Celebrate A "Very Merry Birthday" With An Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatters Tea Party Theme

A Mad Hatters tea party theme, what could be more fun! Celebrate in the great outdoors with a royal game of croquet. There is a lot of fun in store when everyone is mad for tea!

Mad Hatters Tea Party Theme Itinerary

As tea is generally considered an afternoon occurrence, an afternoon tea party is always in order, even if it is mad.

1:00-Guests arrive
1:30-Croquet begins with snacking on the tea and cookies
3:00-Unwrap gifts and serve cake
4:00-Guests depart

Mad Hatters Tea Party Theme Food

Lay out your Mad Hatters tea on an outdoor table. Be sure to serve several kinds of tea along with a variety of cookies. Scatter the trays and pots around the table to create a "mad" feel.

To add to the Alice in Wonderland ambience of your Mad Hatters tea party theme, serve rose topped cupcakes decorating some of them all white, others all red and some that are half red, half white. A "Painting the roses red!" placard can be placed near the cupcakes.

Mad Hatters Tea Party Theme Feeling

Reds, whites, pinks and black should dominate your Mad Hatters tea party theme. Welcome your guests with a sign fresh out of Wonderland by arranging arrows so that they point multiple directions, and are labeled: "This way", "That way", "Wrong way", "Up here", "Down here", "Party".

You can use any old wood you have around or take apart a pallet for your signs. Paint them white and scuff them with a putty knife or leave them looking like weathered wood.

To get the "mad" vibe going at your mad hatters tea party theme, choose one of the following quotes and write it on a chalkboard: "We're all quite mad here. You'll fit right in!"

"Have I gone mad? I'm afraid so. You're entirely BONKERS! But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are."

"We're all mad here, I'm mad, you're mad. You must be or you wouldn't have come here!"

One more great decoration which adds the right atmosphere is a "painting the roses red" wreath with red and white roses along with some white roses with a red tinge. Use cards and paint brushes with red paint on them to add to your wreath.

Making A Mad Runner

Party Budget: $175

Menu:

Tea
Cookies
Rose cupcakes

A nice touch to your table setting can be created using old books by making a table runner with the pages.

We were fortunate enough to find a beat up book which contained Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Remove the pages and lay them out in the shape of a table runner.

If you don't have Alice's Adventure in Wonderland, any old book will do. Using pages that have the iconic pictures of Alice, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, and the White Rabbit, double-back tape the pages together.

Tape it all from the front first and then turn it over to tape it on the back as well to make it extra sturdy. If you have made this in advance, it can be stored rolled up.

Utilizing A Side Table

Have a smaller side table with some other tea pots of tea and a couple of tea cups on it. You can make a Queen of Hearts table skirt with:

• Red and white tule
• Black plastic tablecloth
• Red construction paper

Put down the tablecloth and hang some white tule in the front with a strip of red tule on either side. Cut out three hearts from the construction paper. Tape or pin the red hearts down on the white tule and you're finished with your table skirt.

Another Wonderland touch is hanging books from a tree near your party. This implies the literary aspect of the story as the idea is from Lewis Carroll's book and Alice is reading a book when she falls asleep and into Wonderland, thus the books are haunting her even in her dream.

Decorating The Tables

And now for some "quite mad" decorations for the tables! With teapots steaming playing cards, "eat me" and "drink me" labeled goodies, cards everywhere, and book page table runner, your tables will look positively maddening!

Scatter the table with many cookies and other goodies labeled "eat me", and teas and other drinks labeled "drink me".

One last touch for the table is red and white roses with card arrangements. You will need to use a little vase and a big vase. In the big vase, place four cards around the edges with the faces facing out. Fill the second vase with the water and roses. Place the small vases inside of the big vases and scatter around the table.

Making A Teapot Centerpiece

Shopping List:

Twine
Teapot
Playing cards
Stout floral teapot (for the centerpiece)
Double-back tape
Plastic black tablecloth
Bean bags
Paint brushes (use them to paint and them put them in your wreath!)
White, black and paint
Old books
Red and white tule
Red construction paper
2 pieces of plywood
Costumes
Red and white frosting
Tea assortment

To make a teapot steaming out cards, you will need a few things:

• A teapot (a stout one works best)
• A deck of cards
• At least one old spoon you will not be wanting back
• Glue (I used hot glue, but it was a little difficult to get it to stick to the teapot)

Glue some cards to the bottom of the pot so that it looks as though some of the cards were on the table and the teapot was set on top of them.

Bend the spoon so that if its head is against the inside of the pot, the handle end will be in a good position for holding up the lid.

Glue the spoon first to the lid and then to the pot. It works best if you put a big blob on both the lid and the spoon and then press them together and holding it until it cools.

Cover the spoon with the cards. Glue two rolled cards coming out of the spout of the pot. Continue to glue cards coming out of the pot until you have used up the entire deck. Cutting little slits in them works great for stacking them into each other and making it a fluid piece of art.

Keep in mind that you are trying to make it look like the steam has turned into cards and position them accordingly. Steam would usually be affected by some small breeze, so make them all go in one direction; toward the spout looks best.

Mad Hatters Tea Party Theme Fun

Encourage your guests to dress as characters from Alice in Wonderland. These props and accessories are a great buy for your non-performing or creatively handicapped guests.

Your party focus will be the game of croquet. As there are only six players for croquet, it may be necessary to have other activities for those who are not playing.

A card bean bag toss or corn hole is a great side game. To make your own you will need:

• 2 pieces of plywood
• Red paint
• White paint
• Beanbags

Paint a piece of plywood like a three of spades and the other like a three of hearts. Cut the holes in the middle of the spades and hearts. Don't forget to make some sort of legs to keep them slanted!

A Mad Hatters tea party theme makes a very relaxed party as there is just tea and not really a true meal served during the party.

The tea and cookie table should be set near the croquet court so that the guests are free to eat and sip their tea in between turns or while they are watching.

Unwrap gifts and sing happy birthday after everyone has played a game of croquet.