Who isn’t captivated by anything related to Alice in Wonderland? I’ve crafted various decorations inspired by Alice, yet this Alice in Wonderland centerpiece is my most favorite creation thus far. You can effortlessly craft your unique version with these suggestions and instructions.
While browsing Pinterest, I stumbled upon a charming Alice in Wonderland centerpiece pin. The design inspiration for this piece was created by Martica. Luckily, I had recently acquired a similar white birdcage from Michael’s, just in time for Easter, intended for a bunny-themed centerpiece.
A trip to the local craft and home stores netted a bag of vintage die cuts, some toadstools, some clubs, spades, hearts, and diamond charms, a cup and saucer, and a dessert plate.
I ordered black and white wired ribbons and a deck of mini playing cards from Amazon.
Alice in Wonderland Centerpiece
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Supplies Needed:
- 18-inch White metal birdcage
- 1 Small white rabbit figurine
- Teacup and Saucer
- Dessert plate
- Die Cut Clocks and Frames
- Invisible Thread
- Glue gun and Glue sticks
- Tiny Bottles with Cork Lids
- 1/8-inch Paper Punch
- Alice in Wonderland Cardstock Pad
- Elmer’s Craft Bond
- Mini Playing Cards
- Black and White Harlequin Checked Ribbon
Directions:
I removed the large rabbit, the eggs, and the flowers, but left the moss and sphagnum peat moss in the bottom of the bird cage.
Then, I replace the rabbit with a smaller white rabbit. This little white rabbit came from Hobby Lobby a few years ago.
Next, I placed a wire plate holder from Dollar Tree toward the back of the birdcage. The wire holder held the plate at too much of a slant. So, I pressed the arches together until the plate was placed upright so that there was more room for the cup and saucer.
Alice and Cheshire Cat Figures
I used an Alice figure from the Alice in Wonderland paper pad from Amazon. This is the same paper pad I used for the Alice exploding gift box. Unfortunately, the Alice figure was not quite as large as I wanted it to be.
So, I scanned the decorative paper and enlarged the Alice figure to about 6 inches along with the Cheshire cat on PicMonkey. Then, I blocked out the areas I didn’t need with rectangles, changed the color of the rectangles to white, and saved it.
Next, I opened a blank canvas and added the saved image to the left side of the canvas. Then, I duplicated the image and reversed it so that the Alice and the Cheshire cat images face each other.
After saving this, I printed it on cardstock. Then, I cut around the outer two-thirds of the lower body, including the upper arms, skirt, legs, and shoes of one of the Alice images. Next, I sprayed Elmer’s Craft Bond on the backside of it.
(We are an Amazon affiliate and may receive a small percentage of any sales through the links in this post at no cost to you. Thanks for supporting this website!)
Using an LED light box or a sunny window, lay the uncut image right side down, and line up and match the other image back to back. Press down on the glued image to ensure adhesion. Then, using sharp scissors, cut around the printed images.
You could also use Tacky Glue or a good glue stick to adhere to any of the matching cardstock images.
Repeat the same process to glue and cut out the Cheshire cat and the Queen of Hearts.
Preparing the Die Cuts
Hobby Lobby has The Paper Studio Die Cuts used in this Alice in Wonderland Birdcage. There are two of each of the die cuts. I glued the matching frames, clocks, and key cutouts back to back. That way they will look good either way and a blank back won’t show.
When the key is back-to-back, a tab of white will show on the right side. I cut this off with the sharp scissors and glued it to the back.
You can see in the picture above that it is not perfect. There is a little bit of the lighter color showing at the top. I can live with that.
Next, use a small 1/8-inch hole punch to punch holes at the top of each clock and key.
Before attaching these to the bird cage, I added the ribbon to ensure the frames, clock, and key are visible from the front.
Adding the Ribbon Bows
Firstly, I wove a liberal length of ribbon through the back half of the wires at the top of the birdcage. The ribbon can be trimmed later. Leave the ribbon ends hanging toward the front. Take both ends of the ribbon, thread one ribbon over the other, and pull them both tight.
Slightly twist the ribbons where you’ve made this knot. Twisting the ribbon will help the ribbon wires hold the knot tight while you create the loops.
First, leaving a tail, make 6 large loops with the harlequin ribbon, 3 on each side, and temporarily secure with a twist tie or short wire. Then, with the smaller checked ribbon, make 4 slightly smaller loops, 2 on each side.
Hold the smaller loops together at the center, remove the twist tie, and place the smaller loops on top of the larger bow. Use the twist tie to hold the bows together. Then, place the center over the knot on the birdcage and tie it securely with an overhand knot.
Attaching the Cheshire Cat to the Alice in Wonderland Birdcage Centerpiece
As I considered attaching the Cheshire cat to the birdcage, I considered using a curly-cue tendril from a grapevine. Then, I spotted some brown paper-wrapped wire. This looks like a grapevine tendril but works even better.
I wrapped a length of the wire around a wooden shish kabob pick. Then, I manipulated it around the limb and wrapped it tightly around one of the birdcage wires and back to the front. You can see in the picture above that I stretched it across the back of the cutout and then wrapped the end tightly around one of the birdcage wires. Surprisingly, it holds nicely with no glue.
Attaching the Frames, Clocks, Key, and Charms
Use invisible thread to attach the frames, clocks, and keys to the birdcage wires.
The charms are simply tied onto a length of invisible thread. I left about 3/4 to 1 inch between each of the charms. A double knot holds each charm in place.
My initial plan was to attach the charms end to end with jump rings, in my mind, it worked nicely. Then, I realized that would not work. There are only holes at the top of the charms. The invisible thread works perfectly and the charms hang nicely.
Alice in Wonderland Eat Me and Drink Me Bottles
Dollar Tree has tiny little bottles with corks. There are two versions, one with a metal loop attached to the top of the cork, and one without the loop. The ones I chose have a metal loop. You can find these at Hobby Lobby and Amazon, too.
I made tags on PicMonkey by editing a tag graphic. Use your favorite editing tool to create similar tags. You can see that the tags I created are roughly 3/4-inch long. The typeface is AR Christy Regular.
Once again, I used the 1/8-inch hole punch on each tag. Then, I used a jump ring to attach each tag to the loop on the cork.
To create the look of a blue drink, squirt a small amount of glue into a small bowl. Add an equal amount of water and 1 drop of blue food coloring. Mix with a toothpick and pour the mixture into the bottle.
Turn it around to be sure the mixture covers the inside of the bottle. Then, pour out the excess glue mixture, turn the bottle upside down, and wipe off the rim with a paper towel. As excess runs out of the bottle, lift it, wipe off the top again, and move it to a clean area on the paper towel. Repeat if necessary.
When the mixture is drained, set the bottle upright and allow it to dry.
Finishing Details
Hot glue is perfect for adding the cards and cutouts to the birdcage.
The Alice in Wonderland cardstock paper pad has this ‘it’s always tea time’ label. I just cut around it and hot glued it to the birdcage. Then, I glued the playing cards on either side.
Finishing Details
A big red silk rose placed in the middle of the bow makes a striking detail. Attach the cards to the ribbon bow and tails with a glue gun and glue sticks. (I used a low-melt glue gun.)
You can see the picture frames, clocks, key, hearts, spades, diamonds, and club symbols are all attached to the birdcage with invisible threads. Using glue or anything to hold the invisible thread in place is unnecessary. The thread has a little stretch to it and by pulling it tight when making the knots, the thread stays in place.
There it is! This has to be my favorite little project thus far! What do you think?
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