My Tissue Paper Flower Obsession

I have a confession: I am obsessed with learning how to make a really beautiful tissue paper flower.

Not just an every day, run of the mill, sad little wilty approximation, either. 

A really bountiful, full, beautifully crafted and colorfully awesome one.  The kind that make you gasp when you see them because the colors are so vivid and the tissue paper is so perfectly molded into a flower form.

I woke up this morning thinking about this, after having a dream last night about how to decorate the library is a gorgeously lush Alice in Wonderland theme. 

There is clearly something wrong with me.

Last day of official school for me today.  Perhaps a few days of summer vacation are a really good idea.  What do you think?

It's A Mad Tea Party Today...

It's a library teaching day for me today.

October's theme is "Step Into Wonderland."  I have the library already decorated in paper lanterns, net butterflies, and lots of colors and flowers and a few little bees and ladybugs.  All of them are strung across the library on hooks that I found at Ikea for next to nothing that are hung from clothesline that cost me all of $2 that's been taped to the tops of bookshelves.

The beauty of this theme is that we get to talk whimsy, fantasy, fiction genres and all sorts of other fun stuff, all while sitting in the midst of a room that looks a wee bit like a mad tea party.

Plus, I got to recycle a number of the decorations from The Peanut's 7th birthday party, so I'm happy to get a little more bang for my buckage with that, too.

It's cute.  Here's hoping the kids like it, too.

Will try to snap some pictures for everyone at some point today.  Enjoy your day!

Reading Is A Wonderland

We've reached the end of September, which has been a pirate theme at the school library -- and quite popular with the younger kids, I have to say.   Especially the stickers and bookmarks with pirate stuff on them that I managed to find -- that has been a big hit!

For October, I thought I'd go with a bit of whimsy.

So "Reading is a Wonderland!" it is.  I'll be going over today to take down the pirate flags and decor and bulletin board excitement, and to put up all sorts of Alice in Wonderland-inspired decor all over the place.  So when the kids come back from their long weekend (they have Monday and Tuesday off next week), they will walk into the library and right into the pages of Alice in Wonderland.

I think that's going to be very fun for everyone.  Including me.

Frankly, anything to get these kids reading and keep them interested in it is a good thing, I say.  And who doesn't love a bit of whimsy in their day?

Luckily I have saved a lot of the decorations that we used for The Peanut's Alice-inspired birthday party a couple of years ago.  I still have the net butterflies and the Mad Hatter hat and a few other assorted goodies, and so those will be brightening the library space by the end of today.

Will try to snap a few pictures for everyone once I'm finished, so you can see how things turned out.

Let's Tour The Library!

Welcome to the new library at The Peanut's school!  Consider this a true labor of love for me. 

For the most part, I've finished the bulk of the decor and shelving of books -- there is still a lot of work to be done, but small people can, at least, enjoy the library from the very start of school tomorrow.

It's a miracle, believe me, but I'm just so glad and grateful that the kids get to walk in tomorrow to a whole new, grand, exciting world of books.  I'm so excited for them and to share this with them.

In any case, I'll start with the entrance and walk you through the grand tour:

Behold, the door that is doubling as a bulletin board.  I bought the cool letters because they looked very Dr. Seuss, but made the "books" with some thicker scrapbook paper and a little clipart and glue stick magic.  If anyone is interested, I'll put together a "step by step" post and show you how I made them after school gets underway.  It was very easy.

As you enter the library doors, you see this:

Pardon the bulletin board leaning against the reference desk -- I haven't gotten it hung back up on the wall just yet.  Can you see the little surprise at the opposite end of the counter, though?  My special favorites are the library dinos that The Peanut and I put together.  They help to guard the reference desk:

Young Readers And Science Fiction Books

I spent time at the school library yesterday, mostly working on displays and bulletin boards to make everything pop for the kids when they return to school next Wednesday.  I'll definitely take photos for everyone next week once I've finished tweaking.

Am especially pleased with a "books we love!" display that I put together.  I've got a bright Dr. Seuss border around the outside of the bookshelf area, and a stuffed White Rabbit and Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland peeking out from the shelves.  (Thank goodness I saved all the decorations from The Peanut's 7th birthday party -- I knew they'd come in handy again someday!)

I managed to carve out this designated section of bookshelf space for rotating displays and themes from the fiction section which faces out where the kids will be sitting for class, but it is a painful carve out because it makes shelving a little more tight than I'd like it to be.  The space may reduce in size a bit over time out of necessity.  But, for now anyway, it is a bold and lovely display of great books to entice the kids to want to check them out.

As I was putting the display together, though, I realized that we have no really good science fiction books for younger readers in the library.  Or, frankly, no science fiction books that I could find at all beyond the classic Jules Verne variety (which is awesome, but not likely to tempt a 4th grader quite yet unless he or she is a particularly precocious one) or Star Wars novelizations.

Which got me thinking about great science fiction books for kids.  At which point I, sadly, drew a bit of a blank.  That's just unacceptable, isn't it?  So, I'm asking for your help.

An Alice In Wonderland Birthday Party Tip

I went to Target this morning to pick something up for my organization-palooza project that I'm doing with The Peanut's craft closet.  (Long story short:  it's become a mess, and I'm going to revamp it and will pop up some pictures for everyone  when we are done.)

Long-time readers will recall that last year, we did a birthday party for The Peanut in an Alice in Wonderland theme that was very popular with her and her 7-year-old pals.

Here's the news from this morning:  if you are similarly planning an Alice in Wonderland party for your child or an upcoming tea party for some afternoon fun, our local Target -- and I'd assume Targets across the US, since they have similar stock in most stores -- had some great Disney Alice in Wonderland coloring books, little journals and other assorted items in the dollar section up front.

