Blueberry Pie

We picked several pints of blueberries from the bushes in my grandmother's backyard.  I made two pies using a crumble topping.  The summer pie season is now complete with rhubarb, strawberry, and blueberry all checked off the list!

Crumble Topping:  3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar, 3 Tbsp granulated sugar, pinch of salt, 6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter (cut into small pieces).  I combine everything in my food processor to get an even texture.

Refinishing Furniture

We recently converted our nursery into a craft room.  My biggest project was taking the original dressers, sanding them down, and painting them to match the new decor.

I sanded down the dressers in the garage, which took me a few days.  Then I primed and painted them with a flat enamel paint.

I sanded each of the knobs and painted them as well.  I used different colors to give the drawers some character.

Overall, things turned out pretty well.  The picture below is the finished product.

Alice in One'derland Party

We threw an Alice in One'derland party for my daughter's 1st birthday this weekend.  In keeping with the British theme, we hosted a tea party with tea sandwiches, scones, and a Mad Hatter birthday cake.

We decorated the outside of the house with pictures from the movie and we had "Very Merry Unbirthday" playing as the guests walked in the door.  We also put a croquet set outside to symbolize the game of croquet Alice played with the Queen of Hearts.

Inside we decorated with paper lanterns, photo stills, and posterboard images from the movie.

Below are pictures of our timecapsule activity.  We asked guests to fill out a questionnaire predicting various interests my daughter will have when she is 10-years-old. Then we sealed them in an Alice in Wonderland lunchbox, along with other special items from the day, and made a time capsule for her 10th birthday party.  I also made a keepsake tablecloth out of Alice in Wonderland fabric.

I purchased a copy of Lewis Carroll's original version of Alice in Wonderland from a British bookstore in London.  The name of the bookstore is Hatchard's and they are located on Picadilly street.  The advantage of having the British version of the book is that all of the original spellings and vocabulary are preserved.

You can also see the original images for each of the characters.  Here is the Cheshire Cat appearing above the Queen's Croquet match.

Some other ideas for making the day festive...

I tied "Drink Me" labels onto Koolaid Water Bottles for the kids and served Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches in the shape of Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, & Spades.

For the adults, we served a variety of tea sandwiches and scones.

To bring the party to life, we all dressed up in costumes.  I was the Queen of Hearts, my husband was the Mad Hatter, my oldest daughter was Alice, and my son was Tweedle Dee.

Mad Hatter Cake

Here is my first attempt with fondant icing.  It was easier to work with than I thought it would be and overall I was pleased with the result. 

We are throwing an Alice in Wonderland party for my daughter's 1st birthday so I tried to model the cake after the Mad Hatter cake at the tea party.  It took 5 boxes of cake mix and 12 hours to complete.  I used Duff fondant for the cake covering and Wilton fondant for the decorations.  Enjoy!

Beatrix Potter Nursery

One of my favorite British authors, Beatrix Potter, was the inspiration for our nursery.  The bedding and decor was used by all three kids.  I had the plush characters shipped over from England and I purchased the miniture book collection while living in London.

We will soon be converting the nursery into a craft room so I wanted to memoralize it before everything is taken down and the nursery is no longer.