Wonderland Revisited

Since I just posted the scrapbook I made for our wonderland party, and since parties are the theme of this week’s CSI Challenge….

I decided a little recap of the wonderland tea party was in order.

It started with some tea bag inspired invites, sent by the Mad Hatter him er herself.

Next, I made some fluffy flower pom-poms to add some whimsy to the party.

The day of, my sister helped me string the pom-poms from a canopy.

We set the table with vintage cloths, fiestaware tea cups, and ball jars filled with wildflowers.

Mismatched real chairs added substance, but weren’t too formal.

A flock of yard sale flamingos gave a nod to the wonderland theme.

Of course, no party is complete without food!

We enjoyed “eat me” lemon filled cupcakes.

“Drink me” flavored iced teas and lemonade.

And yummy finger sandwiches.

We wore our hats proudly.

And held onto them when things became blustery.

And ended the party with a lovely game of croquet.

It was such a fun and special party to plan and enjoy, it just might have to become a family tradition!

<3
Hattie

Let's Party!

Alright, lovely blog world friends, it’s time to strut your stuff! If you’ve made something from one of my tutorials like a dress,

Or some mod podged furniture,

Or some jewelry,

Or even cupcakes,

It’s time to show it off!

Your project can be a step-by-step version of one of my projects, or your own project just inspired by something you’ve seen here, or anything in between. I love seeing how people put their own stamp on a project!

If you’d like to join the party, just use the linky below to link directly to your blog post. Make sure you include a link in your post back to this one so more people can join the party. And….be sure to visit the other party goers and leave them lots of comment love!

Strut your stuff party

Have you ever thrown a party and waited and waited but no one showed? Let’s hope my latest brainstorm doesn’t turn out that way!


Here’s what I’m thinking – I’ve been posting a lot of “how-to’s” lately, and many of you have left comments or emailed me about how you plan to make your own versions.

Well, I wanna see what you’ve got! It’s time for you to strut your stuff, and show off your own (most likely improved!) versions of my silly creations.

Maybe you’ve made a pillow cover,

or your own faux metal letter.

I know a lot of you planned to make the Alice dress!

and this super easy shirred top,

Or something else from one of my other tutorials.

If you’ve made it - I’d love to see it!

So, how about next Wednesday night, June 30th, we all meet back here at the roost for a little strut your stuff party? I’ll put up a linky if you want to blog about your project, or you can just email me photos of your finished masterpiece if blogging isn’t your thing!

What’d ya say? Are you in?

(I hope so!)

<3
Hattie

How to throw an Alice in Wonderland party

For those of you interested in the play-by-play action of throwing a wonderland themed party, I thought I’d round up all the details into one post. Here’s the timeline I followed:

At least a week in advance:

Make yourself a fun and girly Alice dress.

Send out invitations

The week of the party:

Make tissue paper pom-poms

Make “Eat me” and “Drink me” tags. For the drink me tags, glue the drink me circle to the circle with the drink name and punch a hole in the top of the tag. Tie to the drink containers with string. For the cupcake toppers, glue two eat me circles together with a toothpick sandwiched in between.

The morning of the party:

Make iced tea. I made a gallon of regular sweet tea (bring a pan of hot water to a boil, remove from heat, let four tea bags steep in the water for fifteen minutes, add a cup and a half to two cups of sugar, stir until dissolved, pour into pitcher and add water to make a gallon, stir, and chill) a liter of mango passion fruit iced tea (heat water, add two tea bags, let steep for fifteen minutes, add two packets of truvia or other sweetener, and pour into bottle) a liter of ginger peach tea (same method) and a liter of berry lemonade (purchased from Trader Joe’s).

Make cupcakes. I made lemon cupcakes from a mix. I let them cool for twenty minutes then used a Wilton tip and pastry bag to fill them with lemon curd (bought from Trader Joe’s) Once they were filled, I used a 5M Wilton tip to swirl lemon icing on top. They. Were. Awesome. Lemon curd is a magical thing; it belongs in all lemon cupcakes.

Make tea sandwiches. I made cucumber cream cheese (Thinly sliced cucumbers and Philadelphia cream cheese and chive spread) Chicken salad (chunks of cooked chicken, mayo, golden raisins, chopped walnuts, a dash of pepper, a dash of seasoning salt) and ham biscuits (party rolls, butter, and thinly sliced brown sugar ham)

An hour before the party:

Decorate. My sister and I worked together to hang the pom-poms with thread from the canopy, and wrap the legs with crepe paper streamers. We threw two vintage cloths over a folding table, dragged all my chairs outside, and set up the food tables.

Set the table. I rounded up a bunch of vintage jars and sent my sister to scour the yard, armed with kitchen shears. We lined the table with the flower-filled jars and added paper plates and napkins and real tea cups and saucers.

A few minutes before party time:

Bring out all the food and enjoy!

What's the best party you ever hosted?

<3
Hattie

The Mad Hatter's tea party

Hello, dear DIY Day friends! I hope you’re up for a little trip to Wonderland. I’m happy to report that the Mad Hatter's tea party I threw for Mother’s Day was a lot of fun.

Look, I spot some guests.

There’s another.

And here they are all lined up. My sweet husband, cute sister, lovely mom, wonderful dad, and dapper brother.

My sister was a huge help getting everything set up. It was an extremely windy day, so hanging the tissue paper pom-poms was a two person job.

They kept tangling around the canopy, but they still looked whimsical and festive.

It was my sister’s idea to tie crepe paper streamers around each corner of the canopy, and they looked great blowing in the wind.

The table was simple.

Two vintage cloths layered over each other,

paper plates and napkins, but real tea cups for some class,

And wild flowers in glass jars all down the center of the table.

I borrowed the canopy and folding table from my parents, but brought out real chairs for us to sit in.

The flamingos were a total surprise – my parent’s picked them up that morning at a yard sale.

We feasted on cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, ham biscuits, and ham and cheese puffs.

Since it was a hot day, we drank our tea iced. I made several different kinds and added tags with “drink me” on one side and the flavor on the other.

Of course, we also had some sweets. Along with strawberries and cookies, I made lemon filled cupcakes with “eat me” tags.

We ended our tea party with a very competitive game of croquet.

My 87-year-old Grandma turned out to be a very feisty player! She beat me and my sister!

All in all, we had a wonderful day celebrating moms!

My mom with her girls.

Three generations holding on to their hats!

A belated Happy Mother’s Day to every mom out there!

I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into our tea party! Later this week I’ll round up all the tutorials, recipes, and print outs related to the party and put them in one big easy to reference post.

<3
Hattie