It came ... and went ... months ago

It took me long enough to post them, but here are the pictures of our VBS set this past summer referred to in my last post HERE.  We did the "Shipwrecked" theme.  I'm posting this the middle of winter.  I guess I'm dreaming of warmer weather.  (Click on the pictures for a closer look.)

 

 

 Here is one view of the main stage.  This is the first year we have purchased the backdrop.  That was really helpful.

 

 

 

A closer look at the hut.  It was constructed using cardboard tubes (from carpet rolls) for the uprights, real bamboo for the cross bars and rafters, cardboard for the roof and covered with grass skirts from the Dollar Tree.

  

 

 

 Here is a close up of one of the palm trees.  We made these also from empty carpet tubes covered in brown paper scrunched up.  The leaves were made from green bulletin board paper with a wire taped down in the middle for shaping.  We used brown balloons for coconuts.  We got most of our ideas from other churches.  So grateful for all the help!

 

 

 

Just some more props.  (I see Wilson!)

 

 

 

 I think this says it all.

 

 

 

Looking back the other direction.

 

 

 

More palm trees and our sloth.  I had a lot of fun moving the props around each night.  The treasure chest was used for the children to drop their offerings in.

 

 

 

 This was about mid-week and the balloons were starting to lose air. 

 

 

 

 

 

It takes a while to make these sets, but I really enjoy doing it!  I had a great team helping and really appreciated everyone's hard work.

 

It's Coming...

VBS, that is!

 

This was the first version announcing our Vacation Bible School (Shipwrecked Theme).

 

A couple of weeks later I added a larger ship that was a little closer.  (I took off the smaller one but left it in this picture for comparison.)

 

Later I added photos of some of the volunteer staff.  I had a photo booth set up at our training session and I loved the pictures so I added them to the bulletin board.  When it was time for VBS I added the wrecked ship.  I will be adding pictures of the kids soon.

SOS - VBS Bulletin Board

 

We are in full swing preparing for VBS.  This year's theme is "Shipwrecked".  I did this bulletin board trying to recruit help. 

 

In this close-up you can see our VBS director in the porthole of the sinking ship pleading for help.  😄

Yee Haw! It's a Western Theme Party!

Since I'm not doing much crafting these days, I just keep digging up past projects.  This was my table for our ladies tea at church back in 2012.  I was pleased with how it turned out.

 

This is before I added all the details. 

 

After adding more accessories.  It was probably a little too cluttered/busy for some people's taste, but I liked it.  😊

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a close up of one of the table settings.  I made the placemats from old blue jeans.  For the plates, I started with a clear glass plate and put the design on using reverse decoupage.  Working from the backside (in reverse layering), I first put the cowboy themed cutouts which were made using my Slice machine and the Happy Trails design card.  The faux leather look was created by ripping kraft paper into small pieces and inking the edges of each piece, then overlapping the pieces until the area was completely covered.  For the final layer I used bandana fabric.  Each of the layers was adhered using Mod Podge.  I added a couple of extra coats to finish it off.

 

 

 

 

These two pictures show some of the details.  I was excited to find the cactus glasses at the Dollar Tree.  I personalized each one using vinyl.  I also added vinyl cutouts to each of the coffee mugs.  The tiny cowboy boots are keychains.  I used bandanas for napkins.  The little pails were from Logan's Roadhouse.  (I saved them from their little bucket desserts.)  I filled them with peanuts.

 

 

 

As you can see, I used a camping lantern and rope on top of two pieces of burlap (a light piece over a dark piece) as the centerpiece.  I added the small lanterns and cacti and then scattered small stones and cowboy themed cutouts.

 

 

 

Here is a better shot of the cactus glass.  I added the small cowboy hat and some jute for rope.  If you look closely you can see the wagon wheel coaster under the glass.

 

I sent my guests home with their whole table setting -- cowboy hat, plate, placemat, cactus glass, bandana napkin, bucket of peanuts, and cowboy boot keychain -- everything except the coffee mugs and silverware.

 

Everyone seemed to enjoy it, especially one of my guests who is from Texas.  😊

 

Speaking of Teepees . . .

I thought I had already posted this but apparently I haven't.  Back in 2013, Cricut had a contest using designs from their Southwest cartridge.  I rarely enter contests where skill determines the winner, but I had an idea for something I wanted to make as a gift for my two-year-old nephew anyway so I decided to enter.  I actually won!!  I couldn't believe it!  It was a great gift package worth nearly $500!  I've never won anything like that before or since. 

Here is the teepee I made:

 

I made the extra props just for the contest.  I didn't even give him the cacti or critters.

 

The back

 

Close up of the sign I made.  I created the letters using various shapes on the Southwest cartridge.  I enjoy challenges like that.

 

 

 

This was what it looks like unassembled.

 

I made the teepee from a canvas dropcloth.  For the poles I cut bamboo from my mother-in-law's yard.  The designs are fabric appliques cut from the Southwest cartridge.  If you are interested in more details on how to make this, you can find the instructions on the Cricut website HERE.

