I chose two walls essentially to be my garden area, in what is really the dining room but essentially a continuation of the living room :) I used the wall that is straight ahead as you enter the house, between the dining area & kitchen - where I had a table with all the sweets, and the wall between the dining area & hallway to the bathroom, where my china cabinet is.
I had a major photo fail regarding the china cabinet - I never got a picture of it all decked out, and took down all the decor before I realized it! Boo! Here's a photo from early on in the decorating, so you can see the giant gerbera daisies with their google eyes, and my Alice tea set & hand painted platter that are displayed there year round:
To that I added my standard fall decor of two lighted pumpkins I got for a steal at Patina's after Halloween sale in 2005, and four sections of glitter fall leaf garland I picked up at JoAnn's last year and wrapped with orange lights. You can see the lighted pumpkins in the same place last year with the Hollywood theme -
I have these all hooked to an outlet behind the cabinet, so I use a remote kit to turn them off and on (as opposed to pulling it out or climbing up every time). I got my kits at Costco, and can't seem to find the same ones online, but they are similar to these on Amazon - you plug their plug into the outlet, and your decor into their plug, and then a battery operated remote turns them off and on with ease. I use these for my upstairs window lights and outdoor stuff as well, and at Christmas I do the trees on them - so much easier than crawling around!
Another tip is that I use 3M cord clips to keep a set of extension cords accessible at all times in this area - I always seem to have something lit on top of the china cabinet, and it's a huge pain to move, so I leave them plugged in (I know, not the greenest option, but I'm okay with it) and have a cord clip holding the power end to the back top lip of the china cabinet. They're command strips, so they'll come off clean if I want them too, but in the mean time they're super handy:
On the other wall I used a sheet of green "net lights" from Menard's (meant to cover bushes or railings) to add the feel of vines & foliage. I hung them with the tiniest 3M clips, specifically meant to hold holiday lights. I can attribute a large portion of my budget each year to 3M strips, but it's totally worth it - they hold everything I need to hang on walls or ceiling, and come off totally clean, which is what I need.
Tucked into the web and hanging from slightly larger 3M hooks are more giant flowers - evil daffodils! I mentioned I had scooped these up for a steal at a clearance center, knowing they were too good to pass up. It took me 3 or more years to actually use them, but they really make the scene! I debated using a less 'permanent' method of securing them open, but in the end I just hot glued the honeycomb portion - they didn't stay open with just the clips, and I was hot gluing the eyes on anyways. So they're not really salvageable since they won't fold down now, but that's fine, I think the whole bunch cost me less than $10.
The red eyeballs were 4/$0.99 at Michael's in the Halloween section, I think they're foam. The little divot in the center just screamed out for a single cyclops eye, so most of them have that and I love it. A few got two, a few got leftover google eyes - I mixed it up with what I had lying around :)
For finishing touches I tucked in my collection of Dept. 56 spiders - made from bells! I scooped up a whole ton of these guys at Home Goods a few years back, $7.99 for 6 and they're just my style. I hung them from more tiny 3M strips, and just sort of intermingled them in the garden - it's infested!
To add interest I printed off some of my favorite snarky quotes from the Disney version of the garden scene - simple green ink on white card stock, using the Beyond Wonderland font. You can google "wonderland quotes" or go to the IMDB sites of movies to find lists - like this one regarding the Disney film.
In the center of the room, between the food & flowers, I hung foil swirls from the ceiling (3m strips again) around the light. I just wanted to add some color and shine, I thought these evoked the feeling of walking into a tall garden. They didn't cost me anything, as they were reclaimed from a 60th anniversary party!
This was also the area that the food was displayed in, so I have to show some pictures of that!
I used more of the Queen of Hearts card suit themed decor to form a canopy over the buffet area, and created the "EAT ME" sign in PowerPoint. I printed it on 11"x17" paper then taped it to some tagboard for strength and hung it via the plastic tabs and 3M strips I used for everything else. Same with the canopy - it's one of the "Casino Ceiling Decor" banners, a few self stick tabs in strategic places, hung with 3M strips on the ceiling. I loved it!
To the left of the table I tucked in a "looking glass" I had snagged at the goodwill for $9 and spray painted silver. It was actually really helpful for catching all the red lipstick I was getting on my teeth, and after the party it's a great addition to my craft room where I sew and make costumes.
I actually had a really hard time fitting all of my food on to the tables, that should have clued me in that I made too much :) The first table was the "real food" - two chafing dishes borrowed from mom with the hot appetizers, and a crock pot of BBQ weenies, 3 plates of sandwiches, a fruit platter, and the munchies - popcorn, chex mix, goldfish. That bled into a 2nd smaller table:
With more "real food" - my puking pumpkin platter, meat & cheese platter, crackers, and mini bread bowls with spinach dip.
I either already have or will be soon posting tutorials and reviews on how to make all of my Wonderland menu items.
The third table, watched over by the giant flowers was ALL sweets!
The Queen's Stolen Tarts, Peanut Butter Balls, Cream Puffs, Brownies, Cupcakes, Oreos, and a gorgeous layer cake my neighbor made with a mocha frosting I'm in love with. Yum!
Other than the food, I hardly purchased anything to fill this space - I re-purposed items I already had, so that really helped keep my budget in check. I did get two new microfiber tablecloths in a dark red, but I was due for them anyways and can use them for all sorts of other holidays and events. For tables I used our 4' kitchen table as the dessert buffet, a 6' folding table for the main food (from Target - I have 3 of these and LOVE them, they fold in half so I can carry them around myself, get them up and down the stairs, and they fit in my car - SO versatile. I use them in my craft room as well. Today they're listed at over $100, but I got mine for under $50, they usually go on sale before Thanksgiving), then a narrower 4' folding table like this one that I actually got at Goodwill hardly used. This is a really great size because it's narrow so you can put it in a smaller space.
We're almost done with re-caps, stay tuned for the Mad Tea Party, Kitchen, and bathrooms, along with a few more recipes and reviews.
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