Happy Birthday Alice in Wonderland: A Mad Tea Blog Party

It's hard to believe that it's been 150 years since Alice first stumbled down that famous rabbit hole, and a century and a half later her antics are still enchanting us all. What better way to celebrate this auspicious "un" unbirthday than by joining a delightful group of fellow bloggers for 

A Fanciful Twist's

Mad Tea Party! 
Of course tea, cake, hats and animal friends are a must and with some easy DIY's, household props and sunny weather it's fun to turn your yard or porch into a fete worthy of the hatter himself.

Books, cards and clocks give a nod to the classic story

 cookies and colorful sweets round out the menu

no need for formality, mismatched tea cups add to the "madness"

a dapper March Hare shows up on time

A DIY Flamingo croquet set from last years party are at the ready for a quick match

instructions here: a-mad-tea-party

More tea cups suspended from tinsel string hold flameless votives 

should guests linger into the evening  

and the sun goes down

Down the Rabbit Hole Birthday Cake

Celebrate Alice's famous tumble with an easy but fun dessert that won't require  advanced baking skills or degree in the Culinary arts. I embraced the trend of "naked" cakes and skipped the full traditional frosting, instead using some fun accents and fresh berries.

You'll Need
the cake

A chocolate bundt cake (store bought or handmade)

 Store-bought Tube, or pastry bag of icing for adhering decorations

Berries and mint 
Dollar store or inexpensive doll of appropriate size
At the risk of sounding creepy I had to gently remove the legs to fit cake

 Luckily she came with a blue dress but I painted her pink shoes black, painted some white socks and glued lace to hem for more Alice-ness
Toad stools

I created toad stools with red velvet cookies divided in two atop marshmallows (a dollop of icing acts as glue) with white gel icing dots 
or try my Marshmallows Mushrooms from my woodland-tea 

Cake Banner

I found vintage images from the story on charming emilysimagegarden and added the text 
"we're all mad here!" 
Then glued to ribbon attached to skewers and inserted in cake

"Unbirthday" Hats

While the mad hatter sported an elegant silk topper for an un unbirthday, these classic festive paper versions are fun DIY alternatives.

Printables, trim and craft scraps add some wonderland flare to basic party hats and no need for perfection, for a mad party anything goes.
Images from one of my favorite go-to sources thegraphicsfairy.com

UnBirthday Giveaway

Whats a birthday without a gift?
 This year I will be giving away an Alice themed mixed media shadow box painting from my shop Le Beau Chaton. The painting was hand done in assorted paints and accented with embellishments and measures about 6 x 6 x 1 1/2"
To enter, please leave a comment and, if necessary, a way to contact you, and let us know you'd like to participate in the giveaway by July 19th. 
The winner will be announced the following week and can send their shipping information via the "contact us" button.

disclaimer: Not techy enough to install a raffle app or gadget, I will very unscientifically have one of our cats randomly select the winner from a printed list of entries- whoever the paw points to first will be our winner. The Dormouse will be on hand as a witness

Many Thanks to Vanessa of A Fanciful Twist 
for hosting her delightful parties!

For a link and list of the wonderful bloggers participating in this 8th annual celebration please click HERE.