Playin' with the Queen of Hearts. . .

. . . [definitely] knowin’ it ain’t really smart! 

For the Id's birthday we had an Alice in Wonderland meets Brave meets Tangled Party.  Just like her momma, she couldn’t decide.  And, I admit, it was definitely overindulgent, but she's the baby and I’m not sure who had more fun, Mommy or the Id.  Probably mommy, as you'll see below.  Of course, all week mommy’s been trying to dodge the “how much did this cost?” questions from Husband from Heaven.

Before I get to my lessons, I have to give a huge shout out to my friend Melinda who is an absolute genius at parties and if you ever need someone for any type of event, let me know and I will hook you up with her.  From the pictures below you’ll see how fabulous Melinda is! 

Here’s what happens when you fall down the rabbit hole of your child’s birthday party . . .

1  1) You may want to re-negotiate your arrangement with the birthday girl when you agree to dress up in costume and instantly find out just how f*&$ing hot it was in the 70’s when polyester was all the rage!  Hosting an outdoor party when it is 90 degrees outside and you’ve decided to wear a polyester costume with knee high stockings is about the dumbest thing you can do to yourself.  I KNEW I should have gotten the Alice costume from playboy.com.  At least that one would have had built in air conditioning.

     2) When your husband asks you “really, you’re serving alcohol at a 6 year old birthday party?!”; you MAY want to take a moment to re-think the decision.  Otherwise, you may find that toward the end of the party after you and YOUR friends have enjoyed yourselves, one of the aforementioned friends MAY put an “eat me” sticker on your @$&.  Thank goodness for my friend Cindi who brought this to my attention.  Of course, I won’t tell you where I then put that sticker because my mother and mother-in-law are reading!!  Lets just say that spiked lemonade can only lead to big trouble.

This is the best picture I could find of the "Eat Me" signs.  Plus, it shows how a. . . dorable the cupcakes were!

      3) When your 10 year old asks you for RED lipstick so she can put it on her sister, PAY ATTENTION!  I absentmindedly handed the Superego a tube of bright red lipstick not thinking about the fact she was about to “accessorize” her sister’s costume.  She decided that rather than just apply lipstick, she would make a lipstick “heart” on her sister, “just like the movies”.  Of course, you can’t see the heart, it just looks like a big red blob!!!! 

The dress lasted 30 minutes and the crown 15! 

      4)  When you allow your children to be Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, show them the original Disney version of Alice in Wonderland.  Despite multiple photos of the smiling twins, our girls decided they were Tweedle Angry and Tweedle Absolutely Pissed Off!  Oh, and the Queen of Hearts refused to make an angry face and only wanted happy faces.  Yep, we've officially fallen down the rabbit hole!

      5) Spiked lemonade should NEVER be served around bounce houses.  Lets just say that just before the bounce house company came and took the house away, Alice MAY have jumped in there with one of her unnamed friends and such friend's 5 year old and bounced their hearts out.  Alice realized that she definitely needed to work out more after that!!!  It was exhausting.

     

      At the end of the day, we had a pretty great party.  Like I said, I think the adults had just as much fun as the kids.  Since I don’t yet “Pinterest”, I figured I’d post some of the photos here of what we did.  Maybe they can inspire you . . . to simply talk your kids into going to Disneyland and seeing Alice in person rather than having a party!  Cheaper and less brain damage – shhhhhhh, don’t tell Husband from Heaven.

Step 1: 

Entertain as the kids arrive:

I didn't get a good picture of the kids at the craft table, but below are the crafts they did.

"The Queen has requested that her roses be painted RED!  If you don't help, it's off with your head."

Pascal blower that we made from the Family Fun instructions.

Merida hair that we borrowed from http://kidsparties.about.com/od/birthdaypartythemes/ss/Brave-Party-Crafts-And-Favors.htm

Step 2:

Host an Alice in Wonderland Tea Party

I cannot believe I got HfH to agree to wear that hat!  I'm not posting a picture of the kids at the party because I don't have all their parents permission, but just picture 20 kids around this table!!  It was madder than a hatter's party!  :)

We also used these cookies as a favor.

This was just too cute not to include.

AMAZING individual cake for the Queen made by the mom of one of the Id's friends.  If you ever need one, let me know and I'll hook you up!  For the rest of the kids we did cupcakes.

Party favors were inside "Mad Hatter hats".  We borrowed the idea from  http://www.thepartyanimal-blog.org/alice-in-wonderland-mad-hatter-hat-party-favor-boxes/.  , but ours were much cheaper with materials purchased at Michaels and with the colors to match our color scheme.  Thanks again to Melinda for her creativity.

In my wildest dreams I wouldn't have put together this beautiful table setting.  Also, you can't see it too well, but at the top of the setting is an edible tea cup, the idea we borrowed from, where else, but Disney Family Fun.  Again, huge thanks to Melinda for creating.

A Queen needs her throne!  (re-upholstered and painted by Melinda, of course)!

These were too cute not to include.  This was all Melinda, so I have no idea where she got the patterns, but they are amazing.

 Step 3:

Host your very own

Highland Games Tournament

The picture I took with the kids didn't turn out, so you can just see the sign we had.  :)

Archery!

Hammer Toss - Not sure axes in the hands of small children was a good idea, but after the bows and arrows, we were on a roll!

The Queen in her Highland Games outfit!

Caber Toss

Including this photo of my friend Nanci demonstrating was too good to pass up!

Maide Leisg - no clue what that means, but if it means drag your friend over a bar  and really enjoy it, that's what we did.

Step 4: 

Fun with Flynn Rider and Rapunzel

Of course, before enjoying the bounce house, you must . . .

Pin the frying pan on Flynn Rider.  Borrowed this from Paging Supermom

 A party wouldn't be complete without Tangled Jello Boats.    Also borrowed this idea from Paging Supermom.  However, rather than using sticks to hold the oranges and paper sails, I decided to kill two birds and use a plastic spoon.  Surprisingly to me they turned out fantastic.

Step 5:

Favors, of course!

We had "Eat Me" cookies and "Drink Me" bottles in the Mad Hatter hats.

"Brave" Bows and Arrows.  These were pieces of sh*t that don't work.  I got them from Rhode Island Novelty and I'll never use them again.  Not only was the product horrible, they came a day late to the party so I spent the better part of the last week getting them to the kids who attended.

And finally, water colors that say "Paint like Rapunzel".  Again borrowed from Paging Supermom.  

Step 6: 

Let the Queen have her cake and eat it too!

You know it's been a great party when the cake looks like this at the end of the night!!!!

Step 7:

Mommy finishes off the spiked Lemonade and passes out like Sleeping Beauty!!!  Oh, wait, wrong princess!