A Very Merry Unbirthday Party

There doesn’t need to be an actual birthday to throw a party in our home. A wonderful way to distinguish between the end of a journey and the beginning of another is to celebrate. Let’s throw a very merry unbirthday party to celebrate and seize the day!

I have been a little obsessed with Alice in Wonderland since I was a very young child. Disney’s original cartoon version was what started my love. Though eventually, I came to love the books written by Lewis Carroll. The first book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the sequel, Through the Looking Glass.

In fact, I chose my second daughter’s name specifically to be inspired by Alice (Ellis).

Recently they did a great job of recreating those stories with cast members like Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter as the Queen of Hearts. The mad tea party was always one of my absolute favorite parts. The scenes with the March Hare, Mad Hatter, and of course the dormouse.

But my absolute favorite character of all was naturally the Cheshire cat. Followed narrowly by Alice and the White Rabbit.

And have I mentioned my love for all things victorian era? This book was written during the victoria era and has elements that are quite victorian sprinkled throughout which make it historic and charming.

What Is An Unbirthday Party?

To quote the Mad Hatter, “Statistics prove, prove that you’ve only got one birthday. Ah, but there are 364 unbirthdays!”

An un-birthday is every day of the year that is not your birthday.

Elements to an Unbirthday Party Celebration

Now as I have children of my own I have passed on the love to them. We’ve used this theme for birthday parties in the past, but I wanted to throw an unbirthday party this time.

Therefore anytime you want to commemorate a special day is the best time to throw one.

Besides unbirthday guests and an un-birthday present, there are a few things you might want to include in your celebration. Remember, this can be a great theme for actual birthday celebrations as well. Though it wouldn’t be true to the spirit of it.

The elements I chose to include are

• 01 The handmade decorations are budget-friendly, unique, and added a personal touch
• 02 Swing Top Glass Bottles to represent the one Alice drank from to shrink labeled drink me
• 03 Cupcake toppers labeled eat me
• 04 The Cheshire Cat Cake Topper since my cake was under glass I chose to put it on a cupcake in the center
• 05 Alice in Wonderland Hanging Mobile is budget-friendly, easy to make, unique
• 06 Games: Pin the Hat on the Mad Hatter Game & Pin the Ears on the White Rabbit Game

The Very Merry Unbirthday Party Decorations

This is by far my favorite part of the entire process. I chose to create all of our decorations.

I found the vintage (public domain) Alice in Wonderland illustrations by Tenniel and created printables in Canva. They’re free for you to download if you wish to recreate the decorations I used.

Simply sign up for my subscriber’s library access at the bottom of this post and the password will be sent to your email. My subscriber’s library has dozens of free printables including all of these very merry unbirthday party elements.

I chose to use the vintage illustrations of Alice in Wonderland for this very merry unbirthday party for a couple of reasons.

• 01 My favorite illustrations by the original illustrator John Tenniel, c. 1865 (the second favorite being the Arthur Rackham Illustrations, c. 1907).
• 02 Black & White, so lend themselves perfectly to being colored and easier to print high quality at home.
• 03 Since the Illustrations are from 1865, they’re public domain & free from copyright.

Some other decorations you could include are

• Tea Pots
• Tea Cups
• Top Hats for the mad hatter or Rabbit Ears for the white rabbit
• Red Velvet Fabric as a table cloth
• Red and White Roses
• Vintage or Faux Vintage Skeleton Keys

Watch the Video

01 Alice in Wonderland Mobile

I decided this very merry unbirthday party needed some hanging decorations. Since I have a ceiling fan above my table, I chose to create a mobile that could attach to the bottom of the fan.

This was created with some string I had on hand, a metal circular frame I found at the Dollar Tree, and some printed Alice in Wonderland Illustrations. So all in all this cost me $1.25 for the metal frame.

For the hanging decorations, I simply printed the 8.5″x11″ versions with these specific settings. These specific settings will have the hanging decorations printed out two-sided, which means the image will be mirrored on the other side.

Print Instructions for Alice in Wonderland Mobile Hanging Decorations

• Page Sizing & Handling: Fit
• Choose Print on both sides of the paper, flip on the long edge
• Orientation: Portrait
• To save on ink click Print in Grayscale (black & white)

Notes & Recommendations:

• Test the first two pages just to ensure it’s printing correctly.
• Use 80 lb Cardstock for best results with all the decorations.
• When you’ve printed simply cut it out, use a single hole punch to make a hole in the top, and string to hang it. I chose to create a mobile using a rounded metal base I found at the dollar tree.
• I would also recommend you get nylon string so it blends into the background vs standing out as my string did.

Get access to these files and all the other dozens of files available in my Subscriber Library down below.

Subscribe to Access the Library

Built with ConvertKit

02 The Party Games

I chose to print my party games in their poster size 11×17″. I had full intentions of having them laminated at Hobby Lobby but kept forgetting to do it. But that is an option as they have very large laminating machines.

