Selected as Party of the Day on July 20th!

Grayson's Mad Hatter in ONEderland

Lauren V By Lauren V  in Birthday

Drinks

Party Recap

We were so excited to celebrate our son Grayson's first birthday and the theme we chose was The Mad Hatter in ONEderland. The theme was inspired by a Mad Hatter hat that we picked up on Grayson's first trip to Disney World when he was 3 months old. Grayson was surrounded by 30 of his closest family and friends to celebrate his special day.
As the guests arrived the entrance was covered by an oversized painting of a door knob and a set of hanging keys. We held the party in our backyard and had a tent put up which helped keep the guests cool from the hot summer sun. Since Grayson was one of the youngest children there, we decided to create activities that all the kids could enjoy. To start we played a round of Queen of Hearts Croquet. I painted a large Ace of Hearts Card and created heart card wickets for the course. Then we made our own Mad Hatter Hats, and played pin the grin on the cheshire cat. The children then had to find 3 cheshire cats hidden around the yard and return them to Mad Hatter Grayson. They then had a Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum sac race, followed by the Mad Hatter teacup races. We then headed over to the caterpillar bubble blowing contest where each child had their own bubble pipe and competed to see who could make the biggest bubble. After that we reached the kids favorite activity, Down The Rabbit Hole. I took styrofoam, a beach bucket, hot glue and a moss table runner and created a rabbit hole. I lined the characters on top and they used water blasters to knock them into the bucket. Such great fun.
The decorations under the tent were all hung by fishing line to give the illusion that the lanterns, clocks and keys were floating. The drinks and straws were adorned with "drink me" tags and labels all provided by Amy from Party Invites. She did an amazing job creating all the activity signs, favor tags, photo props, and eat me dessert table cards.
Besides my little Mad Hatter, the other center of attention was the dessert table. The back drop was made from folded card stock paper that I stapled and hot glued to a poster board. The banner was created for me by So Cute Parties on Etsy. The table had our Alice in Wonderland Vinylmation collection scattered around the desserts. First you had the Queen of Heart apple pie pops, then the brownie mushroom pops, rice krispie treat cards, a cheshire cat cake, ice cream served in tea cups made from sugar cookies, ice cream cones, and a jelly ring. And, of course, the center was a Mad Hatter smash cake for Grayson and Onederland cupcakes for all, topped by my toppers from my shop LIVCreativity on Etsy.
The day couldn't have been more perfect for us as a family. Grayson had a wonderful time and so did all the guests.

Idea

Party Highlights

  • Desserts

    The dessert table included cupcakes, cheshire cat cake, apple pie pops, brownie mushroom shaped pops, teacup ice cream, rice krispie treats, and an assortment of candies.

  • Party Favors

    The adults went home with a key shaped bottle opener and the children went home with a bubble kit.

  • Activities / Games

    The kids had tons of activities a make your own hat station, pin the grin on the cheshire cat, Queen of hearts croquet, find the cheshire cat, teacup races, sac races, down the rabbit hole, and a bubble blowing contest.

  • Budget

    Party was about $500 the tent was an extra cost

  • Best Moment

    Was watching Grayson take his first bite of cake!!

  • Funniest Moment

    When the children took the water shooters from down the rabbit hole and started spraying the adults.

  • Most Touching Moment

    Grayson being able to celebrate his day with his Great Grandparents!!

  • Best Dressed

    Grayson in his Mad Hatter Hat

  • What People Ate

    We enjoyed Pasta, Sausage and Peppers, BBQ Pork, Hero, and Salads.

  • What People Drank

    The children loved their special "drink me" bottles (kool aide) While the adults enjoyed beer, wine and sangria

Hand

Party Helpers

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16 comments

  • Peter V

    Peter V wrote:

    What a great party it was.... My wife did any amazing job with baking and her creativity...

  • Kim T

    Kim T wrote:

    SO CUTE! I love his hat :)

  • Kim T

    Kim T wrote:

    Love all the details! Great job!

  • Lauren V

    Lauren V wrote:

    Thank you so much!!

  • Kari L

    Kari L wrote:

    Love everything you did! Had question, where did you find and how did you print out the Cheshire Cat? Thanks Kari

  • Lauren V

    Lauren V wrote:

    Hi Kari, THANK YOU!! The Cheshire cat for pin the grin, I drew it. I just looked at the cat from the printables I ordered from Party Invites on Etsy and sketched it from there. Hope that helps, Lauren

  • Kari L

    Kari L wrote:

    Thanks Lauren. You did a wonderful job. Looks like it was printed. Excellent skills!

  • Anais A

    Anais A wrote:

    I love, love, love the colors and the warmth of the party decorations... it's beautiful & well done.. plus i love the "Onederful" creativity of the thankyous. .. *question for the food it says you ate BBQ, what was the best time to prep the food, an hour before the party or better yet what was your strategy for the food? -Anais

  • Lauren V

    Lauren V wrote:

    Thank you so much Anais! Most of he food was catered and arrived about 30 mins. prior to serving as far as the BBQ pork that was made earlier and I heated it in the oven to go out when the other food arrived. I had appetizers out as guests arrived and as the kids went through all the activities. Once those were complete we served the food. Hope that helps :)

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    Holly C wrote:

    These are beautiful! Do you have a recipe for them?

  • no photo

    Leticia F wrote:

    What did you use to make these teacups?

  • no photo

    Lish H wrote:

    You did an absolutely AMAZING job on your sons 1st birthday party!!!!! I wanted to know who made the giant doorknob poster ??? If you did, is it up for sale???

  • no photo

    Danya M wrote:

    Hi There Where did you get the little blowing bubble contraptions?? looking everywhere for them!

  • Nicole C

    Nicole C wrote:

    Where did you find the bubble pipes?

  • Nicole C

    Nicole C wrote:

    Where did you find the black hats?

  • Lauren V

    Lauren V wrote:

    I found the hats at my local party city store and the bubble pipes came in a big bubble kit that I found at Target. I hope that helps. :)