Mad Hatter Tea Party -- The Beginning

For Teacher Appreciation week I set up a tea table in the teacher's lounge. It was a fun idea to pull together. Pinterest has sooooooooo many ideas. (Check out my Mad Hatter Tea Party board here.) Mostly I took the ideas for supplies I already had on hand. Still enjoy the challenge of repurposing and reusing. 

Here is the end result: (although, I totally look forward to expanding on this tea table...it is garage sale season after all!

some photos were taken at the school, others were taken in my home

Dollar Store roses painted with nail polish

The sign post is an old chair leg rescued from a dumpster. It was scrubbed, sanded, and disinfected before being painted. 

Hobby Lobby had a paper crafting blowout sale recently so I splurged and bought some fun alphabet & number scrap booking stickers.

 I tried to make a path on the base but ran out of time to finish it. 

finished with fabric stiffener

Hat Tutorial: http://www.instructables.com/id/Burtons-Mad-Hatter-Hat/

  The two-sided clock is one of my favorite pieces for the tea party. Painted toothpicks were added for the "hands."

My late Grandma embroidered this tea towel...rather fitting for the theme. The rabbits are also from Hobby Lobby in the Easter clearance section. 

All the doilies and the tea towels were embroidered by my late Grandma. These were passed on to me by my aunt. Adds a sweet touch and some pretty colors.

Old loose leaf tea boxes served as utensil caddies. Eventually I would like to find enough old/vintage style silverware (mismatched a must) to replace the plastic. 

 Mismatched cups & saucers from a local thrift store. This is also how I do my regular dishes, mismatched finds. Who cares if one breaks? Easily replaced. 

The keys are from the $ bins at Michaels. 

I had so much fun putting the table together that I was thinking of hosting my own tea party at home. My sweet little girl and I could host a Mad Hatters Mommy & Me Tea. 

Off to scour garage sales and thrift store shelves to add to the madness!