Alice in Wonderland Halloween Party! Results

Wow, it's taken me this long to finally post the results of my efforts! I ended up being under budget. Hurray! And kept the entire party under $100. This was mostly due to my secret shopping and home-crafting of many of the decorations. Food ended up costing me a pretty penny and was a majority of the expenses, as I predicted. Anyway, everyone had fun! Here are some pictures of the decorations!

 

Makin' the red velvet cupcakes! They were divine. 

 

This is my costume, fully completed. Looks pretty good, right? You can also see some of the kitchen decorations in the background. Every room had a theme, and this one's was the Red Queen's Castle. So there were card houses, card suits, hearts, and lots of red!

I made the popcorn bags out of red paper bags and cut the tops off in jags. I then carved a stamp out of a potato in the shape of skulls and hearts. On the kitchen table, for the center piece, I made a card house and scattered heart-shaped, red confetti all over.

The dining room's theme was the Mad Hatter Tea Party.

 On the table I placed tea cups, mismatched, with napkins and teapots. There are perfume and nail polish bottles on the table that have "Drink Me!" written on them. To the right of the bottles is a giant pill I found at my university to advertise some drug. It has "Eat me!" written on it. The book is a book on etiquette I had in my library. I put it out there, too. 

 This is my center piece. It is my giant, homemade hat with a teapot I found from the Goodwill. There is a fishing lure sticking out the spout. A rat I found from the dollar store hides behind the hat. 

 This is another craft I made out of an old children's book about rabbits. It's supposed to look like it's flying. There'll be a better example later. If you're interested in how to make this, check out the book The Repurposed Library.

When guests enter the house, they enter the forest. Here are the butterflies and mushrooms. I had some dead sticks and garlands scattered about to make it seem more foresty. 

Close up of my paper-mache mushrooms. I have a tutorial on how to make these here. 

 For a terrible surprise during the scavenger hunt, I placed a bunch of mannequins in the basement :3 I got these off a friend's coworker whose best friend died. Phew, hope you caught up with that.

The family room's theme was whimsical and surrealism. 

 Couldn't resist hahaha

 

 Click pictures to enlarge. This is my moon. I made the clouds by wrapping them in discount fabric I bought at a garage sale. The moon is simply cut from cardboard and painted with acrylics. 

 

This is what it looked like at the party. Best part was, the night of the party, the moon was a waning crescent like the one I made. Totally unplanned. ;)

And that was that! Everyone had a blast and it was a lot of fun to make. Hope I've given everyone some ideas for their own Alice party!

Party City Coupon - 25% Off

Here's a Party City coupon I was sent in the mail for 25% all Halloween items! The only limit is that it cannot already be on sale if you use the coupon. Coupon can be used online or in a store.

Print out the coupon here: Party City Coupon
Online coupon code: PCXHR3

Coupon will expire after tomorrow!

Alice in Wonderland Halloween Party Crafts

Hi! Just a couple more updates so you can see some of the ideas I have. I have already shown a couple tutorials on some of the items I'm making, and I really hope you guys are enjoying those! They took forever to make, phew! Anyway, here are some items I'm making for my Alice in Wonderland Halloween party. 

The neck and skull of my Jabberwocky skeleton. I didn't take a picture of it with the jaw, here.

My man in the moon blowing clouds. I didn't take a picture of the face I painted on it yet, but I have finished it and it looks smashing.

 A centerpiece for the Red Queen room. This will go on the table. 

Some flower eyeballs. I wanted to get something surreal, playful, and scary all at the same time.

How to Papier-Mâché (or Paper Mache) -- Mushroom: Alice in Wonderland Craft

This is a tutorial on how to papier-mâché, or paper mache depending on how you like to pronounce it. Papier-mâché is a French word for "chewed paper." I guess that's because if you've ever made a spitball, you're essentially using the same techniques. (No, I've never actually made a spitball before, hahaha!). You can make some pretty interesting stuff by using this very simple technique. What I'm going to show you how to make today is a simple craft using pure trash and recyclables.

