Throw A Mad Hatter Tea Party!

Happy Monday! Today I'm excited to welcome a special guest, Scott Grayson, who is sharing a FANTASTIC idea for that special little one in your life. This will be an event to remember! Take it away, Scott!

 

Princesses often get the spotlight at little girls' birthday parties, but you can create a fantasy land without the pink dresses and tutus by hosting a party based in a different world. Host an Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter tea party for your daughter and wish her a very merry unbirthday.

Basic Essentials

For a sophisticated yet whimsical party, use bright blues, yellows and pinks when decorating. Invitations, table cloths and streamers should be covered in flowers and chevron stripes. Easy extras include colorfully bound books, ornately shaped glass candy holders, fabric wreathes and bouquets of flowers.

Instead of using fresh or silk flowers, make a bouquet out of eight circle cutouts of crepe paper or cupcake liners. Flatten the circles in your hand and poke two holes side by side in the middle of the circle. Run a pipe cleaner through the holes and wrap the short end around the top of the long end of the pipe cleaner that will serve as the stem. Puff out the paper to make it a flower.

Must-Haves

Obviously, the party must include several tea sets, colorful costumes for the girls to wear and a Mad Hatter birthday cake. If using ceramic or glass sets aren't an option, consider using ones made of tin or brass. Dollar stores generally sell inexpensive sets you could lightly coat in pink, yellow or blue spray paint. Other birthday supplies and party must-haves include girly top hats for the guests to wear, "potions" in whimsical bottles for them to drink and hanging clocks wildly ticking along the way.

Party Highlights

Before sitting down to enjoy a nice cup of tea, the guests need to dress in the proper attire and have goodies to munch on. Set up a transformation station where the girls can decorate paper accordion style hats with stickers, glitter, buttons and glue. Once they have their hats, help them decorate cupcakes and cookies. Make hardened frosting decorations ahead of time so the girls can top their goodies with small tea cups, hearts, flowers, hats, clovers, clubs or spades. Using a toothpick and white and black frosting, help the girls make clock faces on their cakes or even spell out the words "EAT ME."

Great Giveaways

Goody bags filled with playing cards, little bottles of potion and raspberry tarts will allow the guests to take a bit of the party's fantasy world home with them. If you aren't planning on using them for something else, give each girl a paper flower you made for decoration. For an activity and take-home souvenir, help the guests paint a tea cup of their own.

Memorable Moments

What they wear and what they eat will be party highlights, but the memorable moments will come from the activities in which the guests participate. Set up a scavenger hunt for the girls to complete or have them play croquet and a version of "Who stole the hearts?" For more active parties, design a tea-cup relay where the guests run back and forth trying to fill a teapot with a plastic tea cup filled with water. Instead of playing Duck, Duck, Goose, let the girls chase each other during Hat, Hat, Hatter. With the right sense of adventure, you can turn your Mad Hatter party into a wonderland.

Thanks to my guest, Scott Grayson, for sharing this fun and unique idea for a birthday party! We held a sort of impromptu tea party of our own, which was SO much fun! I'll be posting photos soon! Have a great week!