ONEderland & Mad THREE Party Celebration

Anticipating that Stella’s birth was going to happen right around Luna’s second birthday, I had decided to host an “unbirthday” party early, before Luna’s actual birthday, so that my then-two year old would still get her special day before her sister arrived. I went into full Alice in Wonderland tea party (is there any better sort of tea party, honestly?) mode and started dreaming up and purchasing decor, party ware, favors etc. 

Well, with the pandemic, those very merry unbirthday party plans were paused (check out the super intimate space-themed celebration we opted for, here). 

As a result, I essentially had the next 15 months to hoard collect all things Alice and prepare for what would become a joint birthday celebration — Stella in ONEderland & Luna’s Mad THREE Party. Here’s how everything came together, once we finally had the opportunity to celebrate. 

The Inspiration

I have always loved tea parties — going to Victorian tea houses, high teas at fancy hotels, etc. — and knew I already owned a lot of things that would be useful, like cake stands. Additionally, our backyard has a whimsical English garden vibe, too, with koi ponds, statues and ivy. Layer on the playful, youthful Alice “unbirthday” theme, and we’ve got ourselves a party. 

I took inspiration for the event color palette from the 1951 (oh, did I mention it also happened to be the movie’s 70th anniversary?) Disney animated movie and the corresponding Mad Tea Party ride at Disney World. I tried to weave the colors from the tea party scene and ride throughout the setting. I picked up paints in colors in this palette and got to crafting. 

DIY highlights from the party include:

Wooden letters (from Michael’s) spelling out “Eat Me” and “Drink Me” to decorate the food and beverage stations. 

Ceramic tea cup planters (from Oriental Trading) that made the Alice Disney theme front and center. When painting the planters, I tried to copy the color pairs (e.g., mint with periwinkle, yellow with coral, teal with purple, etc.) and abstract patterns from the ride, then GirlDad hit them with a clear sealant so they would be functional. The day of the party, despite all the imagineering I had done, I simply hadn’t had time to execute on all of my ideas. So, off to the store went GirlDad to pick up some potted plants to plop into the tea cup planters.

Inspired by this Pinterest post, I also picked up a variety of terra cotta planters with saucers to mimic the look of the Mad Hatter’s top hat. I spray painted them forest green, hot glued red satin ribbon around the base and used a calligraphy marker to write “10/6 in this style” on cardstock before slipping the card into the satin and securing it with more hot glue. (For background on the Mad Hatter’s famous hat, check out this). We ended up using the planters to line the back porch steps, from biggest to smallest, with the largest holding pretty pink flowers my mother-in-law gave me on Mother’s Day.

Using spray paint in pastel shades that coordinated with the tea cup planters and tablecloths, we also recreated the iconic “This Way, That Way…” sign. I drew arrows on cardboard to show the size and shapes I wanted and GirlDad cut them out on plywood. I spray painted the arrows and wrote on them in black sharpie. Then GirlDad attached them to a wooden dowel in a way so that the arrows could be tilted or spun around if we wanted to confuse Alice, I mean, our guests, even more. GirlDad stuck the sign into the ground at our garden gate, showing guests into the party area. Similarly, I picked up this wooden Uncle Sam hat sign from the post-4th of July clearance section at Michael’s and had a vision to also paint green and decorate it with the same ribbon and cardstock as used with the planters. It ended up being a cute decor item to hang in what became an impromptu photo backdrop and gift area. 

Additional Decor & Games

I had been planning to paint my mom’s old croquet set using the same colors as the tea cup planters, then attach lawn flamingos to them, but ended up finding this adorable child sized wooden set with rainbow trim from Target. GirlDad drilled holes in mini lawn flamingos I found on Amazon and set them up in a grassy area with a couple large lawn flamingos we already had. (I had every intention of gluing oversized playing cards to the hoops, but simply didn’t get around to executing. Being a working mom with two under two is no easy task!). 

Larger playing cards lined our fence to add to the backdrop. Additionally, I slipped faux white and red roses into large topiary trees that flank our front door year-round and set little red metal pails and paint brushes nearby to suggest that the Queen of Hearts’ playing card guard had just finished painting the white roses red. 