I snagged a couple of coloring books for the upcoming Easter basket at our house or maybe for our next rainy afternoon tea party.  (Mom tip:  I tend to stock up on cute coloring books from the dollar bin so we always have them on hand for a bad weather day diversion.)

Thought party planners might get some use out of this tip as well.

Lemon Meltaway Cookie Recipe

I got a few requests for the lemon meltaway cookie recipe as well, after mentioning I'd made them.

I use a recipe that I clipped from a Land 'O Lakes butter package ages ago, and it really is the yummiest one I've ever tried.  I did a bit of digging around, and found their Lemon Meltaway recipe online now.  I've reviewed it to be sure it is the same one I use.  (It is.)

The only thing I do differently?  I use store-bought frosting that comes in the little can -- I like the Duncan Hines lemon frosting because it has more zing to it.  I used to make my own but, honestly, the canned frosting is easier and it tastes pretty similar to (if not better than) what I make on my own.

I frost them with the lemon frosting and then sprinkle the tops with some yellow sugar crystals.  They look lovely.  And better yet?

These cookies are delicious, but incredibly delicate, so be forewarned: the dough is tender, the cookie is more so after it is baked, so frosting is your friend.   I give mine a hefty swipe of frosting on the top to help keep the tender cookie all in one piece.

These will absolutely disappear from your cookie tray. They literally melt in your mouth.

Tea Party For Two

As a surprise yesterday, I put dinner together for The Peanut and I as a tea party.  The table was set and waiting for her to come home from school.

And the look on her face was absolutely priceless.  Wish I'd gotten a picture of it.

But I did get pictures of bits and pieces of the table setting for you.  The whole thing took about an hour of my time to throw together from start to finish, and she had a blast having a "tea party" dinner last night.

And so did I.

Since we had her birthday party in an Alice in Wonderland theme last year, we still have all this cute tea party stuff and plush toys.  I used a few of them for table decor -- the flippable Alice/Queen of Hearts dolland a small Cheshire Cat were happy to oblige.

I found that cute little polka dot tea set for less than ten bucks at Target several years ago.  We have played more with that one little set than just about any other toy she has -- and even though it is ceramic, she's never broken one dish.

As you can see, our little kitchen table was covered with fun stuff, mostly with flowers or polka dots on it -- but it looked really adorable altogether.

Down The Rabbit Hole

No big surprise here.

We've been watching the Tim Burton and Johnny Depp version of Alice in Wonderland.

The Peanut is particularly fond of the Cheshire Cat.  And the mad tea party scene with its kick ass dormouse.

Go figure.

I, on the other hand, like the background visuals as much or more than the characters.

The scene with the flowers is particularly stunning.  As are the toadstools (see also here with rushing bandersnatch) and the red queen's court.

The Peanut has been waiting and waiting for the most recent version of Alice in Wonderland to come out on DVD.  Now that it has, we'll likely be watching it over and over again.  Just like we have every other version we own for the last 7 years and counting.

Is it time for tea?

Bits and Pieces

Whew, what a week.  And it's only Wednesday.

Yesterday afternoon, the doll club at The Peanut's school had its last meeting for the year.  We put together a Mad Tea Party for them -- I got to put all of my Alice in Wonderland birthday decor to use again.

The girls had a blast.

I spent the last two days prior to the party making food, including more "Eat Me" cakes.  The Peanut is always ravenous when she gets done with school, so I figured all the other girls would be as well.

Boy, was I right.

So glad I made extra sandwiches and tarts and such, because we went through a whole lot of them.

An Alice In Wonderland Birthday Party

The Peanut turned 7 this year, and we decided on an Alice in Wonderland theme for her birthday party.

I had a lot of fun working up the decorations and the food ideas, and thought folks might get a kick out of some of the pictures.

This is what you saw as you entered our house.  I found strands of brightly-colored paper butterflies hanging from fishing wire at our local party outlet store, and they looked lovely hanging from the pocket-doorway into our dining room.  (They were a pain and a half to untangle, though -- so be warned.)

I found a Mad Hatter hat online, and it was a lovely touch to the decor, along with the cupcake pinata (pull-string) which I also bought online.

The flower arrangements were just bits and pieces of silk flowers that I picked up at craft stores on sale over a 3-month period prior to the party.  I stuck them in big foam blocks, steadied by jam-packed plastic grocery bags inside large planters that I use for my herbs outside.

They really looked nice.  I tried to select all sorts of technicolor random flowers, the larger the better, to look like the Disney cartoon version gardens.

In our entryway, I hung a cheap Alice in Wonderland poster that I bought used for $3 in a poster frame I got for $2.  It looked lovely.

I decorated with more flowers and paper butterflies, and a stuffed Cheshire Cat and White Rabbit that I got from the Disney Store online on sale.

And lots and lots of flowers.

You can't quite see it from the first picture, but I had loads of fun with the tea table food and decorations, too.  I took every teapot and nice teacup out of our china cupboards, and piled them around the center of the table.

I also piled out all the colorful trays that I owned -- most of which were cheap and plastic, but had lovely floral or brightly-colored geometrics on them.

We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, tea sandwiches with ham and cheese and turkey and cheese, and also some mini-croissants with chicken salad.

Plus there were mini-quiches, cheese and pepperoni and crackers, fruit and vanilla yogurt for dipping, chips and a few other goodies.

I tried to come up with food that grown-ups would like as well as stuff for the kids, since parents were coming along for the party.

As you can see, I tried to put flowers everywhere, even found some flower party picks at Oriental Trading.  Bought a huge supply for a tiny price -- and I figured they'll get parceled out over at least another birthday party in coming years as well as school party food.

The kids really seemed to love it.  One said that it was just like walking into Wonderland, coming through the door.  And I had a LOT of fun creatively coming up with everything.