Lunching with Peter (Rabbit) and Alice (in Wonderland)

A Luncheon

On April 5, 2014 - a local church invited hosts to decorate tables and to invite six of their friends to share a community luncheon. I decided to host two tables and in wanting to make a statement, I choose two literary themes. One was Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit and the other featured Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Here's a peek at the table finery.

Alice in Wonderland
Alice's table featured a mix-matched table setting, but with coordinated dishes in a blue, burnt orange, and taupe.  The plates had a scroll design while the plates (blue or burnt orange) were solid color but with a scalloped edge of sorts. 
The blue/orange/yellow stripped boxes were nut cups, blue napkins, and blue glasses with blue/white striped straws.

In the center of the table was the opened pop-up book created by Robert Sabuda.

It's a marvelous book with 24 pop-ups through out the book.  This page is my personal favorite and The book is often used as a coffee table piece during evenings when friends come to play a favorite card game - Five Crowns.
Although I did not get them for this luncheon, I did find very large playing cards that, if laminated would make great place mats or decorative pieces for a more casual party.  Cards 8-1/4" x 11-3/4" are available at www.ssww.com and the same home site has even larger (Colossal Playing Cards) 10-1/2"W x 14-1/2"H available. 

The tea cup tower was comprised of consignment shop pieces of mismatched cups and saucers - with one teacup with the same design as the cups used with the dinner ware but in a different style.  A miniature "Alice" sits under the garden flowers which were places in a blue mason jar.  Along side Alice is a miniature tea pot in a diamond blue/violet pattern.  Also slightly hidden behind the individual vases with a single flower is a tea for one in a Alice in Wonderland motif.  Tea for one sets are convenient sugar and creamer containers for special luncheons/dinners. There are several variations available.  I found mine at Barnes & Noble and it has a white rabbit on the lid.  Others online are similar but I have not found others with the white rabbit.

Each guest was given a swag bag that contained a note book, a magnetic list pad, a copy of Alice in Wonderland to either savor or gift to a young reader.  I found the books for a bargain price at Michael's (the craft store).  Can't find them online but did come across a delightful DIY Alice in Wonderland Birdhouse Mobile -- Someone would have to DIFM (do it for me) if I were to have this -- but a crafty patient person could have a delightful piece.  There was a wildflower seed packet in each swag bag.  A template for the Alice and the Peter wildflower seed packet will be at the end of this blog.

Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit
Plain eggshell white tableware with a beaded pattern around the edge as used with a cup embellished with a Peter Rabbit motif.
In the center was a basket and potted plant, a tin bucket with paper carrot or two.  A popup book  - Peter Rabbit's Lucky Escape was showcased in the table center.
Along with a tea for one featuring the Beatrix Potter characters around the edge.

 

These bags were found at the Dollar Store; the fabric flowers (as were the ones used on the Alice bags) were found at Michael's.  Each bag contained a copy of The Tale of Beatrix Potter, a Peter Rabbit notebook, a grocery list and a wildflower seed packet very similar to the swag put in the Alice bag.

The flower motif nut cuts were found in a package of 8 at the dollar store.  




Here are the templates for the seed packets.  Click on the picture to get the full sized image, print on standard copy paper.

I purchased the seed in bulk from my local garden shop and then created the packet to picture each of the flowers that were contained in the mixture. There were other tables with other non-literary themes. Watch for another blog post showing some of the other possibilities.