For partyware, we used a variety of floral paper tea cups and plates, printed doilies on cake stands, and fancy silver plastic cutlery. I also used paper plates and napkins with Disney’s version of Alice (versus the original book illustration) printed on them that I found at Oriental Trading.

Tables were covered in light blue plastic tablecloths with the outer ruffle skirts and the kids’ table was covered in an Alice themed blue tablecloth (all from Oriental Trading). I used black and white check fabric table runners I found on Amazon. Brass, antique looking skeleton keys doubled as table weights and decorations. The tea cup planters also decorated the tables. 


Children sat on pale pink chiavari chairs I ordered off of Amazon (with two daughters and a niece, I am bound to regularly need 10 miniature pink ballroom chairs, right? That’s what I told my husband when they arrived in two GIGANTIC packages. Besides, they are an investment if I ever do start a kids party planning business.) Luna was given a seat of honor at the head of the kids table in a rose colored, velvet wingback chair that I found at Home Goods when she was an infant.

Additional seating and decor was found in the whimsical mushroom seats my aunt made for a theatre production (tutorial to come). Additional impactful decorations included the rows of colorful paper lanterns strung overhead. I curated a collection of paper lanterns in colors, patterns and shapes inspired by the Mad Tea Party scene and GirlDad assembled and strung them from the porch to the tree. I absolutely love how they looked and tied together all of the fun colors found throughout the party! 

What We Wore 

 

Post-Halloween, I picked up two reversible Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee accessories sets on clearance from ShopDisney. It took some convincing, but good sports agreed to wear them for a few photos. Likewise, other guests agreed to wear adorable Meri Meri paper flower bonnets. (Pro tip: Surround yourself with people who indulge your over-the-top interests ;)) 

The girls’ outfits included blue Alice dresses with white pinafores from one of my favorite children’s clothing companies, Only Little Once. Luna wore black ballet flats from Target that she still affectionately calls her “Alice shoes” and Stella wore black t-strap Mary Janes from Bird Rock Baby. For hair accessories, I got both girls black bow headbands as well as these darling lace and flower crowns, both from Etsy. Plus, our favorite comfy but fancy lace ankle socks from Baby Gap. 

I wore a white and blue floral sundress from Gap with the pièce de résistance being my  custom fascinator from “Amber’s Unique Boutique” which Luna’s Godmother gifted me for Christmas. (She also – thankfully! – offered to arrive early to babysit so I could focus on getting ready. Clearly, she is is a true friend that “gets” me ;))

What We Ate

 

 

Party favors included pretzel rods that I dipped in pink melting chocolate then drizzled with additional shades of pink and purple chocolate. These treats were inspired by the Cheshire Cat Tail puff pastries sold near the WDW teacups ride. I packaged them in cellophane bags with tea bag tag shaped tags that I printed “Eat Me” on using a stamp I also ordered from Etsy (can you tell I really, really like Etsy??). Additionally, my mom made blue and purple chocolate flower pops and decorated them with sugar eyes as a nod to the singing flowers from the movie. 

Dessert included, naturally, an “unbirthday cake” that was decorated in pink buttercream and decorated with blue sugar flowers. I had purchased white and purple fondant to make a striped candle, but again… where does one find the time? So my mom made a similarly cartoonish, oversized candle using a small paper cup and melting chocolates. (Yes, she is very creative!). We also used my Nordic Ware rose cakelet pan to make red and white cakes. Additionally, my mother-in-law made “Eat Me” sugar cookies with a stamp I found on, you guessed it, Etsy, and my aunt brought homemade scones with cream and chocolate strawberry jam (yum!). 

 

My mom, mother in law, sister in law, aunt and I frantically assembled a variety of tea sandwiches right before the party. These included butterfly shaped cheese on white bread and “party rolls” with ham and cheese for the little guests. For the adults, we had traditional cucumber and chive cream cheese on party rolls; butter and watercress; ham salad, chicken salad and egg salad (I used this Downton Abbey inspired recipe); and others. We had a variety of beverages including soda and Arnold Palmers as well and wine, beer and hard iced teas for the adults.