Laminating it would definitely make it more sturdy, especially if you wanted to use it more than once. Since I had forgotten, I simply chose to use masking tape all along the front so the hats and ears could be taped and taken off without ripping the poster.

These are the specific printing settings I used to print out Pin the Hat on the Mad Hatter & Pin the Ears on the White Rabbit. I have so many more game ideas for this very merry unbirthday party, but these were the ones I chose to create for now.

Party Game Printing Instructions

To print this correctly pay attention to these settings:

• To Save on Ink: Print in Grayscale (Black and White)
• Page Sizing & Handling: Click Poster
• Tile Scale: 120%
• Orientation: Portrait

Notes & Recommendations:

• Print one page at a time to ensure you’ve gotten the settings correct.
• You will have to trim around the edges. I used my Guillotine Paper Cutter for this and it makes short work of it (pun intended).
• It will print in 4 separate pages which will have to be taped together from the back if it hasn’t been colored yet.
• I recommend using 80 lb cardstock for all the decorations. It gives them a bit of weight and makes them much more likely to not rip when being handled.

The Game Accessories – The Mad Hatter’s Hat & Rabbit Ears

This took a bit of experimenting and a lot of trial and error to figure out the exact size for these elements, you’re welcome.

I also had my husband clean up the Mad Hatter’s Hat in photoshop so it was completely clean and easy to print in the exact size. The White Rabbit’s ears were simple enough to cut around.

Print Instructions for the Game Pieces

I tried to make printing these elements as simple as possible. I didn’t want you to have to go through ridiculous steps, as I did, to be able to get them the right size.

Notes & Recommendations:

• Print in Grayscale to save on ink
• Page Sizing & Handling: Fit
• Do Not Click Print On Both Sides of Paper if this is check marked, undo it

For the Cheshire Cat Cake Topper just fold the paper in half horizontally between the upright and upside-down head. Then cut around his head. This will ensure he is double-sided when you glue or tape him to a popsicle stick.

03 The Treat Decorations – Eat Me & Drink Me Labels

These are simple little treat toppers, but they add a lot of charm to your table.

The “Eat Me” Cupcake Toppers

These come with 10 on a single 8.5×11″ page. I chose to cut them horizontally in pairs so they could be folded in half and mirror-imaged on either side. This way when you fold them you can cut around the shape and create a really pretty cupcake topper.

When they were all cut out I gathered my two other supplies, double-sided tape, and toothpicks. Very quick assembly.

The Cheshire Cat Cake Topper prints with the Game Accessories.

The “Drink Me” Labels

This is very simple. They print out 8 on a single 8.5×11″ page. The outline is easy to see because it’s a slightly different shade of white. Simply cut them out and use a single hole punch in the center.

These swing-top glass bottles were purchased at my local Target at their Dollar Spot. I’m glad I grabbed them when I did because they were gone the next time I came in. They were $3 for 2. But I found a great deal on swing-top glass bottles on amazon if you can’t find them in your Target.

They came with elastic string, so I simply used that to tie the label around their neck.

04 The Treats to Eats

The most affordable way to go about treats is to make them yourselves. You could make your cake or cupcakes out of cake mix. However, I went the simple route and purchased mine from the store!

A few options for treats are

• Rabbit Holes or Rabbit Tails (Powdered Sugar Donut Holes)
• Unbirthday Cake or Cupcakes (I chose to include both!)
• Goody Bags *totally optional
• Birthday Present or Un-birthday present this could be something as simple as a card with a few encouraging words written
• Sparkling Punch in swing top glass bottles

The Treats I Used

I had actually planned on making the cake and cupcakes, but I ran out of time. It would definitely make it more budget-friendly if you did though.

Cranberry Apple Sparkling Punch Recipe

• 2 cups of sugar-free cranberry juice
• 64 oz. bottle of apple juice
• Club Soda
• 3 Tbsp Agave Syrup *to taste

Directions: In a glass pitcher I added 2 cups of sugar-free cranberry juice and 64 oz. container of Apple Juice. For each bottle, I filled 3/4 full of the juice mixture, then topped it off with the club soda. Left it in the fridge for a couple of hours to chill. Then serve!

Note: If you use good apple juice, like Martinelli’s, you won’t need to add any sugar. If you use a cheaper brand you may need to add a couple of tablespoons of agave to sweeten it a bit.

The Goody Bag or optional Unbirthday Gift

Print Instructions for the Vintage Alice in Wonderland Coloring Book as a Booklet

These are the instructions you can follow to print this coloring book out in Booklet form. Of course, you could choose to simply leave it at 8.5″x11″ for full-size coloring pages.

Print Instructions to Pay Attention to:

• Keep it in color printing mode to get the colored front page.
• Page Sizing & Handling: Click Booklet
• Booklet Subset: Both Sides
• Orientation: Portrait (though this doesn’t change either way)

Well, friends, I hope I have inspired you to create your own very merry unbirthday party celebration with your friends and family! And hopefully, I have given you the tools and directions to create that handmade element that gives so much charm to a party.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Julie