Wonderland Tea Party {Miss M's 1st Birthday}

I had so much fun planning this birthday party for my dear little girl. The ideas that I came across, some used and others not, were never ending and I loved how each person had their own take on the Wonderland Tea Party. I was able to grab ideas from many different places on the internet and was so excited to see it all come together for my one year old's birthday party.

The decorations were all either borrowed, re-purposed or made. The only things I purchased were the plates, cups and utensils (all eco-friendly products that are compostable). A few generous friends lent me some hanging paper lanterns that I hung on our patio out back. I used a few in other areas of the house as well including our mantel where I re-arranged our NOEL stocking holders to spell out ONE. I used some fabric I had on hand to make a pennant that I strung from the fireplace as well as from the kitchen as added decor. It was quite easy to make and I'm thinking about making it for other times of the year as well. The only item I purchased for the decor was the pinata because... lets face it... if I would have made it things would not have ended well.

Cherish Paperie designed the beautiful stationery found throughout the party including the Happy Birthday sign and the food labels. They even designed the beautiful invitations I sent out a few weeks prior to the event. I was amazed by how perfect all of the stationery turned out and was so excited that it fit my vision perfectly.

I tried to keep the food simple and traditional to a tea party. Below is the menu:

Sandwiches
Tuscan Tuna Sandwiches
Creamy Chicken Salad (my new favorite!)
Ham Sandwiches & Hay (ham on croissants)
Bread & Butterfly Sandwiches (sunflower butter & jelly)

Other Foods
Rabbit Food (veggie tray) with Cucumber Dip
Fruit
Mini Quiches
Salad

Desserts
Brownie Bites
Lemon Bites
Scones
Red Queen Red Velvet Cupcakes
White Rabbit Carrot Cake
Pink Party Cake

Drinks
Strawberry Lemonade
Iced Tea
Hot Tea
Coffee
Juice Boxes
Water

The little straws had drink me tags on them and the mini desserts had eat me signs as well to go with the theme. I got the idea for the drink signs from this pin here. I purchased the paper straws on Etsy from Making Memories Fun and got the idea for the tags from this pin here. I got the idea for the cake from this pin and decided at the last minute that I just didn't have enough time for the ribbon decorations for the frosting so I went with a simple, very unperfect frosting design and used sprinkles from this cake I found on the sides and top of the cake.

The recipe for this amazing cake can be found on my cooking blog under the Perfect Party Cake. And yes, I did use the same recipe from my son's first birthday. However I made a few minor changes with the filling and used a different buttercream recipe from Dorie's. It still turned out quite fabulous. My ever so talented friend Melissa of Le Petit Kupkak designed and baked up the yummy cupcakes for the event and I couldn't have been more pleased with the results. We are always excited to indulge in one of Melissa's cupcakes and I couldn't not have them at such a special occasion! Miss M seemed to enjoy them just as much as I do.

I purchased the stamped bamboo forks from etsy as well. The seller, Sucre and Spice, was amazing to work with and I'm already planning on ordering more for future parties we host should we need forks. She can put just about any phrase on the forks and uses different colored ink as well. We went with two phrases, "We're all mad here" and "curiouser and curiouser" and I loved how they turned out.

We also had a few activities for the kids to partake in. I already mentioned the pinata but we also had a jumpy house as well as bubbles and flamingo croquet in the front yard. The bubbles weren't really labeled very well but my plan was to have a caterpillar of some sort (you know... the one smoking the hookah?) and use bubbles instead of smoke. The jumpy was supposed to have a sign that read, "We're all mad here" as well but that didn't work out either :) The one thing that did work out wonderfully was the croquet set. It looked so great in the front yard and the kids had a great time playing.

It was simple to create too. I just used a pink boa, a few large playing cards I found at Party City, some black paper and a glue gun. The idea came from this pin here and was combined with this pin to create the final version.

I made some sugar cookies and frosted them as thank you party favors for our guests. Since I left frosting as a last minute job the frosting didn't quite dry on all of the cookies so I only ended up bagging a few. The rest were taken without the packaging but all of the cookies were consumed. I used the recipe from this pin for the cookies but wasn't quite sold on them for future events. And I got the idea to use CD sleeves to house the cookies from this pin.

Even with the craziness of putting the party together and all of the work involved in hosting it I don't think I would have done it any other way. We were surrounded by friends and family in celebration of a very special girl and I'm so happy to have her in our lives. I'm grateful to those who came to celebrate and to those who helped me create the birthday I envisioned.

A special thanks to Adrienne of Cherish Paperie for all of her hard work on the decor and Louise, Miss M's godmother, who scouted out tea cups and dishes at rummage sales, came early to help set up and do just about anything I asked her to. I'm so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life!