Curiouser and Curiouser

Well hello!

These past two months have been crazy and exhausting, which is why you haven't heard much from my little corner of the world :P
It seems that at least one part of every year (if not more) I let myself get overwhelmed with life, which leads to me neglecting things I like to do. Blogging being near the top of the list. *sigh*

In my last post I believe I mentioned being in an Alice in Wonderland mood at the beginning of April. Well, you finally get to find out why!

I have been wanting to host an Alice themed tea party for like, EVER and I finally told my family that I would be hosting our Easter. With a twist :D

So naturally, I went all out.

Here we have the 'Drink Me' bottle which made Alice shrink, the 'Eat Me' cake which made her grow, and the key that magically appeared only AFTER she drank from the shrinking potion. Ironic, huh?

I read the 'Splintered' series during my party planning. I have to say I had high expectations for these and I was rather disappointed. There were a lot of things I liked about them, being Alice in Wonderland inspired and all, but the sexual innuendos and behavior of some of the characters made me not want to finish them. But I did, and I was very happy with the ending. By the way, I liked Morpheus better than Jeb in the end :) (I knew you'd be dying to know, Cait!) It was actually pretty tough to decide between the two, which I can't say the same for in other love triangles.

My collection of Alice books and decks of cards I found at a thrift store that reminded me of Wonderland.

THE FOOD! I made too much as usual, but it was gooooood. Lots of little tea sandwiches that Mom helped me make :)



I just made them up with ingredients I had. Here are the recipes if anyone is interested:

Cucumber Goat Cheese Sandwiches

1 loaf Gluten free or Regular Bread ,cut into fourths
8 oz. Garlic and Herb Goat Cheese (add a bit of water or milk to make it spread easier)
1 Cucumber, cut into thin rounds
1 bunch of Chives, cut into thirds
1 bunch of Dill, broken off into 1 in. sprigs

Take one of the bread pieces and spread on the goat cheese. Place the chive sprig first, then the cucumber, and top with the dill sprig.

Turkey Bruschetta Sandwiches

1 loaf Gluten free or Regular Bread, cut into fourths
1 pack of Turkey or another kind of lunch meat, also cut into fourths
1 jar of Bruschetta Spread
1 bunch of Parsley, broken off into 1 in. sprigs

Spread the bruschetta on the bread. Put the lunch meat on and then top with the parsley sprig,

Enjoy!

This was my second attempt at making petite fours and I was so happy with how they turned out!!!!!! They tasted AMAZING. I was quite sad when the last one was eaten. Definitely making more soon. Here is the recipe I used. I added vanilla extract instead of orange.

 

I found these plates, brand new and still shrink wrapped, at a thrift store a few years ago. I was saving them specifically for this occasion :)

         

I had a heck of a time finding these :P I looked everywhere EXCEPT the sugar aisle. I know. I figured they would be in the tea and coffee section but nooooo, they had to be in a logical place.



That's right, you aren't seeing things. Those are mushroom cookies, baby. A fellow blogger made a TON of Alice in Wonderland delicacies for a friend's party and she found this mushroom cookie recipe.

 

The dining room table. I made quite a mess! Also, my 'talking' flowers.



I had fun throwing them on the table :D

 

The 'Mad' Tea Party. I was so happy the weather cooperated with me! It wouldn't have been the same had I had to have inside. It was so warm being in the sun during the afternoon, that my brother actually fell asleep. At the table. I thought it was quite fitting for a mad tea party, and now I have blackmail pictures :D

 

 

My sister's contributed some of their dust collectors to complete the look :)

 

 

One of them even had this little dormouse-y fellow!

 

 

I made name place cards for everybody and I used my sister's collection of old keys to make it look cool. Did I mention some of my family dressed up for the occasion? *sigh* A dream come true!

 

 

I was Alice, of course. My sister, brother-in-law, and brother were 'cards' made from poster board. My Dad was the Mad Hatter. Mom was the Red Queen. My aunt and her friend dressed up as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. My nephew and nieces had bunny and mouse ears on. Everyone looked awesome and I'm so happy they agreed to dress up!!!! It's more fun that way.

 

 

My sweet husband consented without (much) complaint to be the Cheshire Cat, his favorite character! He even climbed a tree so I could take pictures :) I told him to give me his biggest, toothiest smile.

 

 

"I'm afraid so.You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are."

 

 

I had a mirror and a clock leaning against a tree. The roses are actually from Picmonkey since some of my siblings were in the reflection who have requested to not have their pictures shared on my blog.

 

 

I found this awesome contraption at a local boutique. It was a tea cup attached to a distressed bed post. Adorbs.

 

My red and white 'rose' bushes. I just stuck some fake ones in for the party.

Me and Chessie :D

 

 

I love these socks!

 

We ate delicious food, played croquet, set up an Easter egg hunt, had fun being crazy at the mad tea party, and basically had a smashing good time :) It was a blast.

 

A Taste of India

Hai!

At the beginning of this month I hosted a India themed tea party with some friends. It was a blast! I had lots of fun planning, researching, and watching Bollywood movies :D And of course, decorating! It's my thang, people.

My mom, sisters and I have been having tea parties with this particular group of friends for as long as I can remember, but originally they were always Anne of Green Gables or Little Women themes. Now we are branching out into other awesome themes too! For example, the other ladies threw a Alice in Wonderland tea party for my bridal shower last year!
 This tea party was kind of inspired by The Secret Garden, and since India is a big part of that book, I ran with it.

Hosting parties should be my JOB, guys. I'd like that kind of job.

Anyway, there are a lot of pictures, which is why I haven't posted this sooner :P You don't want to know how many times I tried to sit down and blog this month. Time has run away from me :P

So, pictures!

The Kitchen Table. And a random pineapple :D

My sister's colorful, heart-shaped tea cups.

Our Irises!

The Menu. My first time painting with chalkboard paint!

Dining Room Decor. I read 'The Secret Garden' before the party. Lovely stuff!

Table decor. The Indian woman is actually from India! My uncle (who was born in India) brought it back after one of his trips :)

Pretty peonies that Mom brought for the party :)

My little elephant. Have you ever seen 'The Secret Garden'? The twin sisters had twin ivory elephants in the movie and my sister and I have ALWAYS wanted to find some that were similar, and she did last year! She has the exact same one :)

My sister had this idea! We had first thought of draping fabric across the dining room ceiling somehow, but streamers were a much easier to work with :)

Childhood toys to amuse the kiddies with :)

Kiddie books and Henna books. I wanted to try Henna for the party, but then I discovered how long and messy the process is. Maaaaybe when I have 6-8 hours to kill :P

A globe in the dining room.

Nail polish of course :)

We always do a craft when we have these tea parties, and this was one of the two that I had planned.

I found this India clothespin doll idea on this lovely lady's blog! I tweaked mine a bit, just by using sari fabric and colorful pipe cleaners.

My doll!

This is my sister's :)

The main dish. It was yummy :)

My outfit.

My attempt at a model-like expression XD I ordered bindis for the party! Bindis are the jewel thingys they wear on their foreheads in India, if you didn't know. I didn't know what they were called until I researched them :D They completed the party!

FINALLY! The post is complete :) The party was awesome and as always I had tons of fun planning it! Hope this inspires you :)

Til next time!

Cheers :)