Kids’ goody bags included pink or purple plastic teacup shaped sippy cups that doubled as their cups during the party; the Cheshire Cat tail pretzels; flamingo-printed blow up beach balls; flamingo shaped water guns; and Alice in Wonderland sticker sheets. I packed the goodies in small paper bags I found at Michael’s that had quirky designs like stripes or polka dots in shades of pink, green or blue. 

Reminiscing on the party, the craft I am most proud of is the set of ceramic tea cup planters. Since I had been dreaming up this party for so long, they were something I worked while pregnant with Stella, painting a cup or two whenever I had a moment. They also remind me of trips to Disney, including Luna’s first “big girl ride” and how as we walked up to the line as a family of three while discussing what to name Baby Girl #2. 

St. Lucia Day

I’ve always been enamored with Scandinavian culture. I had to have matching clothes with my Kirsten American Girl doll. I convinced my then-fiancé to enter — and subsequently place second in! – a Scandinavian Festival wife carrying contest (true story – thanks, GirlDad – the beer trophy was stolen from us). I have no less than two jars of lingonberries in my pantry at all times. But while my family is part Swedish on my mom’s side, I have never made St. Lucia buns, the saffron infused buns traditionally served by the family’s eldest daughter, clad in a white gown with a head wreath of candles, on the morning of St. Lucia’s Day.

Truth is, I still haven’t taken the plunge to bake these special buns… but luckily, my renaissance man of a husband’s latest hobby is bread baking, so it was easy to convince him to have a go at it. On Saturday night, he prepped the dough and got up early on the 13th, St. Lucia Day, to bake the “S” shaped buns known as lussekatter. He followed this recipe and per my request, added a teaspoon of cardamom, a flavor often found in Scandinavian cuisine that I am especially fond of. The buns turned out really well and made for a really fun and memorable holiday moment! 

 

While our eldest daughter is still too young to carry St. Lucia buns and hot coffee (or to balance candles on her head) to serve us a proper St. Lucia Day breakfast, we definitely want to incorporate this into our holiday traditions in the future. In  the meantime, she enjoyed dressing up and wearing what she called a “Christmas Crown” with what is now her Kirsten doll. 

Additionally, while Finland is technically Nordic vs. Scandinavian, that same weekend I also made one of my favorite winter recipes, Finnish meatballs. While I love Swedish meatballs (including those from IKEA), Finnish meatballs take things a step further by incorporating CHEESE! So on top of all that savory, allspice laden goodness you also get to enjoy ooey gooey bites of gouda! I like to follow this New York Times Cooking recipe. This time I made a small tweak by using rye bread instead of white because it’s what we had on hand. While I didn’t notice much of a difference in taste, I’ll probably continue to use rye in the future because it reminds me of a Christmas tradition on my mom’s side of serving cookies with caraway seeds.

 

I put extra buns in the freezer with plans to serve them again during the holiday season. Next time, alongside another Scandinavian favorite: glögg! 

 

“Angelica, Eliza…and LUNA!” – Fun with Historical Dress

“Work!”

One of the things I love about our neighborhood and area more generally is its historic charm. So when we were blessed with gorgeous September weather in November, we took the opportunity to walk to some of our local historic sites, many of which have ties to the American Revolution, to photograph Luna’s new Taylor Joelle Hamilton inspired dresses. 

When these dresses launched I couldn’t resist buying all three so I staggered the sizes so they would last us longer. While I expected the pink Angelica dress to be my favorite based on the color, I am really loving the shape of the gold “Peggy” dress. Luna fortunately seems to love them all and was thrilled to get to do some costume changes. The Angelica dress is currently too long for her, so I layered it over her Eliza dress for the photo op. Luna’s new “Create Your Own” American Girl doll from her Nana even got in on the fun wearing a dress I found on Etsy (I originally purchased it to put on my own childhood Felicity doll as her clothes are now missing, but it ended up being perfect for the occasion!). After Luna modeled the Taylor Joelle dresses, she even put on a 18th century cotton gown I bought her last year off of Etsy. She’s about to outgrow it so I was especially happy to photograph her in it and get it back into the dress up rotation – it’s something period appropriate that Stella can wear while Luna gets to be a slightly more glamorous Schuyler Sister. 😄

