A Very Merry Un-Birthday

A Very Merry Un-Birthday to me to you?! Lilianna has become a huge fan of Ever After High Dolls, particularly Maddie Hatter (daughter of the Mad Hatter). She wanted Nana to make her a Maddie Hatter costume for Halloween. That is really how her birthday party theme came to be.

Nana found a pattern for her costume, instead of trying to design her own. Maddie's colors are teal, purple, gold & black which I decided to use as her party colors. Nana & Papa were coming down for the last 2 weeks in October to babysit & we decided that since they would be here to help, Lilianna had Oct. 31st off of school, we would throw her Halloween Birthday Bash that day. It was the perfect day for a Mad Hatter Halloween Birthday Bash!

The Friday before the party, we had the kiddo's pictures taken in their Halloween costumes. Since Nana did such an AMAZING job we had to photograph it! Post to come.

I've been told that it's weird for grown adults to dress-up for Halloween with their kids....well I'll embrace my weirdness & enjoy dressing up until my kids don't want me to. I found some time, one Saturday, & created my Halloween costume. I too was a Mad Hatter.

The invitation I found on this website. They did a cute Adult Halloween Mad Hatter party. I really got inspired from this party, which really helped with party ideas. I was able to get free printable, including the invitation.

The Birthday Girl ready for her party :)

We cannot have a Mad Hatter party without the crazy signs telling you which way to go! My board on Pinterest gave me this idea & then I created my own in the party colors.

The tea pot I found at Home Goods on clearance for like $5. The books were from the thrift store, the DI, as well as the tea cups and saucers. I already had the keys from Tia's wedding, as well as the little tree & drink me potions. The Playing cards came from here. I also already had the little white table, as well as the vintage hat box.

Royal Croquet
I found an old croquet set at a garage sale for $10. I drew & painted the characters. The idea came from this birthday party. The kids really enjoyed playing croquet!

The boys loved playing croquet! they were getting a little competitive!

The kids playing croquet.

Nana helping Ellis getting dressed for the party. Costume was optional but definitely encouraged! 

Lilianna & Papa waiting for the guests to arrive.

We invited some little friends for Ellis, so we decided to have a kiddie table.

The kiddos at the kiddie table. They were so cute!

Chase the White Rabbit Ring Toss
I was trying to think of at least 3 different activities that the kids could play. One was a game I found that was a ring toss called Chase the White Rabbit. The Kids had to throw rings, which were made out of craft rings. The jars were old mason jars I had lying around. If they got three rings around a jar they received a prize which were sugar cookies shaped as keys.

Mad Hatter Hats
The final activity was making Mad Hatter hats our of take out boxes. The kids LOVED this activity! I really wished we got a picture of all the kids wearing their hats. I found the idea here & here & then I did my own take on the hats. We found the take out boxes at Michael's in an assortment of different colors. I found the headbands at the Dollar Store. From there I took to circles cut out of card stalk paper. I then folded one of the circles in 1/2 & punched a whole in it. This allowed the headbands to slide through. I then hot glided the circles together, as well as the boxes. They turned out really cute & both the boys & girls enjoyed making their own hats!

Decorations

The party decorations came from all different places: around my house, from friends & family, as well as thrift stores. My mom & I went to both the D.I. as well as the Goodwill. We found teacups, sauces, the cake platter, books, etc. from there. They added that little vintage touch that I was looking for. The great thing is, I was able to use the items around my house! Score :)

The Cake
My adorable friend made the cupcakes & turned out amazing! She always does a great job!! We ordered the round mini cake from Walmart ( we did the same thing for Ellis' birthday as well.). It cost us $6 for the little cake. Totally worth it!

I accidentally bought the wrong size of treat boxes for the hats, so we used them as favors. They were filled with Hershey Kisses & decorated with an Eat Me tag & ribbon. Very Alice in Wonderland.

Opening presents boy did Lilianna get a TON of really nice gifts! Such a spoiled little lady!