One-Derland 1st Birthday Party

Description

Aleksandra celebrated her 1st birthday party with a Wonderland theme.  A majority of the decorations were handmade or handpicked.  This was certainly a labor of love for our little princess.

Design Inspiration

It has always been a childhood dream of mine to throw a Wonderland themed party.  I love the whimsical look of things and what better way to do 'whimsy' than with Wonderland.

Decorating Style

Whimsy and Colorful

Project Details

Happy Birthday Banner - handmade using the Cricut die cutter and colorful patterned paper from Archiversonline.com   Highchair Tutu - Handmade this using a YouTube tutorial on how to make a no-sew tutu.  Tulle purchased from Michael's craft store (in the wedding section) as well as the white linen used to make the 'apron' portion of the tutu (for the Alice in Wonderland twist).   Teacup Tier - Design Your Own Tea Cup Planters purchased from amazon.com.  Hand-decorated using ribbons/foam stickers/paint from Michaels craft store.  The top level of the teacup tier was filled with moss and handmade candy lollipops and nylon butterflies glued throughout. Giant Teacup Centerpiece - Giant teacup planters purchased from amazon.com and also hand-decorated using foam stickers and crafts from Michaels craft store.  At the top of the centerpiece, I fill the top teacup with giant silk flowers and candy lollipops that I handmade by gluing candy pieces on foam balls and stuck in a dowel rod with nylon butterflies glued throughout.   Mini tree name tag holders - Purchased from Michael's craft store, found in the wedding section.  The food labels I printed myself and used sparkle cardstock to border it purchased at Target.   Grass square runner - Purchased from oriental trading company.  These actually piece together to make a runner.  I actually split the pieces up and put one square on each guest table as a centerpiece base.   Mini watering can - Purchased from oriental trading company.  I bought fresh flowers and filled each one with them and stuck googly eye stickers in the center, also purchased from Michael's craft store.  This watering can was then placed in the middle of the grass mats.   Topiaries - I made both candy and moss topiaries.  I used foam balls and foam cones from Michael's craft store and covered them with either candy or moss, using a glue gun.  Stuck a dowel rod into the foam and covered with ribbon.  The base of the topiaries were small polka dot buckets purchased from Oriental Trading Company and filled with green foam and covered with moss.  The one topiary that stood out was the 'white rose bush' - for this I purchased white silk roses from Michael's craft store and chopped off the stems and stuck them into a foam circle.  Then I bought red paint and 'painted' half of the roses red going along with the theme.  I also stuck the paint brush in the base of the topiary for fun.   Water bottle labels - as well as 'drink me' and 'take me' tags were purchased from myownlabels.com.   Favors - White and Black metal baskets purchased from the Dollar Tree.  Filled with "1" sugar cookies that I baked myself (cookie cutter purchased from amazon), headbands (that were made by the girls at a 'make your own headband' station), and an ornament (since the party was taking place around the holidays).  For the kids that were too young to eat sugar cookies or make headbands, I filled their favor basket with infant gerber snacks and a sippy cup.   Invites - Designed and printed by Lynda at greenstarcreative.com.   Desserts - Made by Meg Hummel McGraw from http://www.modifiedmargaret.com/index.html   Photography - Renee Boccasile (http://www.wix.com/itlngal2003/reneemariephotography)

Favorite Items

My favorite item has to be the cupcake tier.  I really enjoyed decorating each of the teacups and transforming them from something plain and white to something very wonderland-ish.  I also had fun creating the tops to the tiers - I wasn't quite sure how to go about making the mini candy lollipops but once I started gluing, it just all came together!

Advice

If you're trying to do a Wonderland party, one thing to keep in mind is that nothing has to match!  The more random, the better.  I did try to stick with a color 'theme' just because I wanted to stay within the same 3-4 colors, but in terms of buying items and decor, there are so many options out there.