I’m really hoping we will be able to do a Colonial Williamsburg trip in the next few years and that the girls can wear their Hamilton inspired dresses there! I have fond memories of a family trip there when I was about 10 years old and would love to recreate the magic of stepping back in time with my girls. On my family trip 20+ years ago, my mom purchased some pieces from the venue’s costume department sale. I felt like Felicity in my pink peplum dress with white trim. (Funny story: While we walked around the park in our new costumes, the ox car driver snuck up and grabbed my brother by the collar. My brother thought he had done something wrong but the costumed employee exclaimed that he knew that vest – it had been his before he got a new costume and showed us where his initials were  stitched inside! We thought it was so cool we were wearing outfits that had such ties to Colonial Williamsburg.) My dress actually fit me until I had kids and a few Halloweens back I even dyed it to wear as Outlander’s Claire when she wears *the* red dress

With any luck, one day, when I can fit into that dress and when we can take vacations again, we will all get to visit Williamsburg and enjoy our colonial dresses together. I might even be able to convince my husband to break out his Jamie kilt… 

Front Porch Fall Refresh

I wish I knew who said, “My favorite color is October,” as I’d like to thank them for capturing so simply the beauty this time of year brings. I love seeing homes decked out with beautifully colored pumpkins, flowers and other decorations of the season. So when it came time to do a little seasonal sprucing up, I jumped at the chance to refresh our front porch. 

This year, I kept things simple and reused a green and cream velvet pumpkin wreath originally from Home Goods a few years ago. It goes so well with whatever color palette gets used year to year. 

The mums were a steal (3 for $12!) from my local ShopRite. I filled my trunk with four pots plus a large hanging basket. Unfortunately, I misremembered that it is my screened-in side porch that has hooks for hanging potted plants versus my front porch, so I’m not able to hang anything from the front of the house at this time. 

The pumpkins are the result of our three pumpkin picking outings this year. I’m really into mixing different colors and shapes of pumpkins with my personal favorite being the blue-green variety. White pumpkins are a close second and must have in my book. Additionally, I had to pick up a “Cinderella” pumpkin to commemorate Luna’s Halloween costume this year (more to come on that!).

The pièce de résistance, however, has to be my new “hope you brought wine” doormat from Target’s Threshhold™ line. With a toddler and a new baby at home, it is the perfect warning message to our guests (BTW, if you’re planning to visit, my fave this time of year is pinot noir) 🤣 

Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cakelets

Recently, Luna has been very into “hosting tea parties” with her “friends” (her dolls and plush animals) and this gray and rainy day was no different. I glanced over at her play table to find her laying out toy tea and tea cakes for her mermaids and ballerina dolls (#proudmom moment). So I asked if she’d like to help Mommy make little cakes. I think you know the answer 😄

 

 

When making cakes with Luna, I love using bundt and cakelet pans — it’s an easy way to make a simple recipe look and feel special. And since it’s the middle of October, it was the perfect opportunity to pull out my favorite Nordic Ware Pumpkin Patch Pan

 

While I love making cakes from scratch, when baking with a toddler it pays to simplify things. As such, I’ve learned to always have cake or brownie mix on hand (I also keep some cans of pumpkin in the pantry year-round, as the puree is a good alternative to eggs/oil/butter/water). Additionally, using cake mix allows us to go from “let’s bake!” to having a finished product quickly and easily (I’ve learned the hard way that saying “cake” in front of Luna and then having to wait an hour or more until she can eat said cake is never a good idea…). 

 

Anyway, when I asked Luna what flavor cake she wanted — chocolate, vanilla or pumpkin — to my delight, the winner was pumpkin! Here’s the recipe we made up as we went along:

 

  • One box white cake mix
  • One 15 oz. can organic pumpkin
  • 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • A splash of vanilla (as Ina Garten says, it’s important to use “good vanilla”; my favorite is Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract) 
  • ½ cup mini chocolate chips (because why not?) 

 

I let Luna mix the ingredients and finished combining them in the stand mixer. I then sprayed the pan with Pam Baking Spray — a key step when using a detailed pan — and baked the cakelets at 350 F for about 20 minutes. 