Materials:
Paste (instructions on how to make this below)
Newspaper
Cardboard paper towel roll
Heavy-duty Cardboard
Glue gun
Paint

Instructions:

Glue--

1/4 cup of flour
1 cup of water (divided)
Elmer's Glue
Salt

1. Start heating up 1/2 cup of water on the stove.
2. In a seperate bowl, measure 1/4 cup of flour.
3. Pour 1/2 cup of cold water into the same bowl.
4. Whisk to remove lumps.
5. Once water on stove is boiling, pour mixture into pot.
6. Stir constantly and stop as soon as mixture begins to bowl.
7. Remove from heat.
8. Add about 1 Tb of salt. (This will help keep the paste last longer before getting moldy.)
9. Allow to cool.
10. Squirt some Elmer's Glue into the mixture. The paste alone should work, but I like to use this as a back up. Just in case.
11. Strip up some old newspapers--some in strips and some in small pieces.
12. You're ready to start pasting! Make sure to store paste in refrigerator when finished. Lasts about two weeks.

Mushroom--
1) Cut out a medium circle from cardboard. This will be the base of the mushroom. It should be fairly wide depending on how big you want the cap to be.

2) Take a paper towel roll, and with a glue gun, glue one end in the center of the cardboard base. Unplug the glue gun. You'll still need it, but the next steps takes some time to finish.

3) Crumble up some newspaper and place it along the cardboard tube. You may want to use tape to help mold the base into the shape you want.

 

4) Start ripping your newspaper into long strips. 

5) Dip your strips into paste. Get the excess glue off by running the newspaper between two fingers. The paper should not be gloppy, but still wet enough to work with.

6) Apply the newspaper as you see in this picture. We are forming the stem as we do so.

7) Keep applying newspaper until the stem is complete. Set aside to let dry.

8) Cut out a larger circle from the cardboard.

9) Once stem is dry, measure the diameter of the top. This may or may not be different than the diameter of the paper towel roll depending on how you used your strips of newspaper.

10) Cut out a hole with the same diameter in the center of your cardboard circle.

11) Check and make sure hole is wide enough to fit on the stem.

12) This part is the most important for the best shape. You'll need to build a rough skeleton in order to get the best results. The more "ribs" you use, the better, stronger, and solid the shape will be. From cardboard, cut out one piece that matches the shape you want.

13) Hold it up to the mushroom to see how you like its shape. The bottom of the "rib" piece should line up with the edge of the mushroom piece or go just a bit past it. If it's under, remake the rib. I like to use eight ribs and find that this has the best results.

14) Once you get a shape you like, cut out seven more. You can use the first as a pattern piece. I recommend giving one piece a "lip" on top (see picture in step #12). This prevents the newspaper from sinking into the hole made by the cardboard tube during later steps. This is one of the first times I'm trying to make a large mushroom with less than eight ribs and it came out okay, but not as good as the others.

15) Using a glue gun, glue these rib pieces to the crown piece. Try to space them out evenly. The reason why you need heavy-duty cardboard here is because if you use lightweight, it will not hold its shape as well. 

16) Like the stem before, crumple of paper in the shape you wish the mushroom to be. This is so the newspaper won't collapse and fall out of the desired shape, even with the ribs. The more ribs you have, the easier this step will be.

17) Apply paste/newspaper over crumpled newspaper. Go section by section. 

18) Keep molding your mushroom as you work around the sections.

19) Once finished, let dry. Do not complete the top or bottom portions yet as your mushroom will still be quite soggy.

20) Once dry, apply newspaper along tops and bottoms. If you fear the newspaper will sink, apply more crumpled up newspaper and paste over that. Also at this time, fix up any places where the surface isn't smooth. It will be hard to get a perfect surface using this method, but it's faster and quicker this way. Not to mention cheaper.

21) Again, let dry before painting.

22) Paint! Weeee! Have some fun and do some wacky colors!

23) And you're done!

You now have a light-weight craft made entirely of trash and some glue and paint. Welcome to Wonderland!!