 

I was pretty proud of it, but I was really shocked when I learned I had won.  I had so much fun making this I have made three more since.  One was identical to this one, one was plain, and one I recently made customized for my two-year-old grandson.  (I hope to post that one later.)

Thanksgiving Teepees

I host Thanksgiving each year and I like to have a fun activity available to anyone who would like to participate.  Last year I found a teepee printable on the Made With Happy blog.  I thought the kids and some of the adults would enjoy it.  I was pleasantly surprised at the participation, especially from one of the newest members of the family, my youngest sister's husband.  He is very creative and seems to be good at everything!  He took the teepee to new levels (literally).  Here are some of the creations:

 

My creative granddaughter's teepee

 

 

This one was done by one of my crazy nephews.

 

 

Not sure who did this one, but I like it.

 

 

My sister's family compound/reservation, including the royal palace complete with a hot tub and an outhouse.

 

 

Here's a close up.

 

 

Somebody burned the turkey!

 

 

My patriotic nephew's version

 

Not sure what we'll do this year.  I'm still trying to decide.  Hope we have as much fun as last year!

Falling Leaves

Just a quick post.  I ran across these pictures from several years ago.  I cut a bunch of leaves (and a few pumpkins) from black contact paper and applied them to my bathroom wall for a fun little addition to my skeleton shower curtain. 

Pumpkin Carriage

This pumpkin carriage was originally supposed to be a decoration for my daughter's fall wedding, but it didn't get finished in time so it just became a decoration for my home.  (It turns out there is a lot of stuff to do to prepare for a wedding -- who knew?? 😉)  I had planned to add a silhouette of a couple inside and also an appropriate license plate (I forgot what that was going to be), but I didn't see any reason to add those details after missing the deadline.

The file is from the Enchanted Autumn kit from SVG Cuts.  I really enjoyed making it.  I just wish I had completed it in time for the wedding.

 

I added a strand of tiny lights (from the Dollar Tree) to the inside and put one of the lights through a hole into each of the tiny lanterns.  I really loved how it turned out!

 

Here is another view of it lit.  If you look closely you will see in the background the fall tree I made featured in an earlier post HERE.

Ladies Tea 2011

This was from the 2011 annual Ladies Tea at church.  It was my first attempt at anything like this.  I was really outside my comfort zone and very intimidated.  Each table is decorated by a different lady (or team).  The other ladies are so creative and talented.  I won't show their tables so mine won't look so bad.  :-)

We were supposed to give each lady at our table an inexpensive favor.  I made these explosion boxes.  I had planned to give them photos from the tea to add to the inside.  Yeah, that didn't happen.  Oh well.  The ladies at my table were my friends and family and they still love me.  I didn't get a picture of the inside of the boxes because I had stayed up all night finishing the boxes and was running late.  But I do still have one so maybe I'll post more about it later.  (Update:  I posted about the explosion box here.)

I made these as place cards.  My sweet daughter wrote the names for me because she is so much better at that than I am.  The bottom one was for my niece who was 8 months pregnant at the time.  :-)

The centerpiece I made.

This shows what I did for chair covers.  I used white pillowcases over the chairs and then just added the bows and butterflies.

It was near Easter so I made the theme for mine Spring/Rebirth.  I wasn't thrilled with how it turned out, but it was ok and we all had a good time.

VBS Rewind - Colossal Coaster World

It's summer, so that means Vacation Bible School.  Our church used to do much more elaborate setups than we have in the past couple of years.  These pictures are from the last year of big decorations.  Our director at the time really enjoyed planning VBS sets.  It was a lot of fun but also a lot of hard work.  Sadly, he passed away suddenly last year.

 

The theme for this particular year was Colossal Coaster World.  My husband built the roller coaster car.  I put the stripe down the side using vinyl and cut the letters on one of my cutting machines.  My nephew made the cardboard cutout people.  The swing ride was borrowed from another church.

 

I made the carousel from cardboard.  Using a projector, I enlarged a carousel horse from purchased clip art and traced, cut out and painted three.  I cut the trim around the top from poster board using my Cricut machine and added some signs given to us by another church.  The poles are painted PVC pipe. 

 

 

The ducks in the shooting duck game were cut on my Cricut from "A Child's Year" cartridge.

 

Sometimes you have to get creative to work with what you have.  This was the room where the children made their crafts.  The room had an unused chalkboard which I turned into a ticket booth.  This room also has footprints painted on the walls, so we cut out balloons to cover them on one wall and my daughter cut out a paint palette and paint splotches to cover some of them on the other wall.  We left some footprints to appear someone stepped in the paint.

 

One of the men in the church did these booths from cardboard.  I thought they turned out cute.  That's Paul (formerly Saul) working the popcorn booth.  ;-)

 

Here is an overall view of the sanctuary.

 

This was one of the crafts the children made.  I designed them in Cricut Craft Room combining some glasses from the "3 Birds - Life's a Party" cartridge and a roller coaster from the "Carousel" cartridge.  I also cut a slit so the coaster car could move along the tracks.  It is attached with brad "wheels".  The children decorated the glasses as their craft that day.  I think they enjoyed making them and wearing them.

 

(See post about VBS Colossal Coaster World bulletin board HERE )