I think they came out really well — they slid out of the pan easily, have a nice texture and a good cake to chocolate chip ratio. Luna seems to agree, as she helped herself to a second cake almost immediately after devouring her first. And after the scent of freshly baked pumpkin chocolate chip cake lured my husband from his office, he also gave them his seal of approval, calling the texture “spongey, in a good way.” I think this isn’t the last time we’ll make pumpkin chocolate chip cakelets this season!

Some napkins capture ideas, others inspire them

My husband (let’s call him by his alter ego, “Igor”) will tell you I have a themed paper goods hoarding problem, but I like to think of it as a collection or investment. To me, the right paper plate or cocktail napkin is an inspiration. Finding the right pack of napkins at Home Goods or the Christmas Tree Shops, for example, kicks me into high gear planning a menu, tablescape and even attire for a themed party. 

Here are some examples of when one small cocktail napkin or other design element sparked an idea for an entire event: 

Old world wine cork napkins – the inspiration for the joint 30th birthday party for my friend Anne and I. With our birthdays in late November and early December, respectively, a wine harvest bacchanal themed event was fitting. Plus, it gave us an excuse to host a toga party. One of these days we intend to class it up and celebrate our birthdays with a Napa Valley wine tasting tour.

Banana leaf plates/napkins – these fun paper goods have been central to our semi-annual Cuban Dinner Party, which started as a way of exploring our Cuban American friend Carlos’ family recipes. While the roast pork is typically the star of the show, the evening has also included cigar tastings and a reading of a play written by our guest of honor (I’m afraid we didn’t do it justice #mojitos).  Since the last time we partied around this theme, I acquired from Home Goods a set of palm print melamine plates that I can’t wait to use for the occasion. I can taste the Yuca con Mojo now…

Princess evites – This adorable Paperless Post evite design by meri meri, one of my favorite brands, was the impetus for my older daughter’s first birthday party. More to come on that party soon. 

Outer space plates/napkins – another meri meri home run, the “To the Moon” paper goods suite was the perfect fit for Luna’s second birthday gathering. To learn more, check out my “Two the Moon Party” post. 

Whenever I see paper goods I think could be the central design element of a party, I buy and store them away in my designated party supply bins. It is now safe to say I could host no less than 4 children’s birthday parties on a moment’s notice! 

Two the Moon Party

With COVID-19 and the birth of our second daughter (“Stella”), we knew hosting a big party for Luna’s second birthday was not in the cards. Some creative thinking, however, enabled us to still mark the occasion in style through a hybrid virtual/intimate in-person party. Embracing a “Two the Moon” theme, we set up a command center — aka a laptop and monitor — so that the NASA jumpsuit wearing birthday girl (who we told guests was not available in person due to her previously scheduled space mission) could video conference with family and friends. Simultaneously, we hosted close, local family on our screened in porch and continued the theme with our decorations and menu. 

Our tablescape included a black table cloth dotted with rose gold star confetti as well as star shaped twinkle lights, meri meri star wands and some vintage Star Trek memorabilia I borrowed from my sci-fi loving husband’s childhood collection. We also had silver and rose gold star/moon/2 balloons anchored by iridescent weights (the balloons were a HUGE hit with Luna who carried them around the house for weeks following her birthday!). 

We snacked on galaxy cake (well, two galaxy cakes – my mom and I made a back-up in case we failed our mirror glaze attempt), star and moon cookies, moon pies, moon cheese, a rocket shaped cheese and crackers platter and our favorite Luna malbec. (I had also wanted to serve freeze dried ice cream and Tang, but decided we had more than enough for our small in-person gathering.)

I found this cute “Two the Moon” cake topper on Amazon for the main cake and on a whim, quickly made another topper by pressing bamboo skewers into the backs of iced and sprinkled star and moon cookies while they cooled for the secondary cake (more to come on these cookies in a separate post). For favors, we stuffed these cute rocket shaped boxes with miniature Milky Way candies. 

Overall, we managed to have a perfectly themed and memorable night while adhering to social distancing measures. I’ll call that a success!