I have had many people come into the shop and ask how to put together a Mad Hatter's Tea Party or an Alice in Wonderland Party. Most people come up with the idea, for the Mad Hatter's Party, of a pretty vintage china table setting on a white tablecloth with some pretty floral napkins. Where we can help is with the inspiration to jazz it up a little. The white tablecloth can be very pretty but we suggest adding some 'unusual elements' so it's not too mature and adds some excitement. Remember it is supposed to be bonkers! ;).
Drawing from the book by C.S Lewis and looking at the illustrations of the Tea Party, you will indeed see the Mad Hatter sitting around a lacey table clothed table with vintage china. But why not draw from the characters, their physical traits, clothing and all the goings on and descriptions in the book. Go with the madness and creativity, to create something colourful bright and fantastic! :) If you are drawn to the vintage look, we have a delightful range of products in our 'love in the afternoon' range, very pretty and elegant. You can draw inspiration from Alice herself, her pale blue dress (light blue tablecloth) and white apron (white cloth/lace tablerunner) and dot red hearts around, on bottles, place cards or napkins, or even on sticks stuck into floral displays!
Starting with your table, why not go with a lime green or purple tablecloth as your base?Lime green looks fantastic with hot pink, oranges, violets, aqua blues (like Absalom the caterpillar) and yellows, or to draw inspiration from the 'Tim Burton' version, go with the purples, mauves and blues as your base. A mix of different coloured plates, or even gold tableware to give it an extravagant touch, you can even spray paint some old china cups or teapots and create fantastical centrepieces with them by stacking them on each other! Our Truly Alice range also has multiple products to bring the theme to your table, including plates, cups, napkins, placecards, and cake stands. Multi coloured feathers in the centrepieces, our colourful felt flowers in pots or a crazy teapot display, sitting on a black and white damask tablerunner or a brightly coloured one. Zany spots and stripes on your plates and cups. Wind up caterpillars crawling across the table, ladybugs spinning and butterflies fluttering, or crazy wind up cats whizzing around the table, will add to the fun and frivolity!
Mix up some different coloured lemonades or milkshakes inside mini milk bottles and add zany touches with stripey and spotty straws, maybe with a little ribbon tied around them. Use our butterfly stickers on the milk bottles, or place on little mirrors on the table, so the children can enjoy the magical reflections. Sprinkle bright sparkly scatters along the centre of the table, or up your pathway to your door. Give your children blowers with ribbons and feathers attached, or get them to create them as a craft game.
Dot your room and party table with little clocks and keys, or massive oversized gems and rings. Place little boxes around with treats or cookies in, that say 'Eat Me'. Apothecary/candy jars look awesome set up on your main party favour table, with colourful sweets, ribbons and tags. Our little blackboard tags lend themselves perfectly to an 'Alicey' feel, just write little notes of Eat me and Drink me on them. Hanging colourful pom poms above the table will look amazing, you can also add colourful ribbons, just tie them around the middle before you start to unfold your pom poms and they will spill out of the pom pom to give a very beautiful look! :) Hang butterfly pinatas , strawberries and rainbows! We also have some Truly Alice Scene Setter Signs to lead your guests to the tea party.
When it comes to to saying goodbye, send your little guest's home with cute little treat boxes or colourful bags of goodies that match your theme, we have plenty of exciting things to choose from.
With respect for their amazing creativity and inspiration to : ohparty.net , laura winslow, collider.com, how-do-it.info, fantasticando.blogfree.net, 4.bp.blogspot.com, kamibuchanan.blogspot.com, accenttheparty.com, 3.bp.blogspot.com, Talking Tables