Alice Tea Party for under $300!

So lately there has been a SWELL in the number of repins of all my Abbey in Wonderland ideas and so I figured it was about time to share my Alice in Wonderland themed birthday party on a $300 budget.

The lovely pictures were taken by my adorable friend Holly at Artistic Anthology Photography. Thanks Holly!

I focused on more the Disney cartoon than the Tim Burton remake as it was a one year old party, but a lot of these ideas can work for both, or even just a backyard tea party. I hope some of this inspires you to create your own Wonderland. I'd love to hear about it and see the pictures! If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to help you out!

Our Wonderland signs were inspired by the cartoon and made using wood grain scrap booking paper, foam board and a sharpie marker. I simply glued the paper to the board, drew the signs and then cut them out. Total cost: $4

I made table center pieces using 2 yards of green felt that I cut into strips and sewed together to form a long table runner. I wanted to use astroturf but I never got around to it! Oops! I used glass vases, white roses painted red and plastic Easter grass, all found at Dollar Tree. I also printed up quotes from the Red Queen and matted them on Heart patterned Scrap Booking paper and used a wooden BBQ skewer to stick them in the vase. Each one cost me under $3.

I found the old Queen Anne chair at a thrift store years ago, and figured it would be the perfect addition to our party. The birdcage is another upcycle I had, I think I got it at Target a few years ago. It;s acutally a candle holder and the bird candle I got at Anthropologie in my younger single days. I made the mome rath signs the same as above. This is where we set up our silly photo booth.

We set up a candy and dessert bar on a picnic table and covered it in a table cloth I already owned. Each fishbowl cost me $1, and the candy was about 79 cents a box.

Another Dollar Tree centerpiece. This one with a Mylar flamingo balloon.

I love this chair!!

Dollar Tree cards, hole punch and Dollar Tree white curling ribbon makes an adorable garland. Cost me $2 and I have SO MUCH ribbon left over..

This bunting probably cost me the most time and money wise, but I honestly couldn't do without it! I bough a 1/4 yard of each fabric and made a bunting using THIS tutorial. I looked for Alicey themed fabric and found all sorts of things that worked. Look for things like keys, tea cups, checker, roses, mushrooms, flowers, cards, flamingos, cats, etc... total cost was around $23

This is one of my dessert plates. They were fairly easy to make, but more difficult to find the components. I had my mom, MIL and aunt scouring San Diego for tea cups, pots, bowls and plates and in the end I ended up using a mixture of our findings and some of my own Anthropologie plates. You can always check their clearance section, you can find great plates for a few dollars each. Thrift stores, swap meets and yard sales are all also great spots. I attached them together using Dollar Tree candle sticks and hot glue. Museum Wax also works well. The hot glue also made it easy to detach them, wash them and put the back into my cupboards. :) Total cost: about $3 each.

These were my rose garden cupcakes which I frosted using the Wilton 2D tip, starting from the inside and working my way out. It creates an amazing 3 second rose. I used good old Betty Crocker white cake mix (which I buy in BULK when it's on sale for occasions such as this) The total cost for the cupcakes was probably around $8 for 48 mini's. We had LOTS left over which I froze (unfrosted). The toppers were made using a scalloped punch on some images I printed out and Dollar Tree mini cards sandwiched together on a tooth pick with hot glue. $3 for SO MANY toppers.

Another candy bowl, and cake batter popcorn in the background. I made it using plain popcorn, coated in a mixture of melted white chocolate and white cake mix and adding sprinkles. So easy and delcious!

"Mommy Juice" summer white sangria. White wine, white grape juice, peaches and strawberries. DELISH! My favorite part of this is the Alice quote about "poison" marked bottles.

The dessert table still being set up for the party.

MOME RATHS! One of my favorite characters in Alice in Wonderland! I couldn't leave them out. They were made with colored popcicle sticks, googlie eyes and feather puffs. Cost us about $5 for 48 of them and my step daughter had a blast making them.

Ikea tea cups top the dessert plates.

I love the whimsy the dessert bar added. We also had little take out boxes for the "to-go" favors and everyone got to fill them with sweets and treats from the party. A few dollars for a sleeve of them at Smart & Final.

I made photo props out of felt and heavy cardstock and attached them with wooden skewers. We also had silly hats, glasses and mustaches to add to the mix. The kids had a blast taking silly pictures.

Our "Pin the Grin on the Cheshire Cat" game was a HUGE hit! This literally cost me about $2 to make. The smiles are made out of heavy card stock, and the teeth are simply drawn on with sharpie marker. Each kids name was written on the smile before they got their turn. I free hand drew the Cheshire cat from a movie still I found on Google Images and painted it one afternoon. It turned out a lot better than I could have planned.

This cake cost $20 and was amazingly delicious. We got it at Costco and added the cupcake toppers to make it more complete. We asked them to mix the red and white frosting to make the roses look "painted" red.

For food we served mini tea sandwiches, pasta salad, fruit salad, & potato salad. We labeled the drinks with "drink me" tags I made. We also made some tissue paper pompoms but it was so windy we could barely hang them in the trees. Cest La Vie! It was a great time anyway. Please share your experiences below! I'd love to see what you come up with!