff?

I guess Alice in Wonderland is not a popular theme these days.  I found nothing at the party stores so I had to make everything.  Gratefully, I have this wonderful little machine called a Cricut.  I love my Cricut!

I made tags for favors and juice pops.  I stamped the phrases “Eat me” and “Drink me” on the tags.  I found the stamps on Etsy.

 I also made cupcake cozies and toppers with my Cricut.  I added Alice stickers. 

The goodies table

The delicious cake and cupcakes

Fruit cups were a hit.  The cozies fit perfectly.

Added googly eyes and a smile 

  

A different angle

Party Favors

I decorated mini top hats with feathers, flowers and ribbon and attached them to headbands for the kids to wear.

M&Ms are Liliana's favorites

Stickers on the jars say "Take me home or off with your head".   

Plates, cutlery and drinks

(See the tea-set that inspired the entire party!)

I had a few extra keys and clocks and decided to make a chandelier.

Full shot of the table

Seating for the Grown-ups

Centerpieces

Crazy signs that I bought on Etsy

Wonderland name game

Instructions are below. :)

Some shots of princess on her day.

 

A shot of with some of the kids just before they destroyed this awesome piñata I found on Etsy. :)  Liliana is wearing the cute little top hat I made for her.  The queen of hearts is little sister.

Another successful party…  :)

A Mickey and Minnie Christmas

While waiting in line to see Mickey at Animal Kingdom, I was inspired to decorate my tree this year with a Disney theme.  I absolutely love Disney because it is so full of creativity and imagination.  It never fails to inspire my next project.  I decided it had to be Mickey and Minnie.       

The results of this project are extra special since my five year-old and I made many of the ornaments.  I was on vacation the week of this past Thanksgiving.  Every day we'd wait until my one year-old took her mid-day nap to work on our decorations.  I have to say, that week is one that will be marked in my heart forever.  I hope my daughter remembers it forever too. 

Our tree is small this year because I have a one year-old.  The temptation of a tree in full reach would just create too many unhappy moments for my baby (and me too).  Somehow, we (mothers) just know better with a second child.  It is just not worth the fight.  ;)

I found these wooden hearts at Michaels (on clearance! $.33).  I used these as the base for some of our decorations.  I replaced the twine with more appropriate polka dotted ribbon.

I then used the Mickey and Friends Cartridges on my Cricut to cut out various Mickey and Minnie faces.  By the way, the Cricut is my absolute favorite toy in the whole, wide world.  :)  These are a few pictures of the beginning stages of some of our ornaments...

My princess suggested everyone should have a special ornament with their initial.  Here they are...

She decided to count the Mickeys.  She said there were 258.  I did not check her number.  :)

 The heart in this picture is double sided.  On one side is Mickey's face.  On the other side is Minnie's face.  You can see the reflection in the mirror.  How fancy is that?

A few more shots of some other die-cut ornaments.  We used sparkly paper to make them extra special.

A shot of the bow.

 

 We also spray-painted Styrofoam balls with silver and black to make these precious Minnie and Mickey ornaments.   

We made a garland too.

  

 Finally, a few shots of the ornaments we purchased. 

My princess insisted we add Alice.  :)

One last shot of our little tree. 

Merry Christmas!