Our Own Little Wonderland!

We just celebrated Tinsley & Avery's birthday parties. Tinsley's birthday was July 17th & Avery's, well, here's isn't until August 13th, but we decided to throw a join party for the both of them & decided on July 24th. For those who don't know me well enough, I can't seem to do anything the EASY way. The last several years, I've picked a theme, bought decorations, & made the girls' cakes myself. This year was no different. Though it's not old, the girls saw the movie Alice in Wonderland for the first time this year, followed by the new version starring Johnny Depp. Avery's a little too young to care, but Tinsley loves the movie. It got me thinking...Why not have a Madd Hatter Tea Party...

Tinsley loved the idea & I ideas had already started flowing. Mom & I hit local flea markets, Helping Hands, & Good Will looking for the perfect "real" teacups, saucers, & tea pots. I was lucky enough to score some great decorations such as tea pot & flower shaped flowering pots & fake flowers. The last bid detail was the characters. I called my old boss to borrow his projector. Mom & Dad came over one afternoon & helped me trace characters we found on the internet onto foam board. Next, was the painting. All in all, drawing, painting, & cutting them probably took us a good 2 days...

Even John got in on the action. He's a pretty good helper. There he is helping paint Alice.
The Red Queen

The Cat

The Smoking Catepillar

The White Rabbit

The Madd Hatter

Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum

We bought about 12 teacups & saucers in all. Each one was completely different from the other & we got some GREAT deals on them. I wasn't sure what I would do with them afterwards, but some of them are so pretty, I think I'm going to hang onto them.

Our "EAT ME" cupcakes in Chocolate.

John helped make "DRINK ME" tags for the fruit punch.

Trini & Tinsley posing w/ Alice. We had the party set up in the yard. It was so hot, but I don't think the kids cared one bit. At least there was shade & we set up a few canopies for the adults.

I saw Avery checking out the March Hare & had to snap a picture of her. She loved them.

Trini

Miss Ella

Tinsley

Keegan

Aiden

The kids enjoying sweet tea, fruit punch, mini sandwiches, fruit, pinwheels, & laughing it up with each other.

Avery's Cake!

The AMAZING cakes. With all the prep work that we did this year, I just couldn't take on the cakes. I contacted this kid that I heard did awesome cakes. His name is Dylan & I think I put him to the test. I sent him some ideas to work from & told him about our theme. He did a great job. Each was Strawberry cake & tasted delicious!

Tinsley's Cake

Each one was topped with a sparkler instead of candles. We handed out little poppers to all the guest. We sang Happy Birthday to the girls while the sparklers were going & ended the song with a bang & streamers from the little poppers!

Avery playing with the streamers. I think both the girls had a blast. After most of the guests left, we had a good old fashioned water balloon fight to cool us all off. John convinced Tinsley to go get my Mom. When he wasn't looking, she came at him with the bucket of ice water that the drinks were chillin in! Needless to say, she took him quite by suprise. I wish I had gotten a picture of that one! What a great day for two of the best girls in the world! Happy Birthday Tinsley & Avery. We LOVE YOU BOTH so much!