Through the Rabbit Hole...
(Cross posted from here.)
This year, we decided that we’d participate in our church’s Trunk or Treat even for Halloween. Our theme? Alice in Wonderland.
I originally thought we’d go with the Tea Party theme, but nixed that idea when I found some awesome looking flowers over at Hobby Lobby. The Red Queen’s garden, it was!
We had three major components to the decor. First was our Wonderland tree. It only took about 20 minutes to make. If you are armed with a glue gun and a few craft supplies, then you can make it fairly easily. The first thing I did was lay out my dowels and my red and white striped fabric. I cut the fabric the length of the dowel and about five inches wide. Then, I ran a line of hot glue down the dowel and attached one side of the fabric. When it had set, I rolled it (not too tightly - I didn’t want it to look too perfect) and glued the other side.
When I had finished all four, then I set to making the base. I found an old box (Thanks Amazon!) and sealed the top and bottom. Then, I poked a hole for each dowel. When I was happy with the placement, I tied a red ribbon around the four dowels, creating the trunk. Next, I covered the box with the same red and white striped material. Now, I had a couple of topiary spheres kickin’ it on my mantle, but you can pick those up at your local craft store. I put some red roses and hearts in them to make them look like they were fit for a (Red) queen.
Lastly, I had to make those oh-so-Wonderlandian signs. I just used some construction paper and a Sharpie, but if you’re really wanting something that will last longer than an afternoon, I would suggest using foam board or balsa wood.
The next project I tackled was the card soldiers. This is a super easy project. All you need is white foam board, red and black poster board and some glue. (OK, you’ll need scissors too.)
All you need to do is cut out rectangles from the foam board. Then, I used this image to make their faces/tops of the cards. Now, I did “cheat” a little - I had Babe use the vinyl cutter to make the card’s respective shapes and the “A”s, but with a little time and patience, you can cut out the shapes on the poster board.
Finally, I made the card centerpiece that was really cool to make (and to look at). Now, I did not come up with the brilliant idea. I saw the pictures over at MissParty.net and knew I wanted to try to make it up for myself. It does take a little bit of time (I worked on mine for about an hour and a half or so) and you better love working with a glue gun because you are going to have plenty of bonding time with it.
I followed the guidelines over at MissParty and started with two bases and worked up and out from there. And they are absolutely right - there is no longevity with this project. I made it the day before Halloween and had to go in a fix a couple of things right before the event because gravity was having its way with it. That being said, it looks really quite epic and if you are having an Alice-themed event, it is certainly something that will grab your guests attention.
The Trunk or Treat itself was a lot of fun (and busy!). We even had a Mirana stop by the car which was downright awesome!
This year, we decided that we’d participate in our church’s Trunk or Treat even for Halloween. Our theme? Alice in Wonderland.
I originally thought we’d go with the Tea Party theme, but nixed that idea when I found some awesome looking flowers over at Hobby Lobby. The Red Queen’s garden, it was!
We had three major components to the decor. First was our Wonderland tree. It only took about 20 minutes to make. If you are armed with a glue gun and a few craft supplies, then you can make it fairly easily. The first thing I did was lay out my dowels and my red and white striped fabric. I cut the fabric the length of the dowel and about five inches wide. Then, I ran a line of hot glue down the dowel and attached one side of the fabric. When it had set, I rolled it (not too tightly - I didn’t want it to look too perfect) and glued the other side.
When I had finished all four, then I set to making the base. I found an old box (Thanks Amazon!) and sealed the top and bottom. Then, I poked a hole for each dowel. When I was happy with the placement, I tied a red ribbon around the four dowels, creating the trunk. Next, I covered the box with the same red and white striped material. Now, I had a couple of topiary spheres kickin’ it on my mantle, but you can pick those up at your local craft store. I put some red roses and hearts in them to make them look like they were fit for a (Red) queen.
Lastly, I had to make those oh-so-Wonderlandian signs. I just used some construction paper and a Sharpie, but if you’re really wanting something that will last longer than an afternoon, I would suggest using foam board or balsa wood.
The next project I tackled was the card soldiers. This is a super easy project. All you need is white foam board, red and black poster board and some glue. (OK, you’ll need scissors too.)
All you need to do is cut out rectangles from the foam board. Then, I used this image to make their faces/tops of the cards. Now, I did “cheat” a little - I had Babe use the vinyl cutter to make the card’s respective shapes and the “A”s, but with a little time and patience, you can cut out the shapes on the poster board.
Finally, I made the card centerpiece that was really cool to make (and to look at). Now, I did not come up with the brilliant idea. I saw the pictures over at MissParty.net and knew I wanted to try to make it up for myself. It does take a little bit of time (I worked on mine for about an hour and a half or so) and you better love working with a glue gun because you are going to have plenty of bonding time with it.
I followed the guidelines over at MissParty and started with two bases and worked up and out from there. And they are absolutely right - there is no longevity with this project. I made it the day before Halloween and had to go in a fix a couple of things right before the event because gravity was having its way with it. That being said, it looks really quite epic and if you are having an Alice-themed event, it is certainly something that will grab your guests attention.
The Trunk or Treat itself was a lot of fun (and busy!). We even had a Mirana stop by the car which was downright awesome!