this year i decided to go all out with birthday celebrations.
this decision was influenced by two things: the fact that i usually have something low-key and last minute, and the fact that i have been researching invitations and weddings for my friend's upcoming nuptials. so with that in mind, i thought i would do something crazy that would be totally "me" and that i could share with my friends, and threw a mad hatters tea party!
it was totally worth it...


(that's me in the pink dress)

about 2 months before, i'd started going to vinnies and salvos stores to find teapots, cups and saucers. it was much more difficult than i expected to get a nice collection of vintage-y cups and saucers. and teapots were almost impossible. i made so many trips out to any op shop i could find or think of!



read on to find out more, and see lots of pictures!

while i was traipsing round the thrift stores, i also looked out for doilies. i thought it would look interesting if i had a tablecloth of hessian, overlaid with a tablecloth of doilies. i ended up buying loads of them, and sewed them all together to make a giant doily tablecloth.

next was the invitation design. i should start out by saying that i love caslon. i use that font for everything - my logo, all my personal identity kit, i just love it. so when i came across a few wedding invitations that used caslon italic alternates (particularly this one), i was inspired to create something a little different with my favourite font. the invitations included a little envelope with a teabag in it:




each invitation was printed on this lovely textured paper, and stitched to a piece of calico with hot pink thread.



i planned out the menu for the night a few weeks in advance, which meant i had a timetable of when to cook things so that i could get it all done in time. i spent a whole week cooking cheesecake brownies, orange and passionfruit yo-yos, creamy chocolate truffles, chocolate-coated raspberries, cupcakes, alfajores payes (a spanish biscuit), marble cake and the piece de resistance, white chocolate and raspberry macarons.



i also made little decorative signs for the food


(you can see the macarons label in the foreground)

i might stop the post there, and get into the actual night in the next post - don't want to overload you too much on photos of sweet stuff!!

this is me with my macarons - i have never made them before, and read about all the horror stories and about how hard they are. so you'll forgive me if i look smug, because i managed to get them right the first time. trust me, i surprised myself, and was jumping around whooping in front of the oven when i saw the little mounds cooking perfectly!