A Double Wonderland Party

Guest went down the rabbit hole

I know, I know… it has been an eon since I have posted on here my only excuse is that life gets in the way. I do have a dozen of subjects to write about though!
                 A good resolution for 2014: write my thoughts down more often!
It is a therapy of sorts for me to escape from my mom-duties and just be me (books and paper are much cheaper than a psychiatrist… look I’m saving money already and the year just began! A good start.)  

So for the first post of the year I thought I would share pictures from the Wonderland Party I had for my kids. My son turned 6 and my daughter turned 3 years old and I was too lazy to have two parties so I had one BIG one. I mean big as in props, costumes, and cake. I had a lot of fun putting it together, but I have to say that it was a LOT of work!

For all of the props, I collected cardboard for several months. I really should have taken a picture of my living room at one point because I had stacks of giant boxes and all the random cardboard that I could find. You might be able to appreciate the amount of cardboard cutting and decorating by some of the pictures...

When guests went down the rabbit hole and through the door, they encountered the hats. These were the party favors. Boys could pick top hats or pinwheel hats and ties while the girls got hats and necklaces. 

Most of the girls were more into the dress-up spirit. (My daughter is wearing a different hat in every picture!) The boys seemed to like the hats and gave the ties to their father's to wear.

Some of the other Decorations...

I am very sad that I didn't get a good picture of the table before it was destroyed. We put three 6 foot tables together lengthwise for the "tea party". The tea cups had snacks like fish crackers, raisins and nuts. I used different fabrics down the length and a polka dot fabric as a table runner.

I also had a really cute centerpiece! (I just did not get a picture of it on my pretty table. SO Sad!)

There were so many things to do!

Croquet!
(although the pic was taken later when the kids had already destroyed it)

Bubbles! big and little wands

Play! There is my little 'Alice' going down the slide.
The playset was popular!

The boys found the checker table.

Painting the roses RED!

The Roses were a project! They took FOREVER! But they did turn out good, if I do say so.

 To make them, I used giant cardboard boxes and newspaper. I also found a bunch of leaf shaped paint sample swatches at Home Depot that I took (don't tell, but they were free).

 The process for the bushes was quite an undertaking and I had not seen anything like it on the Internet. First I cut the tops to make them uneven. Then I spray painted the green (spray paint is my new friend!) I didn't take the box stickers off since I couldn't get them off anyway so there was no use worrying about it. Then we took another green to make swirls and add depth.
Once that was dry, I glued the paint samples on there to make 3D leaves and the the roses... but the roses was another process and took several days of dedicated rose cutting, twirling and gluing.

I recruited my little daughter to help paint the "bushes." My husband and sister helped me make several boxes full of roses. I can't even tell you how many times I burned my fingers with the hot glue... ouch!

My big helper

Another cardboard project was strictly for looks,
but I really liked my Wonderland flowers!  

I cut out a bunch of flowers from cardboard boxes of different shapes and sizes. Then I went spray paint crazy.

 

To assemble: I glued the flowers in layers on top of a pool noodle I bought at the dollar store. I also glued big googly-eyes in the center of the smallest petals. The pool noodle, once sliced down the back, is really easy to put on an iron fence and will stay there without any tape or pleading.

Costumes!
I made a few costumes for this party. My daughter was 'Alice'. My son was the 'King of Hearts'. My husband was the 'Mad Hatter', but he refused to actually dress up except wearing the hat I made him (out of cardboard and fabric!) And I was the 'Queen of Hearts'.

 This picture with my mom shows part of the skirt I made. It is a big poofy thing that I have a crinoline under to make it huge. I like the picture because you can actually see the glasses I worked SOOO hard on. Four dozen frappaccino glasses with my own "Drink Me" stickers. I spray painted the lids different colors and had my husband drill a hole in the center to accommodate a straw. I was able to wash and save the whole set of glasses for the next party! (rejoicing over future cost savings!)

Alice's costume was a blued dyed (because I couldn't find a shirt that color!) shirt with the apron and tulle skirt sewn on. I even made a pocket in the apron--which my daughter loved! The King is very picky about textures so I made his costume out of a plain shirt too. I sewed on the cape with front holder to match the Queen's costume. There are also a few jewels glued on too. Although he wouldn't wear it, I also made him a crown... that one of his friends liked and took home.

Alice & the King... and their Cake!

  The Mad Hatter hat was something! I cut some pieces of cardboard and wrapped it in fabric. There are also spray painted feathers sticking out (which you can't see) of the band.

My sister dressed as another Mad Hatter, but I think one of the kids took off with her hat... In the below picture you can see my skirt a little better... and the Cake!

 This is my first fondant cake. It was a bit of a pain but the result was awesome! The fondant was made from marshmallows (yumm!). The bottom and cheshire cat are made of 2 cake layers while the green Hatter Hat in the center is made of 3 layers. I admit that it looks homemade and not very professional, but it didn't cost as much as a professional cake either. I spent the entire day before making and putting this together. The fondant was made the day before that. I needed my husband's muscles to roll it out since it had hardened in the refrigerator.

Never mind the backwards 3

Here is to a Happy New Year!

Shared at: Anything Blue, Saturday Show & Tell, Make it Pretty,

I would love the feedback of my readers... What types of posts would you like to see here? Crafts? Kitchen Experiments? Kid stuff? Organization? Let me know!