Wacky Mad Hatter Hat -- Detailed, Step-by-Step Supplement w/Pictures and Alterations

This is a pattern and tutorial from Better Homes and Gardens. You can find the original here and here along with the basic patterns. You may need to create an account before you have access to their website and patterns. (It's free so don't worry.) I found that I didn't like their instructions; they were too confusing. So here is a supplement--key word: supplement--to their instructions. No copyright infringement intended; I just want to help people out with this craft.

Skill level: Moderate
Time estimation: ~1.0 - 1.5 hours


Updated supply list
I found I didn't need certain items or the ways they bound certain pieces didn't hold as well. Here is a better list detailing what's needed:

1. Old box of lightweight cardboard. Preferably one without a lot of folds. Folds will weaken the board and leave bumps on your hat. A good example would be a large cereal box, but the ideal would be something like a poster board.
2. Fusible interfacing Medium-weight would be best probably. I used a light-weight interfacing, though
3. Non-fusible interfacing ~Optional~ For more advance sewers and crafters who do not want to spend extra money on the more expensive fusible.
4. Fabric about 1/4 yard to 1/2 yard, depending on how large you plan on making your hat. Half a yard will be for quite large hats. Now would be a great time to use up those scrap pieces! I used a piece of stretch, panne velvet fabric. This allowed me to compensate for mistakes while experimenting with patterns and prevented the fabric from fraying on the edges.
5. Pins
6. Needle and thread Thread should match the fabric.
7. Wire or Floral wire Thicker wire should be used if you want to really alter your hat's brim shape. Floral wire will help keep the shape of the brim but will give you only a little bit of molding power.
8. Hot glue gun
9. Clothes iron
10. Sewing machine
11. Marker 
12. Tailor's tape 
13. Scissors 
14. Rotary blade ~Optional~

Updated Instructions with Pictures
I don't want to copyright infringe anything here, so these are my tips and advice on how to make this hat an alternative way. I will also give you instructions on how to alter the patterns so you can change the shape and look of your hat. Please, please, please go and sign up on Better Homes and Gardens to see how they do their project first. This will make it much easier to understand why I'm doing things this way.


1) Making the band pattern--- Make your patterns from the ones the website gives you. They say to blow up the pieces 400%. You can do this on your own, but if you are worried about the curved edges, you can easily print them out as guidelines. How neat your curves are really doesn't matter because you can always go back later and straighten them out in step 9. I drew my band pattern directly onto the cardboard with a marker to save time. You can do this, too, because no one will see the cardboard in the end product.

Altering the band pattern:

Let's say you don't like the patterns they gave you. Well, that's a really easy fix. 

Here is the basic pattern. I've labeled some areas of the pattern to show what that section will become once completed. The height is colored in purple. The crown/top is the largest curve in this picture, and the curve that will belong to the bottom of the band is the other curve. Whatever you may do to the pattern, the height (in purple) must be the same length! This pattern calls for about 7'', feel free to make it taller if you like.

A rectangle will make a perfect cylinder for your hat. This is good for top hats.

 By making almost a semi-circle, you will get a large flair with your hat. This will be very top heavy and very narrow on the bottom. This is good if you're going for a very cartoony look to your hat.

2) Cut out band pattern--- Using your newly created pattern or the pattern supplied on the Better Homes and Gardens website, cut out one band pattern from the lightweight cardboard. 

3) Altering the crown and brim patterns--- Using a flexible ruler such as a tailor's tape, do your best to measure the crown's curved line (the largest curve). How long it is will be the circumference of your crown pattern. Instead of struggling with the tape and getting sloppy lines to make the circle pattern for your crown piece, just take the number you measured and divide it by π. Take this number and add one inch. This will be the diameter of the crown.  

You do not have to have cardboard pieces for these patterns. You can use tissue paper, newspaper (iron newspaper first to avoid ink from spreading to your fabric and to straighten out crinkles. Butlers used a similar technique for their masters back in the day), or regular printing paper....whatever works. I used cardboard and butcher paper.

