Images of Murals at the Lewis Carroll Children's Library in Islington, London, UK

There's no debt to Tenniel in these murals at the Lewis Carroll Children's Library in the London Borough of Islington (that's London UK, not London TX, AK, OH, PA etc.). Instead there seems to be something of an early-Atari-meets-Crayola 64-pack influence at work. They are fun though.

The library is London's only stand-alone children's library and has been open since 1952. Apparently, within these colorful walls, the library hosts a reading group for teenagers, homework clubs and a rhyming session for babies. Ga Ga Gaa Aaah...

Unbirthday Card Kits and Rubber Stamps

Even tho it was Humpty Dumpty who first proposed the observance of unbirthdays, it is now of course often associated with Mad Tea Parties. For the crafty: Very Merry Unbirthday Cards and Card Kits sell two craft kits for making "Alice in Wonderland" and "Mad Hatter's Tea Party" themed greetings cards, and other card-making products. That site also links to MadHatterStamps.com which in 2010 is celebrating Alice for obvious reasons. Both the cards and the stamps are from the classic Tenniel illustrations.

"You Don't Need a Reason to Send an Unbirthday Card"

Alice Fashion in 2010

Fashion is a weak suit at Let "Universe" Be "Books", but since Disney declared Alice is the New Black at a Las Vegas trade show back in September, Alice, and the prospect of tie-in merchandise, have been inspiring a number of fashion creations probably worth mentioning.

The Los Angeles Times reviewed the playing field on December 6th, name checking designers such as Donatella Versace, Jason Wu, and Antonio Marras, one of whom I have heard of. Mr Tom Binns is also making jewelery around the theme of absolutely smashing tea parties (New York Times photograph below).

Then there's Swarovski (pictured at top), always hot on Disney's trail; Fashion Times warns us what is to come in the 2010 Spring-Summer collection:

Rabbits, watches, cups of tea, small muffins and donuts, flowers embellish necklaces, pendants, bracelets, rings and earrings, precious and ironic.

Donuts? Anyway.

The cosmetics brand Urban Decay is coming out with a pop-up make-up box that Lewis Carroll would have been proud of, though he may have been less into the idea of little girls wearing eyeshadow with names like "muchness" (green) and "curiouser" (purple). (Thanks go to Diana Ajih from the blog Hot Beauty Health for locating sneak preview pictures.)

Vogue magazine's naturally prophetic 2003 Alice-themed photoshoot, in which "the world's most influential designers dress[ed] the original little girl lost in their own visions", is back for viewing in the blogosphere, while the French department store Printemps has announced that the world's most controversial designers will be dressing their store windows in one-off designs in time for Paris Fashion Week in February.

And for those who need that little blue dress now, Entertainment Weekly provided a short guide to "getting the look" of Syfy's Alice.

Finally, Rock 'n Roll Bride, "a little haven of kick ass weddingness in the overly poofy, pastel and often puke-worthy wedding world" posts Alice in her Wonderland, a photoshoot vision of a wedding with a difference (clue: the bride gets to eat the cake and the groom is nowhere to be seen).

Enough of fashion!

Alice and Edward

Northern California artist Susan Sanford has created a 2010 calendar with some very clever images: "Alice’s adventures in Wonderland reimagined as if Tenniel’s illustrations had leaped out of the book and were adventuring in the rose gardens and antique stores in the real world."

Also, don't miss her homage to Alice and Edward Gorey. (Hmm, and why *didn't* that combination ever happen? He illustrated Dracula after all...)

Fun Non-Halloween Things

It appears that somehow I've failed to mention the very cool Gorey Details online shop here on this blog. Well, no time like the present, for in addition to their large selection of Alice-related jewelry, rubber stamps, books, cards, artwork, etc. (and this great clock!), they've just added t-shirts, buttons, and stationary with new Dark Wonderland designs by Crab Scrambly.

Fun Halloween Things

Online gift store The Afternoon carries the intriguing "Haunted Tea Party" tableware line: an appetizer/dessert plate that feature the Hatter, March Hare, and Alice in a witch's hat at a midnight tea table set with pumpkin teapots; plates that say "Eat Me" and mugs that say "Drink Me" (of course); a punch bowl shaped like a giant tea cup (check out the ladle!); matching napkins; and a rather bizarre caterpillar bowl holder.

Even after much Googling, I can't figure out what company has created this line, but no matter. What I did find is that another online retailer, Flag and Banner.com, has a matching banner! (Scroll about three-quarters of the way down the page.)

Cosmetic bag

Japan always puts a nice twist on Alice... Check out this "goth style" black and white cosmetic bag sold by exporter Jbox.com.

If you look carefully at Joshua Kemble's very clever "Attack of Literacy" t-shirt, you can see Lewis Carroll (right behind Shakespeare, which seems appropriate).

Tea Party Vase

If you want to add a bit of madness to your next tea party, you can't go far wrong with this stackable tea cup vase. The cups can be taken apart and stacked in different ways - I'll let those who purchase it figure out how the trick is done. To my mind, the white cups call out for some china-painting personalization...