Do the same thing for the brim's section of the band pattern. Only in addition to the diameter you've calculated, add 2x the width you wish for your brim. For example, your diameter is 8'' and you want your brim to be 4''. You would add an additional 8'' to the 8'' diameter to compensate. 

Now you have all your pattern pieces and are set for the rest of the project!

4) Cut out crown and band fabric piece--- Using scissors or a rotary blade, cut out one piece of fabric with your crown pattern piece. Be careful not to cut yourself! Cutting out circular pieces can be tricky, especially with a rotary blade. At the same time, using your band pattern piece, cut out one piece of fabric. Add about 0.5'' around the band pattern to make room for a hem later.

5) Cut out fusible interfacing--- Using the same crown pattern piece, cut out one piece of fusible interfacing.

6) Iron fusible interfacing to fabric piece--- Iron the interfacing to the WRONG side of the fabric. Beginners, place the side of the interfacing with all the bumps closest to the fabric. 
.
7) Clip the edges of the circle--- Going about 0.5'' deep, snip around the circle. Clipping will eliminate bulk when we press this on our cone in step 10.

It helps to use a ruler and marker to mark the notches so you don't go too deep

8) Prepare hot glue gun--- Plug in the gun to get it warm.

9) Wrap the band into a cylinder--- Curl the cardboard around. Line up the purple, height lines as best as you can. Take the hot glue gun and run a stream of glue along the edge of one side. Press the other side to the glue. How much you overlap doesn't matter, but try to keep it under one inch on each side. 

Now's a good time to take your scissors and correct any areas where the cone isn't level. You can test this by resting both ends on a table--it should be able to stand on its own. 


10) Glue cylinder top to crown--- Lay the crown piece bottom-side up/interfacing up. Take your band. Along the side for the crown, run hot glue around the circumference. Quickly press this into the center of the crown piece.

11) Hem the band piece--- Using the hot glue gun again, hem the band piece's fabric. Leave one of the straight sides un-hemmed.

11) Glue band piece to cardboard--- Find the seam of the cardboard. Using the hot glue gun, run some glue along the length. Press the un-hemmed side to the glue. Make sure to press the wrong side against the cardboard, leaving the right side of the fabric on the outside. Also make sure to not turn the fabric upside down. Match crown with crown curves, brim with brim curves.

The glue will be hot. Use maker to press fabric to cardboard.

12) Make the brim--- Grab your pattern for the brim piece. Cut out two fabric pieces and two interfacing pieces. If you are new to interfacing, opt for the fusible again. If you feel you're a decent sewer, stick with the non-fusible to save it for other projects. If you use fusible, remember to iron interfacing to both pieces of fabric before continuing.

13) Cut an "X" into one brim piece--- Cut an "X" into one piece.

13) Sewing time!--- Press the correct sides together. Pin edges. You'll have to leave a small opening for wire later. I like to mark these with double pins so I know when to stop sewing. Sew 0.25'' away from the edge. Flip the piece inside-out. Check to make sure you sewed all edges. Correct if you can see interfacing.

 

14) Making casing for wire--- Turn the brim right-side out. Sew using a matching thread a casing. Sew about 3/8'' away from the edge. Complete the entire circle.

15) Wire--- Loop the end of the wire as pictured below if possible. This will keep it from catching. Feed it into the casing you just made. Cut off the end once finished. End the wire by twisting it into the beginning of the wire, or loop it again. I am using floral wire because that's all I have at the moment.

16) Slipstich close--- Using a needle and matching thread, slipstick opening closed.

17) Attach brim to rest of hat--- With a longer piece of thread, attach the brim to the rest of the hat using a slipstich. Make sure to pull the fabric on the band taught to avoid wrinkles. I found it was easiest to rest the hat upside-down in my lap as I stitched. Click the pictures below for larger shots.

 18) COMPLETE! 

19) Add decorations and you're finished!

Changes: I made several changes from the original. For starters, I swapped the glues, interfacing, and also altered the pattern slightly. I also changed the order around because when I followed their guidelines, I found some ways they could have been edited to make it simpler. Thanks again! Make sure to check out the original site at Better Homes and Gardens.